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Celine Dion triumphs at Olympics opening ceremony and the internet lights up

The internet is all about this opening ceremony.

Tim Marcin

on July 26, 2024

eiffel tower lit up at night with olympic rings on it

The Olympics are under way. Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images

The Paris Olympics kicked off on Friday with an opening ceremony unlike any other.

It promised to be a star-studded event with expected appearances from Celine Dion and Lady Gaga, with rumors of other big names. The ceremony certainly delivered with performances and appearances from stars.

The big names aside, it was also a unique opening ceremony in the way it was carried out. It was not held in a stadium like usual. This time, we're getting a parade through Paris with thousands of athletes carried on nearly 100 boats. The idea was to bring all the gorgeous history of Paris into the ceremony itself.

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With more than a billion projected viewers of the opening ceremony on TV, the reactions flooded online. In general, folks thought it was well done.

Here's what people were saying as the ceremony got the Olympics underway.

People liked seeing French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane as the first big cameo.

The athletes and celebs were spotted out and ready to go.

The fireworks and beautiful sights were lovely. But it was neat to see it take place along the river on boast.

Lady Gaga did not disappoint.

A lot is expected from the opening ceremony, including a reported performance from superstars Celine Dion and Lady Gaga. We we will likely see the internet get quite excited to see Dion, especially, make her return to the stage for the Olympics.

Gaga appeared and performed, sans Dion, doing a upbeat dance and song number in French. Gaga fans loved it.

Broadcast woes

There were some critiques of the NBC broadcast in the U.S., featuring Mike Tirico, Kelly Clarkson, and Peyton Manning.

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A headless Marie Antoinette

Yes, a lead-in to a metal band playing a version of a Les Mis song featured Marie Antoinette holding her own, talking, disembodied head. It was a bit of a fever dream.

There were some....questions about a pre-filmed skit about love

Dancing, art, and a very French show

There were memes about the artsy, definitely French nature of the opening ceremony.

The Minions showed up

Yep, the Minions, which were apparently created by a French artist, had long, silly segment in the middle of the ceremony.

One metal-as-hell section

A favorite for lots of folks was a very metal, very flame-forward, pretty great performance from the French band Gojira.

Boats!

There were jokes about countless boats carrying athletes.

Jokes about the masked torch-bearer

The through-line of the ceremony was a masked torch-bearer, running, jumping, and flying throughout Paris. There were lots of jokes and suggestions about who the torch bearer may be.

Celine Dion...finally...brings the house down

After a very long opening ceremony — nearly four hours in length — Celine Dion finally, as rumored, came out and performed. People were upset it took so long.

After taking time away due to a Stiff Person Syndrome diagnosis, the internet was thrilled to see Dion perform again, even if it was delayed.

She performed in grand fashion, on the platform of the Eiffel Tower. Most folks agreed it was the highlight of the ceremony.

Topics Olympics

Tim Marcin

Associate Editor, Culture

Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).