Paris 2024 Olympics thread (the opening ceremony is Friday) on NBC/USA network/Peacock and other NBC Universal stations.

[CynBeth]

This is one of the best opening ceremonies I have seen in a long time.

 

[Planogirl]

I did enjoy this opening except I would have liked a little more showing of the athletes overall. I am all about them though.

I particularly enjoyed the parkour work and Celine Dionne sounded amazing.

 

[Buzz Rules]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817025933733142620

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816953933614460986

Let's win some medals USA. Let's go! (Good luck to all other nations as well)

 

[DCLMP]

Awful opening ceremonies. Beyond bad.

 

[Buzz Rules]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817037152850477413

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817038520281895237

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817042348280328248

https://twitter.com/x/status/1817056356387508273

 

[mmouse37]

We turned. It on and watched a fair amount of the opening ceremony at work. The boat parade was different. It just took so long. I get they traveled 4 miles, but ugh.

Anyone else get Assassins Creed vibes????

The Parkour guy was definitely based on Assassins Creed. We watched part of the opening ceremonies and some was interesting and some awful. I get French quirkiness and artistry but did they really need to reference a Ménage à trois

 

[_19disnA]

Perhaps each country has their own idea of entertainment & theatrics, but I just didn't get most of the performances. Having the contestants arrive in boats was clever, but most of the rest I thought was awful. I never knew Lady Gaga had some association with France (or maybe she doesn't). At least those can-can dancers seemed like local talent, but their dance routine wasn't very good. Turned it off before C. Dionne apparently performed (I thought she is from Canada?). Seems it would be a bit like featuring Elton John at an Olympics hosted in the USA. I thought most host countries feature local talent.

I didn't get at all the 3 doing the announcing. M. Tirico just seems to be their go-to sports announcer who always shows up and talks in generalities whether it's golf/auto racing or horse racing. Not sure what Kelly has to do with sports but maybe she is on contract with NBC to make such appearances. Peyton does a good job with football, but clearly that isn't an Olympic sport. Most of the time it seemed like they had no idea what would appear next and tried to awkwardly fill the airtime.

 

[LoveDaisy]

I did not get the Olympics opening ceremony. I felt like someone slipped me acid and didn’t tell me. It was just odd and not cohesive and we barely saw the athletes. Was there a story? Did the dude in black break in and steal jewels from a Kardashian at the end? I was really disappointed and turned it off after about 90 minutes.

 

[declansdad]

Awful opening ceremonies. Beyond bad.

Most of the world disagrees with you.

 

[Oldie13]

Perhaps each country has their own idea of entertainment & theatrics, but I just didn't get most of the performances. Having the contestants arrive in boats was clever, but most of the rest I thought was awful. I never knew Lady Gaga had some association with France (or maybe she doesn't). At least those can-can dancers seemed like local talent, but their dance routine wasn't very good. Turned it off before C. Dionne apparently performed (I thought she is from Canada?). Seems it would be a bit like featuring Elton John at an Olympics hosted in the USA. I thought most host countries feature local talent.

I didn't get at all the 3 doing the announcing. M. Tirico just seems to be their go-to sports announcer who always shows up and talks in generalities whether it's golf/auto racing or horse racing. Not sure what Kelly has to do with sports but maybe she is on contract with NBC to make such appearances. Peyton does a good job with football, but clearly that isn't an Olympic sport. Most of the time it seemed like they had no idea what would appear next and tried to awkwardly fill the airtime.

I completely agree with ALL of this! I’m glad I’m not the only one that saw the can can was off/amateurish.

To me the London 2012 opening and closing were the best I’ve ever seen.

 

[lynxstch]

Did they ever say who the masked person doing the parkour was?

Also I don't get why did they keep saying that a lot of what we saw wasn't rehearsed? How could any of those acts like Lady Gaga or Celine have not been rehearsed and planned out ahead of time?

 

[jeneric997]

Wow Fiji is just crazy good at Rugby 7's. If anyone gets a chance to just watch one match, you should. They are super quick 7 minute halves.

Woman's water Polo- go Team USA! Beach volleyball was disappointing but cool that they play in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Opening ceremony- I don't think they could rehearse because it was out in the public and not in a secured stadium.

 

[jo-jo]

I did enjoy this opening except I would have liked a little more showing of the athletes overall. I am all about them though.

I particularly enjoyed the parkour work and Celine Dionne sounded amazing.

We enjoy seeing them march in and the back stories of dress and/or flag holders. Last night they were all bunched up on the boats.

 

[BrianL]

Did they ever say who the masked person doing the parkour was?

Also I don't get why did they keep saying that a lot of what we saw wasn't rehearsed? How could any of those acts like Lady Gaga or Celine have not been rehearsed and planned out ahead of time?

No, he was just a character for the show. I kinda thought it was going to end up being someone (though not the someone who did all of the stunts). Also, I think they mean that they didn't rehearse in the locations. Obviously they had to rehearse a ton, but in order to keep it all under wraps they likely did everything on mock stages and not out in the real space.

Wow Fiji is just crazy good at Rugby 7's. If anyone gets a chance to just watch one match, you should. They are super quick 7 minute halves.

Woman's water Polo- go Team USA! Beach volleyball was disappointing but cool that they play in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Opening ceremony- I don't think they could rehearse because it was out in the public and not in a secured stadium.

Yeah, I caught the Rugby this morning. I hate that it's already at the end. They should show it more! Rugby is like if American football was actually good!

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Most of the world disagrees with you.

I’m not sure about “most.” I have definitely seen a lot of … mixed … reviews, and not just from US audiences.

 

[jeneric997]

I've been to a closing ceremony and I have to wonder how they sat the paying spectators. There seemed to be some seats on bridges and in the stadium. With almost all of the performances happening along the Seine, it must of been boring if you were sitting in the stadium. I thought all of the performances were pretty good, I'm sure the rain was not helpful. I liked the people dancing with the gold streamers in the back and the Marie Antoinette/band the best and Celine.

The different sections of the show, were based on the French Motto (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) and what people think when the think of France- hence the manege a trios.

The people who probably had the best view were the athletes so I'm ok with that! They always miss a lot of the actual show.

There was a lot cut out of the primetime, but in my opinion it was a good thing. It took forever to get the horse there and then the torch back to the Louvre. It was a completely different way of doing things. Some things worked, others didn't. Overall I loved it.

 

[DCLMP]

Most of the world disagrees with you.

Don't care.

 

[Disneylover99]

No, he was just a character for the show. I kinda thought it was going to end up being someone (though not the someone who did all of the stunts). Also, I think they mean that they didn't rehearse in the locations. Obviously they had to rehearse a ton, but in order to keep it all under wraps they likely did everything on mock stages and not out in the real space.

I hoped the masked character was going to appear on the Eiffel Tower at the end and reveal themselves as Céline. lol. That would have been great!

 

[DCLMP]

I’m not sure about “most.” I have definitely seen a lot of … mixed … reviews, and not just from US audiences.

If you like drag queens and drag queens reenacting the last supper than I guess it was a great show. Loved the pic with the guys junk hanging out of his tight shorts. I'm not disappointed in myself for not liking it.

 

[Moliphino]

I loved the whole opening ceremony from start to finish. I enjoyed the commentary from the main NBC commentators. Don't judge Kelly and Peyton to harshly. I think if they gain more experience, they could be great Olympic coverage commentators in the future.

I just can't stand Peyton Manning at all.