The people of France have hailed their 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony, with one person even claiming it was better than London 2012.
The ceremony in Paris has sparked a lot of debate due to its unconventional style.
Among the scenes that caused the most reaction was a recreation of ‘The Last Supper’ by Leonardo Da Vinci using drag queens, dancers, and other performers.
Viewers were also left confused by a performer Philippe Katerine who played the Greek God of wine, festivity and theatre, Dionysus.
The ceremony received mixed reviews from the international audience, but the French seemed over the moon with the display.
People branded French actor Katerine, who was painted blue and appeared almost naked, a “national treasure” and were overjoyed to see him introduced on the international stage, with some branding it the result of “French genius”. One wrote: “One billion human beings who discover Philippe Katerine in this way, that’s my France.”
One social media user, Tim Marks, said: “I’m sticking to my guns, last night’s #OpeningCeremony was way better than London 2012, you lads really messed that up, and if I was British I’d feel ashamed and somewhat inferior…. So you know I feel sorry for you guys.”
Marie Le Conte, a French journalist based in the UK, said: “God I’m feeling patriotic, we’re just so unapologetically weird.”
Christophe Rehage said: “I’m proud of France for being so bold and unapologetically weird, and it rocks that they had a metal band play at the opening ceremony.”
Matt Currey also posted: “Just can’t define the opening ceremony. Hints of genius, madness, beauty, failure, boredom, brilliance, surprise and much more. Maybe it’s very Paris and very 2024.”
Meanwhile, another X user said: “The ceremony was the next level of art. Proud to be French!”
The performer who starred as Dionysus defended the ceremony after criticism grew.
He said: It wouldn’t be fun if there were no controversy. Wouldn’t it be boring if everyone agreed on this planet?”
The New York Times branded the ceremony a “bloated made-for-TV spectacle” while the New York Post said it was “boring, ill-conceived and choppy.”
French newspaper Le Figaro added that the show was “great but some of it was just too much.”
