Experience the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony the Parisian Way
The Olympic Games have begun, and Parisian locals are looking forward to welcoming the world to their city with good friends, good food and great views.
Paris – A rain turned to heavy rain Sometimes it can’t take away the magic. Paris 2024 Olympics Opening CeremonyThe boat cruise on the Seine River incorporated the history and culture of the host country in a variety of creative ways that honored France, its people and the Games.
the Comment on NBCWell, that leaves a lot to be desired.
Peyton Manning and Kelly Clarkson joined Mike Tirico, the Olympics’ host, as official co-hosts of the event. NBC had been promoting their presence for months before the opening ceremony. The gamble by executives—an attempt to attract a wider audience by including the winner of the first season of “American Idol” and a Pro Football Hall of Famer—was a good idea in the boardroom.
In practice, things couldn’t have gone any worse.
Terico is the best when it comes to Comes to host and play by playHe was his usual self. But Manning and Clarkson were distracting at best, and tough to listen to at worst.
Olympic fans watching from home aren’t watching talk shows (Clarkson) and sports analysts (Manning) discuss things outside their sphere of influence. They want substantive information about countries and stories about international athletes.
But what happened next wasn’t enough to lift the broadcast, with Clarkson saying she found the rain “magical” twice in 15 seconds, and Manning doing some stomping with the quarterback’s wristband. At least Manning seemed to do some reporting by talking to the athletes and relaying anecdotes. By the end of the (very long) show, it seemed like both of them were being pushed out of the game, especially Clarkson.
When NBC needed her more than ever to evaluate Celine Dion’s performance to crown the show, Clarkson literally said, “I actually can’t talk.”
NBC’s Grace of Salvation Maybe it was Snoop DoggThe rapper will be heavily featured in the media coverage over the next two weeks, and his timing was spot on. On Friday, his comedy was in high demand.
The most disappointing part of the broadcast was that it did not adequately reflect what was happening in Paris. A twenty-minute rave-like dance party on one of the boats received little attention.
Even in the rain, many of the visual elements of the boat parade were poignant and moving. A metal spectacle featuring the French band Gojira was an early highlight (and was followed by an ode to Les Misérables), while dozens of headless models appeared in the Conciergerie. A performance by French singer Aya Nakamura and the Republican Guard intertwined history and modern music. A satirical fashion show and a nod to Louis Vuitton were other Parisian features that played well on television. The light show at the Eiffel Tower at the end, with Celine Dion performing under the monument and lighting the cauldron, was historic. Lady Gaga helped kick off the festivities appropriately.
The festive atmosphere created by the fans who braved the weather created a festive atmosphere on the pitch. But the television broadcast failed to convey this atmosphere – the dangers of having to focus on the boats and move quickly on the river.
NBC didn’t give enough attention to the American boat and the interviews with Maria Taylor, a brilliant reporter who actually asks questions (something that’s becoming rare on TV these days). This kind of exclusive access should have been given more prominence. It missed the opportunity to highlight athletes other than the big names like A’ja Wilson, Noah Lyles, Joel Embiid and Steph Curry.
Again, it’s worth pointing out how noticeable the rain was throughout the broadcast and may have affected the ability to throw the ball to Taylor on the boat. But if that was the plan from the start, it would have been better for her to sit next to Tirico as co-host.
Speaking of better choices for co-hosts, why not Rebecca Lowe, who led the pre-show coverage, or Snoop Dogg?
At one point, Manning sounded like she had dipped her microphone in the Seine. “TODAY” host Hoda Kotb promised to do a FaceTime call with Simone Biles while she was interviewing her family on a bridge over the Seine. That promise was not fulfilled, and Kotb disappeared from the broadcast for nearly three hours. Co-host Savannah Guthrie ended one of the “TODAY” segments saying she couldn’t hear anything, and the network abruptly inserted its first commercial of the broadcast. NBC kept the first hour of the broadcast commercial-free, she said.
An opening ceremony like this was always going to be a challenge to produce. From a television perspective, it would be the most complex event ever, said Molly Solomon, NBC Sports’ Olympic Committee president and executive producer.
“It’s bold, bold, bold and it will be memorable,” Solomon told USA TODAY Sports in May.
Unfortunately, for viewers in the US, and for NBC, the reason for this is probably mostly wrong.
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