Paris holds its breath before opening ceremony

Paris: Paris was yesterday counting down the hours to the most ambitious Olympics opening ceremony in history on the river Seine. The show this eve...

Paris: Paris was yesterday counting down the hours to the most ambitious Olympics opening ceremony in history on the river Seine.

The show this evening will see up to 7,500 competitors sail down a six-kilometre stretch of the Seine on 85 boats, accompanied by a performance blending French culture and Olympic values that organisers promise will be spectacular.

Compared to the Covid-blighted Tokyo Olympics, where the Games were delayed by a year and opened in an empty stadium, the Paris ceremony will take place in front of 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs and celebrities from around the world.

The line-up of performers is a closely guarded secret but US pop star Lady Gaga and French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura -- the most listened-to French-speaking singer in the world -- are rumoured to be among them.

The ceremony will take place amid an unprecedented security operation.