The Paris Olympics opening ceremony had it all, and people are… processing.
The ceremony, billed as one of the most ambitious ever, featured a parade of boats along the Seine, with a series of fun and quirky shows along the banks as well as some prerecorded segments. It replaced the typical format of a parade of nations inside a stadium.
Athletes, some wearing ponchos over their uniforms, kept their spirits high despite rainy weather, waving from their boats.
Lady Gaga stunned with a very va-va-voom rendition of Zizi Jeanmaire’s “Mon Truc En Plumes” on a set of stairs by the river, surrounded by enormous plumes of pink feathers.
In another segment, headless women dressed in red — representing the ill-fated queen of France, Marie Antoinette — appeared in the windows of a grand building amid bursts of fire and an energetic performance by heavy metal band Gojira. This was followed by opera music.
Elsewhere, dancers in pink, including a woman dressed as a croissant, partied in the streets.
There was also a catwalk showcasing out-there French designs, and at one point, a seminaked blue man — singer Philippe Katerine — performed as he lay on a plate of fruit and flowers on the runway. Also, Minions. And in one prerecorded bit, apparently the beginning of a ménage à trois?
Throughout the show, viewers were shown clips of a hooded figure carrying the Olympic torch, leaping and bounding across Parisian rooftops, in a nod to “The Phantom of the Opera.”
Toward the end of the night, a silver rider on a mechanical horse appeared to gallop down the Seine with the Olympic flag, eventually delivering it to be hoisted at the Place du Trocadero.
While the Olympic torch was approaching its final destination, the Eiffel Tower beamed out a dazzling light show. After the Olympic cauldron was lit, Canadian singer Celine Dion brought the night to a magnificent end with an electrifying comeback performance on the tower.
As the ceremony took place, some viewers were delighted by the French-ness of it all. Others took issue with the boat parade format. Some simply had no idea what was happening.
“WHAT IS GOING ON,” one social media user wrote, sharing a clip of the Marie Antoinette moment.
“A beheaded Marie Antoinette is one of the wildest and craziest things ever at the Olympics,” said another.
“Impressed that the French planned their Olympic ceremony and decided ‘and then we’re gonna show off one of our main cultural exports, the ménage a trois!’ and then they did,” a third person posted.
See some of the other reactions below.
Check out HuffPost’s live coverage of the opening ceremony highlights here.
