One of the inescapable truths of the business of the Olympic Games is that there is a lot of US broadcast money in it. American television networks have historically poured the most cash into the Olympic coffers, and that money has always translated into the biggest voice at the table. The net effect has always been Olympic Games that are either packaged perfectly for American TV, or Olympic Games that have consciously packaged only the right kind of local cultural notes, such as giant bouncing kangaroos, because they were precisely what an American television audience expected to see.
For the opening of the summer Games of the 33rd Olympiad, Paris offered an opening ceremony that set itself apart from the very first frame. Unpredictable, sometimes baffling, always artful, it was certainly camp, but it was also visually stunning and unapologetically French. The show opened with Lady Gaga performing a tribute to French ballet dancer, actor and singer Zizi Jeanmaire, singing Mon Truc en Plumes , accompanied by eight dancers with pink feather fans, on the steps next to the city’s iconic River Seine.
They may have beheaded their last reigning queen, but the French Republic crowned Lady Gaga in a moment that will be written into their history books. “It is my supreme honour to sing for you and cheer you on,” Gaga said. “Your talent is unimaginable.
Let the games begin!” And the show closed with Celine Dion, the Charlemagne, Quebec-born French-Canadian singer, who perform.