Olympics opening ceremony is panned by viewers

The Olympics opening ceremony has been panned by viewers describing it as ‘the worst’ as rain hampers the audio and urge organisers to ‘Stop the boats’. 6,800 athletes covered in plastic ponchos attempted to keep spirits high as they travelled down the river Seine in a huge flotilla of 85 boats.

Performances from Lady Gaga and approximately 3,000 dancers, acrobats and actors are hard to hear over the sound of rain, with viewers calling it ‘the worst Olympic opening ceremony in memory’. One social media user said: ‘France is doing good but it’s getting nowhere near the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.’

Another used a picture of Rishi Sunak on a podium that reads ‘Stop the boats’ to describe how they felt about the water-bound parade. For the first time in history, the opening ceremony is being held outside of a closed stadium, instead Paris are hosting a never before seen water parade for the Olympics.

The open-air spectacle is taking place along a 6km stretch of the Seine River and will include a total of 160 boats, carrying 94 athletes each along the iconic river. But fans on social media are unimpressed by France ‘s attempt to switch up the ceremony, with one writing: ‘I’m sorry but this is the worst Olympic opening ceremony in memory.

‘It’s an interesting idea bringing the athletes in on boats but it looks rubbish and misses the roar of the crowd. Sorry but not for me.’ Another said: ‘This opening ceremony would really benefit from Graham Norton’s commentary questioning what the [expletive] is going on. Anyone else finding this just bizarre and hard to follow?’.

One joked: ‘Hilarious irony that the French are relying so heavily on their contribution to different musical genres and yet all the microphones are picking up is the rain’, after performances of the can-can, a selection of songs from Les Mis, the opera Carmen and a show from French heavy metal band Gojira were drowned out.

Meteorologists who predicted the unusual rainy July weather would be a ‘disaster’ for the outdoor ceremony appear to have been correct as the screen at the Trocadéro where thousands of spectators are gathered appeared to suffer a blackout as a result of the dreary weather.

Instead of crowds wearing shorts and t-shirts to soak up the Parisian sun, streets were lined with umbrellas and spectators – including celebrities – turning to ponchos to protect from the rain.

A viewer on social media joked: ‘If this rain keeps up by the time they get to Zimbabwe they’ll be able to sail the boat down the street!’. ‘Well this fancy outside idea went well didn’t it’, wrote another sarcastically.

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