The opening ceremony of the summer Olympic games is always a big deal for the host country. It traditionally takes place in the Olympic stadium where the delegates from hundreds of national teams march in one-by-one followed by entertainers performing different acts and ending with the lightening of the eternal fire cauldron, a firework display, and the hoisting of the Olympic flag. But in 2008 when China was the host, she pulled off the grandest opening ceremonial act with literally thousands of performers acting as one. It was an act that cannot be matched or outdone. The next host, The United Kingdom in 2012, admitted so publicly and decided to use the ceremony emphasizing her national characteristics instead. Other nations decided to follow suite with Rio del Janeiro in South America 2016. The 2020 Olympic in Japan unfortunately ran into the Covid pandemic and had to be postponed to 2021. But the fireworks prepared cannot wait. So, Japan simply did a fireworks show in 2020 without the games. In 2021 when the actual game competition took place, I don’t remember there was even an opening ceremony show. Thus in 2024, everyone was wondering as to what the French/Paris opening ceremony will be like. France rose to the occasion. It used a 7 mile stretch of the Seine River and 85 boats to introduce the some 205 national teams for their entrance; various entertaining act at shore landmarks along the seven mile journey; and instead of the traditional stadium as the central stage, erected a temporary stage at the foot of the fames Eiffel Tower as the central attraction with the fire cauldron floated by a beautiful hot air ballon upon lightening. The effect was stunning. The only possible criticism is the ceremony took 4 hours plus long. As a result, some TV viewers (such as my wife) simply got tired from watching and turned off doing other things. As a result they missed the most spectacular ending part of the ceremony. A pity!