Enjoy the Paris Olympics opening ceremony the Paris way
With the Olympics underway, local Parisians are excited to welcome the world to their city with good friends, good food and a great view.
Paris – A The rain turned to torrential rain Sometimes the spell could not be quenched Opening Ceremony at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The cruise down the Seine featured host country history and culture in a variety of creative ways honoring France, its people and sports.
The Comment on NBC? Well, that left a lot to be desired.
Peyton Manning and Kelly Clarkson join Olympic host Mike Trigo as official co-hosts. NBC advertised their presence months before the opening ceremony. The executives’ gamble — an attempt to appeal to a wider audience by including the Season 1 “American Idol” winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer — proved to be a good idea in the boardroom.
In practice, it couldn’t have been worse.
Trigo is the best when it comes to the best Coming to hosting and play-by-play, and he was his usual self. But Manning and Clarkson were distracting at best and brutal to listen to at worst.
Fans watching the Olympics at home don’t hear a talk show host (Clarkson) and a football analyst (Manning) discussing matters outside their influence. They want substantial information about the stories of national and international athletes.
Clarkson says the rain is “magic” twice in 15 seconds and Manning does a bit with a quarterback wristband that doesn’t lift the broadcast. At least Manning seemed to make some statements by talking to athletes and releasing some anecdotes. By the end of the (way-too-long) show, they both felt benched, especially Clarkson.
When NBC desperately needed to evaluate Celine Dion’s performance to host the show, Clarkson said matter-of-factly: “I can’t really talk.”
NBC’s saving grace Could have been Snoop Dogg. The rapper will feature heavily in coverage over the next couple of weeks, and his time was well worth it. On Friday, the humor he provided was much needed.
The most disappointing part of the broadcast was that it did not give a proper reflection of what was happening in Paris. A borderline rave — a dance party — received little attention on barges that passed 20 minutes.
Even in the rain, many of the visual elements of the boat parade inspired and resonated. An early highlight was a metal scene featuring the French band Gojira (and followed by the song “Les Miserables”), while a dozen headless Marie Antoinette mannequins appeared in the salon. The performance by French singer Aya Nakamura and the Republican Guard intertwined history and modern music. A fake fashion show and an endorsement for Louis Vuitton are other Parisian landmarks that have had success on TV. The Eiffel Tower light show at the end, Celine Dion’s performance under the landmark and the cauldron lighting are historic. Lady Gaga helped get the festivities off to a proper start.
The vibrancy of the fans who faced the bravery created a festive atmosphere in the stadium. But TV broadcasts struggled to focus on the boats and the dangers and immediate action on the river.
NBC didn’t highlight enough interviews with American Yachts and Maria Taylor, a talented reporter who actually asked questions (a rarity on TV today). That kind of exclusive access should have played more. The opportunity to highlight athletes beyond big names like A’ja Wilson, Noah Lyles, Joel Embiid and Steph Curry was wasted.
Again, it’s worth pointing out how much the rain caused significant difficulties throughout the broadcast and affected Taylor’s ability to throw in the boat. But if this was the plan, sitting next to Trico as co-host would have been nice.
Speaking of great options for a co-hosting gig, why not have Rebecca Lowe head up the pre-fest coverage? Or Snoopy?
At one point, Manning’s audio played over the volume. “Today” host Hoda Kotb promised a FaceTime call with Simone Biles while interviewing her family on a bridge over the Seine. That promise went unfulfilled and Kotb disappeared from the air for nearly three hours. Her co-host, Savannah Guthrie, ended one of the “Today” segments by saying she couldn’t hear anything, and the network abruptly inserted its first commercial airing. NBC kept the first hour of the broadcast commercial-free, as it said.
An opening ceremony like this is always a challenge to prepare. NBC Sports Olympic president and executive producer Molly Solomon said that from a television perspective, it will be the most complicated event ever recorded.
“It’s brave, it’s bold, it’s gutsy and it’s going to be unforgettable,” Solomon told USA TODAY Sports in May.
Unfortunately for American viewers, and for NBC, it’s mostly for the wrong reasons.
