Olympic opening: flash, fluff and Gaga

(One final note to this story, which was written after the first hour: The opening ceremony ran four hours, with moments of magnificence. Two of the greatest came late, involving solo singers: Juliette Armanet gave a quietly moving performance of “Imagine,” emphasizing John Lennon’s eternal lyrics. And, for the finale, Celine Dion — long sidelined by illness — with a powerhouse French anthem. Don’t miss those. Now the original story.)
Yes, you’ll want to see the Olympics opening ceremony tonight.
You’ll quickly see Gaga, dancers on scaffolding, ladies on sway poles and young lovers trashing a gorgeous library. And that’s in the first hour.
The telecast is from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 or so today (Friday, July 26) on NBC and Peacock. And it’s actually the second time through.
It started live at 1:30 p.m. ET (which was 7:30 in Paris) and will rerun – with an “enhanced” edition – in prime time. By watching the afternoon version, I can promise you’ll see:
— Lady Gaga (shown here), surrounded by fluff and dancers, while singing powerfully in French.
— Dancers pretending to be workers on the scaffolding of the Notre Dama Cathedral, which has received an elaborate overhaul, after being nearly destroyed by a fire.
— More dancers everywhere, including ladies on sway poles.
— References to both “The Phantom of the Opera” and – in a heavy-metal bash, complete with paper streamers. — “Les Miserables.”
— More singers, more French, including a potent opera soprano.
— A guy playing the piano in pouring rain.
— Lots of boats carrying athletes.
— Young lovers meeting in a beautiful library, where someone may have shushed them, but no one reminded them not to strew book pages everywhere.
— And a faceless figure, carrying the Olympic torch through the Louvre and other landmarks. So far, he (or she) hasn’t tripped and dropped the torch, re-igniting the Notre Dome. We’ll home it stays that way.