Paris Paralympics hailed for ‘slick’ opening ceremony following backlash: ‘They’ve listened to the criticism!’

The Paris Paralympics opening ceremony has been praised for its “slick and compact” opening ceremony in the capital on Wednesday night, following backlash over the Olympic ceremony just a few weeks ago.

Artistic director Thomas Jolly had promised the opening ceremony would be “a spectacle that will showcase the Paralympic athletes and the values that they embody”.

Sports fanatics were left disappointed by Paris’s first opening ceremony offering, as the world’s athletes were left drenched as they sailed along the River Seine in the pouring rain.

The Paralympic ceremony has since been hailed as a “revolution” in comparison, with a far more successful outdoor ceremony set against the Place de la Concorde, the largest square in Paris.

In a speech, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons said that the games will “show persons with disabilities what they can achieve at the highest level”.

He added: “The fact that these opportunities largely exist only in sport in the year 2024 is shocking. It is proof that we can and must do more to advance disability.”

Detailing the ceremony on GB News, Showbiz Reporter Stephanie Takyi called the event an “extravaganza” in comparison to Paris’s first attempt, and that the French had clearly “listened to the criticism” of the Olympic Ceremony.

Takyi said: “It was definitely worth the three hours that I spent watching it yesterday.

“I think finally, the French have listened to all the criticism they faced about the Olympics opening ceremony a few weeks ago because this one felt much more compact, much more slick, and much more suave.”

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Heaping praise on the artistic director Thomas Jolly, Takyi claimed that he had “delivered on his promise” in showcasing the values that the Paralympics embodies.

Noting the content of the ceremony, including dance numbers featuring both able-bodied and disabled dancers, she told GB News: “He really did deliver on his promise during this ceremony.

“They definitely challenge viewers at home with what we think people with disabilities can do. The show was choreographed with so many different athletes and performers who were performing aside abled bodied people, and it was just a fascinating watch and I felt like it actually stuck.

“It was true to the French chic that we were all looking for in the Olympic ceremony in the first place.”

Comparing the ceremony to the highly-criticised Olympic opening event, Takyi suggested that the Paralympics appeared to be “toned down” following backlash to some “controversial” moments in July’s parade.

Takyi said: “With the Olympic ceremony, I think all the controversy overshadowed all of the theatrics they had, where in this show you actually felt like you could breathe and appreciate what you were actually seeing.

“This ceremony was called Paradox, and the theme was ‘a journey from discord to concord’. And it was just basically challenging viewers at home to actually watch and see what people with disabilities can do.

“Some of the choreography that I was watching yesterday was really impressive. It’s stuff that you think to yourself, you wouldn’t think that someone with a disability can do. And I think that was the beauty of watching the ceremony yesterday. I think actually, Thomas Jolly’s actually redeemed himself.”