A Celine Dion comeback and a hooded torchbearer: The biggest moments from the Opening Ceremony.

The organisers of the 2024 Paris Olympics promised an ambitious Opening Ceremony, and they certainly delivered. 

It made history as the first-ever outdoor and floating ceremony, featuring over 10,000 athletes, numerous political figures, and thousands of performers to kick off the global sporting event.

Now that it’s all said and done, we can confidently say they lived up to the hype.

Watch: Three-time Gold Medallist Charlotte Dujardin Pulls Out Of Paris 2024 Olympics. Post continues below.

If you woke up at the crack of dawn to catch it (yes, it started at 4:30am AEST), we hope you enjoyed every moment despite feeling groggy and a bit hungover from lack of sleep.

We saw the Parade of Nations float down the iconic Seine River with the Eiffel Tower as a stunning backdrop. And over 3,000 artists and several hundred dancers showcased the best of France. The nautical parade of 85 boats carried 10,500 athletes along the Seine, starting from the Pont d'Austerlitz and ending at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

Spectacular pic.twitter.com/vv1HIcqmPm

— Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) July 26, 2024

It was truly a sight to behold, with an impressive 300,000 people attending, making it one of the largest crowds in Olympic history.

Let's go through our favourite moments.

Lady Gaga's surprise performance. 

Despite not being listed on the program, Lady Gaga dazzled as she performed on the steps along the Seine River. 

Surrounded by dancers dressed in all-black and holding pink feathers, Lady Gaga gave a spectacular performance as the ceremony's first musical act. 

The Grammy and Oscar-winning performer sang French singer Zizi Jeanmaire's hit song 'Mon Truc en Plumes'.

One dancer lost his footing, crashing to the ground, but both Lady Gaga and his fellow dancers rallied around him, and the performance continued without a hitch.

Lady Gaga was the first performance. Image: Getty.

French performers shine. 

It wasn't all about the international guests. France showcased its homegrown talent, including the country's most popular singer-songwriter Aya Nakamura, who immigrated from Mali to France as a child. 

Nakamura performed a mashup of her songs 'Pookie' and 'Djadja' in a dazzling gold outfit on a runway on the Pont des Arts, which links the Institut de France to the Louvre.

Algerian-French rapper Rim'K, also took to the stage to perform. Wearing a red-and-black chequered Louis Vuitton jacket, Rim'K dropped fell rapper, and 2024 Olympic torch-bearer, Snoop Dogg's name during the performance.

French performer, Aya Nakamura, at the Opening Ceremony. Image: Getty. 

A burning piano.

As night fell, pianist, Sofiane Pamart, played the opening notes of the John Lennon classic, 'Imagine'. 

The piano then — literally — started to burn. 

Pamart, performing on a floating raft with singer Juliette Armanet celebrated a world without borders, by singing the track that's been performed at several Olympic Games, including Tokyo, London and Atlanta.

A piano burned as John Lennon's 'Imagine' played. Image: Getty. 

Celine Dion steals the show.

Celin Dion has been in the spotlight recently, sharing her struggles with singing following her devastating diagnosis of stiff person syndrome.

But the French-Canadian singer wowed the Olympic crowd, performing on the Eiffel Tower, underneath the famous Olympic rings.

Dion wore a white gown covered in pearls and beads to perform 'Hymne à l’amour', a popular French song from 1950 originally sung by Edith Piaf.

The emotional performance was the first since her diagnosis.

Celine Dion performed for the first time since her diagnosis. Image: Getty.

There was hardly a dry eye along the river at the end of the Dion's powerful performance.

It has been almost four years since she performed live. She has sung at the Olympic Games before — in 1996 she performed 'The Power of the Dream' at the Opening Ceremony of the Atlanta Olympic Games.

But surely her time on stage in Paris now takes the cake.

CÉLINE DION

BRAVE IS UNBEATABLE

THE RALLYING CRY FOR TEAM CANADA

AND SHE’S LIVING IT pic.twitter.com/zSzww3xyft

— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) July 26, 2024 

The mysterious hooded torchbearer that everyone's talking about.

Throughout the ceremony, a mysterious hooded man was seen running through France holding the Olympic torch.

But who is he?? Well, he's many people, representing multiple renowned characters from French culture, including Belphégor, the Iron Mask, the titular character from Phantom of the Opera, Fantomas, Ezio from Assassin's Creed and Arsène Lupin. 

The hooded man ran along the Musee d'Orsay, past Pont Neuf, rode a boat and eventually cartwheeled down a red runway. What a hero.

The mysterious hooded torchbearer. Image: Paris Olympics/Stan

The lighting of the cauldron.

After first carrying the torch through Paris in a pre-recorded video, legendary French soccer star, Zinedine Zidane, took the flame back, and passed it on to tennis champion, Rafael Nadal. 

Nadal then passed the torch to fellow tennis star, Serena Williams, as he travelled down the River Seine. 

Carl Lewis, Nadia Comănec, and a variety of French sporting icons carried the torch towards the spectacular Olympic cauldron, attached to a hot-air balloon, with flames reaching up to seven metres. It was incredible.

The cauldron released flames seven metres high. Image: Getty. 

Watch the Olympics on Stan Sport, the only place to watch every event ad-free with 4K and international multi-language channels. Go to Stan.com.au/Olympics for more info.

Read more on the Olympics here:

• Hamish and Andy were 'banned for life' from the Olympic Village. Now they've explained why.
• No drinking, no beards and no more intimacy bans: All the rules Olympic athletes must follow.
• Athletes train their whole life for a taste of Olympic gold. But is it even really gold?

Feature Image: Getty.