The opening ceremony in Paris failed to captivate most watching on TV with a chaotic show culminating in the Olympic flag being flown upside down.
Paris attempted to break new ground by becoming the first host city to hold an opening ceremony outside of a stadium.
The idea was to make the showcase as accessible to everyone as possible with around 500,000 spectators expected to be in attendance around the River Seine.
Due to the sheer size of the ceremony, there was no chance to do a full rehearsal with nobody quite sure what to expect.
The Olympic flag was flown upside down
BBC
There also had to be a huge security presence aroud the city with 45,000 police along with 10,000 soldiers deployed.
But the multi-location ceremony caused confusion for some viewers who struggled to keep up with the fast-paced production.
Lady Gaga’s appearance early in the production pleased viewers, but other parts of the show left many wanting to turn off their screens.
Impressively, the show went on without any noticeable mishaps despite the inability to do a full rehearsal and the adverse weather conditions.
However, that all changed when the Olympic flag was being raised at the Trocadero.
Eagle-eyed viewers were quick to spot that the flag had been raised upside down.
One person noted: “Uhhh, they hung the Olympic flag upside down.”
Another mockingly said: “In keeping with the themes of this opening ceremony, the Olympic flag has been raised upside down.”
The opening ceremony failed to captivate viewers
GETTY
A third posted: “They really raised the Olympic flag upside down. After this trainwreck of an #OpeningCeremony.”
One other person moaned: “The worst ever and to top it all they hung the Olympic flag upside down.”
Another message read: “The clowns even managed to hang the Olympic flag upside down.”
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The opening ceremony took place across the River Seine
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The journey of the Olympic torch was a constant theme throughout the showcase with Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Tony Parker among the famous athletes to carry it.
French judo icon Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-Jose Perec were the final two to take the torch to light a hot air balloon that rose into the Parisian sky.
The ceremony was brought to a loud crescendo when Celine Dion begun singing a powerful rendition of Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne a l’amour on top of the Eiffel Tower.