The 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony is underway after a rough start to the summer games, with suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s flagship high-speed rail network and rainy skies over the Seine river, where athletes are parading in boats.Here are the highlights from the ceremony:An epic finaleFollowing a rainy Parade of Nations, a silhouetted torch bearer wearing an Olympic flag made its way down an illuminated metal horse that glided down the Seine.A real horse carrying a different rider traveled to the stage at the end of the route before the Olympic flag was raised above the Trocadéro.After the Olympic anthem was played, President Emmanuel Macron said in French: “I declare the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad open!”A torch relay began, featuring Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal and other legendary athletes including Zinedine Zidane, Serena Williams, Carl Lewis, Tony Parker and scores of French Olympians.Celine Dion then took the Eiffel Tower stage, singing Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’amour."It’s her first performance since her diagnosis with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition that causes spasms, muscle rigidity and a heightened sensitivity to stimuli, such as sound and lights.The cauldron was lit by French Olympians Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec, igniting the fire carried by a hot-air balloon.The ring is about 23 feet in diameter, and the balloon is about 100 feet tall and about 72 feet wide.Instead of the usual ground-bound cauldron used at most Summer and Winter Games, the special edition for the Paris Olympics is intended as a tribute to the first ride taken in a hydrogen-filled gas balloon — made in 1783 by two of that balloon’s French inventors. They departed back then from the Tuileries Garden, which is near the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris and where the Olympic cauldron was lit before floating into the sky.Created by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, the cauldron is meant as a symbol of liberty – an element in the national slogan of “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.”The performancesSinger and actress Lady Gaga performed a cabaret number on a golden staircase beside the Seine, emerging from behind pink feathers — an act pre-recorded and then shown on the television broadcasts.Lady Gaga sang the French song “Mon truc en plumes” (“My thing in feathers”) by Zizi Jeanmaire. She was accompanied by 10 dancers and 17 musicians — all wearing costumes from House of Dior, which is owned by a major Olympic sponsor. Later in the ceremony, the bells of Notre Dame rang for the first time since the cathedral was gutted by a fire in April 2019.As the bells rang, TV viewers watched a metal rendition of "Do You Hear the People Sing" from "Les Miserables" performed by rock musicians on balconies and in windows across the Conciergerie.As the music played, flames shot into the sky and red streamers burst out of the windows for a grand finale of the performance. Along the parade route, there were nods to the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette and performers doing French cancan choreography. French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most listened-to French-speaking artist in the world, sang her hit “Djadja” accompanied by the orchestra of the French Republican Guard.Nakamura likes to play with the French language and combine it with argot and expressions in English. She has been the target of a flurry of racist comments from the far right earlier this year when her name emerged as possibly participating in the opening ceremony. She received support from the Paris Olympics organizers and the French government. French mezzo-soprano opera singer Axelle Saint-Cirel stood on top of the Grand Palais and sang La Marseillaise — France’s national anthem.At one point in the ceremony, a bridge turned into a fashion show, with models strutting down a catwalk that eventually turned into a dance floor for a choreographed number. Pianist Sofiane Pamart and singer Juliette Armanet also performed a version of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s "Imagine." Their performance took place on a vessel in the Seine and used a piano that had flames coming out the top of it. At the conclusion of the performance, screens displayed the words, "We all stand and call for peace."The Parade of NationsAs a giant plume of blue, white and red smoke in the colors of the French flag rose over the top of Austerlitz Bridge, it drew a huge roar from the crowd gathered along the riverbanks. Giant jets of water spurted up from the river as the Greek delegation — as always — was the first boat under the bridge and along the 3.7-mile route.Among the 101 Greek athletes: basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo, holding the country’s flag. Greece, per Olympic tradition as the originator of the ancient games, almost always enters the ceremony first (the most recent exception was 2004, when it hosted the Athens Games). Fans in the sitting sections down the route of the opening ceremony had to watch the parade on large screens until the boats carrying the athletes arrived at their location.The fans reacted to what they were seeing with claps and cheers. It rained during moments of the parade, prompting fans to take out their umbrellas and raincoats.Usually during Olympic opening ceremonies, the parade of athletes takes place during a pause in the razzmatazz. But Paris shattered that tradition by having the parade and pageantry at the same time, blending sports and artistic expression.The Nigeria women’s basketball team wasn’t allowed to board the delegation’s boat for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics by one of the country’s officials, said a person familiar with the situation.The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Nigeria delegation has not publicly commented.Once the team made it to the area where they were supposed to board the boat and be a part of the ceremony, they were denied entry by a Nigerian official who told them that there were too many people on board. The team made its way to the athletes' village after being turned away.The Olympic Refugee Team was met with huge cheers as it floated down the Seine.In the lead-up to the ceremony, a video showing graphics of people fleeing their countries cut over athletes running and boxing. It called on those watching the Olympics to support refugees. With dozens of athletes, this is the biggest Olympic Refugee Team since it was formed for the 2016 Games.The team has also stirred controversy in some cases as countries like Cuba and Venezuela have complained, saying athletes from those countries should not be considered for the Games.Palestine’s entrance was met with cheers. Like many crisis-stricken nations, the country’s delegation is small and many of the athletes are Palestinian descendants or trained in other countries to be here.A few fans just jeered Israel as it went past on a shared boat, but not many. The Italian delegation on the same boat quickly chanted “Italia! Italia!”The United States' entrance featured basketball's LeBron James and tennis star Coco Gauff as flag bearers for the U.S. Olympic team.“For myself and Coco, for us to be able to represent our country,” James said, “us being Black kids as well, represent our culture and represent where we come from, it gives everybody so much hope where we come from, and that’s all we can ask for. We take it with the utmost responsibility and the utmost honor.”James joined a large contingent of American athletes on a boat on the Seine River on a rainy night in Paris. With Gauff by his side — both clad in clear ponchos — James bobbed his head as he held the flag at the front of the boat.“The rain can’t stop us,” James said. Opening ceremony, by the numbersSome of the numbers for the opening ceremony, as released by Olympic organizers:1. 1.5 billion people expected to watch worldwide, or roughly 1 in every 5 people on the planet.2. 326,000 tickets were made available, 222,000 of them for free3. 80 giant screens are being set up around Paris as remote viewing locations.4. 3,000 artists are expected to take part in the show, with at least 400 dancers.