French judoka Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-José Pérec, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, light Olympic flame
Celine Dion then performs partway up the Eiffel Tower
Lady Gaga, Zinedine Zidane and the Minions among those involved in breathtaking performance
Diver Tom Daley and rower Helen Glover Great Britain's flagbearers
Watch: Rapper Snoop Dogg carries Olympic torch through Paris
Image source, Getty ImagesFrench president Emmanuel Macron is on his feet along at the Trocadero where the parade concludes.
And now we see the Olympic torch coming down the River Seine on a row boat back at the other end of the tonight's route.
A lovely 'tricolore' flare goes off on the Austerlitz Bridge.
Image source, BBC SportWho had France football legend Zinedine Zidane on their bingo card?
The former Real Madrid midfielder and World Cup winner is the lead star in the opening video of the broadcast as he makes his way around Paris with the Olympic torch.
Jess Anderson
BBC Sport in Paris
Take your seats for the greatest show on earth…
Image source, BBC Sport
BBC One
Remember you can watch the opening ceremony live at the top of this page. This is UK only.
There is also a signed stream here.
Clare Balding
BBC Sport presenter on BBC One
It nearly always is the most-watched part of any Olympic Games. It sets a tone, it creates iconic images.
We all remember London 2012 bursting into life with the help of the late Queen and Daniel Craig as Bond.
Soon we'll discover what Paris has to offer.
Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport by the River Seine
Image source, BBC SportQuite the odd atmosphere where we are stood waiting for the ceremony to start.
We’re close to Pont Notre-Dame, which takes the name of the place of the iconic gothic cathedral you see to the right, and about 2km from the start point.
Once you get through the rows of police and army officers, the spectators below us are sitting patiently and quietly.
Numbers have been scaled back to what I’d estimate are several hundred in this particularly section.
Feels a bit like lockdown. Chopper blades are whirring overhead before the serenity is punctured by the volume of the TV coverage shown on the big screen.
Image source, BBC Sport
James FitzGerald
BBC News reporter at the Trocadéro
Serena Williams and investor husband Alexis Ohanian, clutching an umbrella, are a couple more of the big names I've just seen walk down the red carpet.
Ivorian football legend Didier Drogba follows soon after.
A number of the gathered spectators and national delegates are evidently starstruck. "We're not sure we should be here," one group joke to me.
Tennis legend Williams is the latest one. She won gold medals for the United States at the Games in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
For the first time, the ceremony will take place not in a stadium, but in the heart of a city. The world's Olympic teams are set to parade along the River Seine in boats, watched by about 300,000 spectators in a display directed by Thomas Jolly, the ceremony's artistic director.
The flotilla will carry more than 10,000 athletes along a 6km (3.7 mile) route along the waterway, which has been under intense scrutiny for its cleanliness.
Organisers hope Friday's spectacle is free-flowing, amid a mammoth security operation that will involve tens of thousands of police.
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron admitted that a plan B (and a plan C) had been put together in case the challenges proved insurmountable.
Amy Lofthouse
BBC Sport in Paris
There’s quite a few bars off the main Parisian streets that have brought out the TVs to show the opening ceremony. Feels very much like when it used to rain at school and the tellies got wheeled out…
Image source, BBC Sport
Organisers are promising cameras on each boat to show the stars up close.
But what remains to be seen is exactly how this arrangement scales up and down for Olympic delegations of different sizes.
The USA, for example, is sending just shy of 600 competitors while some smaller nations are being represented by just a single competitor each.
Dozens of vessels will be used, with help enlisted from local boat firms.
The spotlight will be shone on those athletes given the job of carrying their team's flag. A pair of British Olympic veterans - diver Tom Daley and rower Helen Glover - have been given that responsibility for Team GB.
Jess Anderson
BBC Sport in Paris
This Olympic super fan from Japan has been to every Games since Barcelona in 1992!
She even refers to herself as ‘Ms 5Rings’.
Talk about dedication…
Image source, BBC SportSpeaking of fashion, how about this from former alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn has already won the gold medal for handbags...
Image source, Reuters
Tom Daley
GB flagbearer on BBC TV
I remember walking out in 2008 behind Mark Foster and thinking how cool that was, just to be part of a ceremony like that but now to be going into a fifth Games and being able to start it off in this fashion is pretty special.
Harry Poole
BBC Sport in Paris
Rain you say?
That’s nothing to us Brits.
Here is Nicky, from London, proudly sporting her Team GB T-shirt as the heavens threaten to open in Paris.
Her cousins, including Ayan beside her here, live in France and managed to grab an extra ticket to the opening ceremony for her.
It’s an opportunity she simply could not pass up!
The problem with rain? Ponchos can be a bit of a pain...
Image source, ReutersThe boats will pass some of the city's best-known bridges and landmarks on their journey during the evening - including Notre-Dame cathedral and, naturally, the Eiffel Tower - before reaching the Trocadéro.
It will conclude as the sun sets over the city's west, which organisers hope will further solidify the legend of the City of Lights. Games president Tony Estanguet has promised the timing will make the show "more sublime, with a truly poetic dimension".
(And by the way - theories differ as to whether the French capital earned its nickname as a luminous centre of intellect and creativity, or due to the way it reportedly embraced street lighting early in the technology's development.)
Image source, Getty ImagesIt is just 10 minutes until the opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games begins along the River Seine and I can hardly contain myself.
The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 18:30 BST, and will last just under four hours. Here are some of the things to watch out for during the curtain-raiser...
Tonga, Rio 2016
Image source, Getty ImagesTonga's flagbearer Pita Nikolas Taufatofua became famous at Rio 2016, where, as well as showing off his oiled-up torso, he also competed in taekwondo.
The Tongan polymath also competed in cross-country skiing at PyeongChang 2018 and tried to qualify for Paris 2024 in kayaking. He has also been helping to coach Tonga's taekwondo team for Paris 2024.
Tom Daley
GB flagbearer on BBC TV
In our team meeting just before we came here our performance director said 'being an Olympic champion is a very minute, elite group but then to become flagbearers as well is an even smaller group'.
Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI in Paris
Image source, BBC SportAfter arriving in Paris today, you can immediately sense the buzz around the city. Paris is more than ready...despite the weather.
The streets are lined with the vibrant colours of different nationalities, including some Brazilian fans dancing up the street and a crowd of Americans giving shouts of 'USA, USA, USA!' which are echoing off the historic Paris buildings.
One of the first people I bumped into were the family of Dean Clancy, who is the first of 10 Irish boxers in the ring.
Given he is fighting tomorrow he won't be at the ceremony, but his family are looking forward to tonight's festivities before heading to watch Dean in action tomorrow.
Boxing is the most successful sport in Ireland's history and more medals are expected to come during these Games.
