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    foszoe

    foszoe

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    PARIS—The organizers of the Paris Olympics issued a brief apology on Sunday after coming under heavy criticism from religious groups and conservative politicians for including a bawdy scene in Friday night’s Opening Ceremony that resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of France had decried it as a “mockery.”

    “There was never an intention to show disrespect to a religious group,” a Paris 2024 spokeswoman said. “If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really sorry.”

    The tableau in question, on the Debilly Footbridge across the Seine, involved a group of dancers and drag queens arrayed along one side of a banquets table, including DJ Barbara Butch—described by organizers as an “LGBT icon.” The scene continued with a mostly naked figure, painted blue and portrayed by performer Philippe Katerine, singing a raunchy song in character as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
    “The banquet table is transformed into a dance floor to showcase a variety of dance styles, ” according to Paris 2024’s own description of the scene. “While on the barge, the choreographic ensemble performs to the sound of Eurodance.”
    While many saw the whole production as a stylized celebration of diversity, Paris’s vibrant nightlife, and high French farce, it didn’t take long for critics to seize on it, including the Catholic church, French far-right politician Marion Maréchal-Le Pen and Elon Musk.
    “This was extremely disrespectful to Christians,” Musk wrote on X.
    Without referring specifically to the banquet, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of France said on Saturday that certain elements “made Christianity the subject of derision and mockery, which we deeply deplore. This morning, our thoughts are with all Christians of all continents, who were offended by the outrageousness and provocation of a few scenes.”
    Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta wrote in a social-media post that he had sent messages to the French ambassador to Malta “expressing my distress and the disappointment of many Christians at the gratuitous insult to the Eucharist during the Opening Ceremony.”
    The incident wasn’t the only headache the Games were dealing with over the weekend. On Sunday, the plan to have the swimming leg of the triathlon in the Seine this coming week came under threat as high bacteria levels caused by heavy rain forced organizers to cancel a practice session in the river.
    But the fate of a few triathletes hardly made as much noise as the controversy over the Opening Ceremony.
    For many left-leaning French, the ceremony represented a cri de cœur for multiculturalism that had been pushed to the margins of public discourse for months as France’s snap elections revolved around the anti-immigrant sentiment championed by far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
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    Thomas Jolly, the creative director behind the extravaganza, stood by his vision for Friday’s lavish festivities, which drew NBC’s highest television ratings since London 2012. He had been given a free hand by Paris 2024 to create an unprecedented public spectacle as athletes paraded down the Seine on boats. His other vignettes for the ceremony included a cabaret performance by Lady Gaga, a tableau of decapitated Marie-Antoinettes set to heavy metal music, and the closing solo by Céline Dion on the Eiffel Tower.

    “The idea was not to be subversive—I wanted to send a message of love, of inclusion,” Jolly said. “We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that.”

    Jolly added that “in France there’s freedom of artistic expression.”

    Paris 2024 CEO Tony Estanguet also defended the ceremony as a proudly over-the-top display of Frenchness.

    “The idea was to really trigger a reflection,” he said. “Naturally we had to take into account the international community. Having said that, it is a French ceremony for the French games, so we trusted our artistic director…We have freedom of expression in France and we wanted to protect it.”

    The dinner scene wasn’t the only tableau that generated controversy. Tensions were already high heading into the show after Le Pen lashed out at organizers for selecting Franco-Malian musician Aya Nakamura to sing at the ceremony, describing her as vulgar and not singing in proper French.

    Crowds were stunned when Nakamura took the stage with the facade of the venerable Institute of France, the seat of the official guardians of the French language, rising in the background. Nakamura shimmied with a group of dancers—all dressed in golden outfits that echoed the Institute’s iconic gold-leaf dome. Nakamura afrobeats melody was accompanied by the marching band of the country’s republican guard, a symbol of law and order, which then joined her in a dance move or two.

    President Emmanuel Macron seized on the moment of cultural fusion as the embodiment of his own attempts to find a middle ground between France’s highly polarized political parties. The president swiftly tweeted a terse expression in French that has become his go-to phrase in debates: En même temps. It means “at the same time.”

    Write to Joshua Robinson at Joshua.Robinson@wsj.com and Stacy Meichtry at Stacy.Meichtry@wsj.com
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    foszoe

    foszoe

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    DoggyDaddy said:
    I don't think I have Peacock anymore. If they would show our local news and weather I might consider signing up for it again though.
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    Do you have any streaming boxes or are you linear cable only?

    Any steaming box should have a free wthr or whatever channel you want to watch your news from to download as an app and you can watch it there.
     
    DoggyDaddy

    DoggyDaddy

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    foszoe said:
    Do you have any streaming boxes or are you linear cable only?

    Any steaming box should have a free wthr or whatever channel you want to watch your news from to download as an app and you can watch it there.
    Click to expand...
    I don't know what a streaming box is, so I'm gonna guess no.
     
    foszoe

    foszoe

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    DoggyDaddy said:
    It was available through Xfinity. I do have a couple of streaming services - Paramount+, Tubi, and Pluto (Tubi and Pluto are free).
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    Search for the local nbc affiliate on whatever appstore you downloaded paramount+ and the others from. Wthr or whatever
     
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