WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: 5 THINGS TO KNOW FROM THE PARIS OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY

Lady Gaga dazzled, a mystery man came and went without a trace, some athletes got very wet, and the Olympic cauldron broke new ground

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games officially opened while most of Hong Kong was sleeping, with a four-hour extravaganza that, although enthralling in places, stretched the patience of even the keenest of observers.

Athletes were taken down a 6km stretch of the River Seine, past cheering crowds and high-energy performances from the likes of Lady Gaga, Aya Nakamura and French mezzo-soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel.

With a consistent nod to the country's turbulent history - including a metal band's performance as part of a homage to French Revolution - and its artistic flair, there was something for everyone.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Of course, that is if you managed to stay awake. So, for those who did not, here are five things that happened while you were sleeping:

A vision in pink and black

Spectators did not have to wait long for Lady Gaga's rumoured appearance. In a show broken down into 12 specific sections, the American star was part of 'Enchante', the first tableau.

A theatrical opening sequence, featuring a ballet of water jets, was billed as a 'tribute to the Parisian stage'. The city has more than 300 theatres and over 1,000 galleries, numbers unsurpassed anywhere around the globe.

Gaga belted out Mon truc en plumes, a song from French revue by Zizi Jeanmaire, as part of her routine, which she later said left her feeling "humbled and grateful".

In a post on X, which shot to about 10,000 reshares and 42,000 likes in less than 30 minutes, she thanked the organising committee for allowing her to "sing such a special French song".

The mystery man

Who was the man in the mask who carried the torch throughout the opening ceremony? We may never know, but he was an almost constant presence over the four hours.

Flitting in and out of the show in pre-filmed slots, he first appeared to take the Olympic torch from Zinedine Zidane before the first boat had left the bank.

He slipped into one of the workshops where craftspeople were putting the finishing touches to the manufacture of a case, before transferring to the other side of the Seine, where the final medal of the Olympics was being forged.

The phantom passed through as part of a segment recalling the theft of the Mona Lisa, and was back at the end to hand it to Zidane for it to make its final journey to the cauldron.

Raining on the parade

Unfortunately for the organisers the weather, kind of essential to an outdoor event, opted not to play ball.

The rain started early and never really left, leaving athletes without cover to get progressively wetter as they floated down the River Seine.

This was not a problem for the Canadian delegation, who came prepared with Lululemon-designed ponchos, or Mauritius, who in their flowery shirts and straw hats danced their way through the evening.

Hong Kong enjoy the moment

The city's athletes were determined to savour opening night despite the showers.

They started the day with only handheld fans to deflect the drizzle, but eventually found some umbrellas.

Securing one of the more spacious boats for their cruise down the Seine, the Hongkongers cut a suave, classy presence in their cream jackets and light blue trousers.

Their leading lights were front and centre, as they sent out their two biggest names, Siobhan Haughey and Cheung Ka-long, as flag bearers.

Fencer Cheung looked relaxed, while Haughey and her fellow swimmers wore broad smiles whenever the cameras fell on the team's boat, huddling under brollies.

Jason Ng Tai-long, the only triathlete in their party, streamed most of the evening's proceedings on Instagram, looking ecstatic to be there.

A torch relay

The masked man handing the torch to Zidane was far from the end of proceedings. From there it found its way to Rafael Nadal, who took it on another boat with Serena Williams and Carl Lewis.

When it returned to land, French former tennis player Amelie Mauresmo, NBA star Tony Parker and a host of other famous faces got their hands on it, before it finally found its way to Teddy Riner, the judoka who has won gold at the past three Games, and Marie-Jose Perec, who ran to 400 metres success in 1992, then 200m and 400m in 1996.

The pair finally worked their way to the cauldron, which organisers said would be "extraordinary ... and break new ground".

They weren't wrong, with the cauldron lifted into the air by a hot-air balloon, which was shaped like the one developed by the brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-etienne Montgolfier in the 1780s.