The show on the Champs Elysees opens the Paralympics. Mattarella at the ceremony

The setting sun gilds Place de la Concorde and the Obelisk of Luxor: Chilly Gonzales shakes the air with his piano. It is the countdown of Paris and France as they welcome 300 million people to the ceremony live on TV and 65 thousand along the Champs Elysees and in the square. A spectacular ceremony, rich, colourful, full of rhythm and French pride and with an invitation to the revolution of inclusion.

There is only Chilly Gonzales, silence, and then the party breaks out, conceived by Thomas Jolly who christened it 'Paradoxe, de la discorde à la concorde'. A crowd of Men in black takes to the stage where there are ten grand pianos: there are 140 performers and 16 dancers with disabilities in bright colours and full of energy. They are two groups facing each other, the creative gang, who embody uniqueness, and the more serious gang, who are unwelcoming. It is a representation of a society that wants to be inclusive and seeks to continue its efforts in this direction.

After the Hymne de l'amour, interpreted by Celine Dion at the Games ceremony, France plays its best again, with Non, je ne regrette rien by Edith Piaf, in an original interpretation by Christine and The Queens, with Ensemble Matheus. The colours are overwhelming, as French designer Louis-Gabriel Nouchi intended them to be when he designed the 700 dresses for the ceremony. Then came the tricolour fireworks and the audience was warmed up by the very techno and fast-paced music and also by the images bouncing from the big screens almost as if they were kaleidoscopes: welcome to Paris, shouts the actor, paranuotist Théo Curin.

Phryge, the mascot, arrives on stage with a squad of fellow soldiers, and the tricolour of the Patrouille de France marks the sky and opens the parade of teams. It begins with Afghanistan, in beautiful traditional dress. The crowd dances, flags wave as the athletes take their places in the square. Brazil is a squadron, the second largest after China, which never ends, and then Greece, Hungary, Iraq. Italy arrives, with flag bearers Ambra Sabatini and Luca Mazzone. The young girl and the veteran, the woman and the man: the whole of Italy represented in their joy as the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, stands applauding with that sincere and warm smile of his. Alongside the president of the Italian Olympic Committee, Luca Pancalli, is Minister Andrea Abodi. The sky lights up and participates in the celebration with a sunset that exalts the Arc de Triomphe and the roofs of Paris. Evening falls, the Eiffel Tower lights up and the magic.

The parade is long: 168 accredited nations, including the three new entries, Eritrea, Kiribati and Kosovo, and the refugee team, present since Rio 2016. And who received great applause, as did the delegation from Ukraine, led by the president of the Paralympic Committee, Valery Shushkevych. To close, Australia (with the 2032 Games), the United States (Los Angeles 2028) and France, overwhelmed by the all-standing audience and enveloped by the notes of Oh, Champs Elysées by Joe Dassin. A triumph, before they started competing.