Singers From Around The World Christen The Tokyo Olympics

by Rohit Barve - 26.07.2021 First Published 26,July 2021, 4:25 PM

If the opening ceremony for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics had spectators, we bet that not a single one of them would have had a dry eye by the end.

Image courtesy:Photo : Natacha Pisarenko/AP Images

The Tokyo Olympics are officially underway and it kickstarted on Friday(July 23) with an emotional opening ceremony at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium that was filled with, um empty seats. COVID restrictions meant that no spectators were permitted to attend but this did not seem to dampen the mood for the event. Athletes from more than 200 countries marched with their respective contingents at the ceremony that was no short of a brilliant spectacle. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from the day!

Japan’s Naomi Osaka lights the cauldron during the opening ceremony I Image courtesy: Natacha Pisarenko/AP Images

Dancers pay tribute to Japan’s rich culture and heritage I Image courtesy:Natacha Pisarenko/AP Images

Wakako Tsuchida attends a torch relay during the Opening Ceremony I Image courtesy: The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP Images

One of the most unexpected surprises during the ceremony was a virtual performance of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine‘ that was put together by artists from around the world including John Legend( representing America), Keith Urban(Oceania), Angélique Kidjo,(Africa) and more! ‘Imagine’ is a piece of highly popular music created by the Beatle’s singer and co-written by his wife, Yoko Ono. She took to her social media handle shortly before the ceremony to share a few words on the song along with an old photo with the late singer.

This is not the first time that ‘Imagine’ has been performed at the Olympics. The official Olympics’ Twitter account also shared a tweet captioned ‘Take a trip down memory lane..’ along with a video that had compiled footages from the previous Games where the song had been played. Take a look.

-Ankitha