All eyes rivetted on Paris for fete du foot

Paris, June 9: They are 60 feet tall and weigh 38 tonnes each. Accompanied by 4,500 dancers and acrobats dressed as roller-blading fish, che...

Paris, June 9: They are 60 feet tall and weigh 38 tonnes each. Accompanied by 4,500 dancers and acrobats dressed as roller-blading fish, chessmen, ostriches and baobab trees, they will bring Paris to a standstill tonight as France celebrates the opening of the World Cup as only the French can: magnificently, but incomprehensibly.

8220;There were several ways of making this festival opening a success,8221; said Pascal Levy-Trumet, the 37-year-old theatre director who devised the 5 million spectacle, which is expected to draw nearly a million goggle-eyed spectators. 8220;It could have been a fixed show in an arena, or it could have been a parade. It could have surprised through the number of its participants, or through the uniqueness of its aesthetics. We have chosen the most difficult way of all: the lot, all at once.8221;

The idea behind this grandiose fete du foot on the eve of kick-off day, according to a colourful brochure from Paris town hall, is to symbolise 8220;the meeting and playful confrontation of peopleand cultures, the universality of football and its World Cup8221;.

The show, set to five hours of music, took two years to organise and involved 500 technicians and 80 choreographers. The city council has painted 15 miles of white lines along the parade routes, demolished four traffic islands, removed 78 traffic lights and pruned thousands of trees.

Representing 8220;the four primary colours of humanity8221;, Pablo, the American Indian giant, will start at the Arc de Triomphe, Moussa the African at the Champ de Mars by the Eiffel Tower, Ho the Asian at the Pont Neuf and Romeo, the white man at the steps of the Opera Garnier.

Propelled by specially-modified fork-lift trucks, the four will make their ways to the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde 8211; transformed for the occasion into an 80 foot replica of the World Cup 8211; where they will join hands for a grand son et lumiere finale that will, Mr Levy-Trumet promises, 8220;reduce everyone to an awe-inspired, childlike state.8221;

In rehearsal yesterday, the giants -huge latex-covered steel skeletons equipped with hydraulic pistons to activate their arms and legs 8211; sent several startled tourists into fits of giggles. 8220;It may be art,8221; 28-year-old said 8220;but what it8217;s got to do with football.8221;