DETAILED ACCOUNT ON THE AFCON 2023 OPENING CEREMONY

Finally, the long awaited AFCON 2023 competition is here and began with a glorious performance.

With the AFCON opening ceremony being broadcasted live by different Tv channels and also on You Tube and different websites, indeed it was spectacular . The ceremony began few minutes past 19:00 GMT, on Saturday January 13th at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium and though it did not last long, it was worth it.

Indeed the ceremony was breathtaking and began with a creative dance  performance by several Ivorian ethnic tribes telling their story of their culture, origin and country. Masquerades involved, different ethnic gods, not forgetting the elephant totem being represented and honoured as the head of the  other represented totems. While the performance was going on, one could hear at some point the tune of the Ivorian national anthem being played to show more patriotism to the ongoing artistic dance. As they kept dancing, a smoke was sprayed representing the different colours of the country which is Orange, White and Green.

As the cultural performance finished, it was followed by another group of hip-hop performers who began with a hip-hop dance and later vibed with an Afro pop sensation that matched their dancing styles.

The hip-hop crew were followed by renowned music artists Tayc and Dadju as they gave a wonderful presentation beginning with their duo song from their recent album “Heritage”. They presented the song “I Love You” and it really got the crowd screaming of joy. They later performed several other songs as ; “Django” by Dadju, “Le Temps” by Tayc, “Mon Bébé” by Dadju, “N’y Pense Plus” by Tayc and “Ambassadeur” by Dadju. Their performance got fans going crazy with joy . As they performed , they were accompanied with a dance by the hip-hop dance crew which earlier one presented.

After the two artists performed , the AFCON anthem “Akwaba” was next in line as Ivorian music crew  Magic System, Nigeria’s music diva Yemi Alade, and Egypt’s rap icon Mohamed Ramadan gave the crowd an exceptional performance. As the AFCON anthem was ongoing , a huge trophy emerged in the middle of the field, then golden pieces were pulled out round the performance stage to draw out the African map as shown by the drone footage above the field. Same time the different Ivorian dance crews that performed , displayed the different flags of the African countries participating for the AFCON 2023 competition. As the beautiful show went on, it was graced by fireworks to make the event look more entertaining.

After the AFCON anthem was performed, a mix of songs were played so as to entertain the audience , and enable the field be cleared for the first match that is to go on between AFCON host Ivory Coast and Guinea Bissau.

This ceremony was really a great and special performance in honour of the AFCON 2023. Ivory Coast really did a performance that merits celebration and will enter books as a beautiful history.

As the AFCON 2023 tournament begins, endeavour to not miss this one month of fun and excitement for it is going to catch all your attention.

Delia Nyadi