U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and almost two dozen other representatives of national governments were also to be on hand.
Advertisement
Performers decked in silvery suits folded and unfolded glittering silver sheets that transformed into giant cushions they then beat like drums. Fireworks formed the word “Rio” in the skies.
While the opening sequence of the ceremony included a nod to “Gambiarra” – the Brazilian talent for making something great out of nearly nothing – public anger Friday focused on the level of spending on the Games.
But with more than a dash of “gambiarra”, the Brazilian art of quick-fixes and making do, Rio is ready.
“Brazil welcomes the world with open arms”, Carlos Nuzman, President of the Rio 2016 Committee, told the crowd.
The three and a half hour ceremony, which opened at 8.00 p.m. Fewer than 25 foreign heads of state were listed as attending, with others seemingly staying away to avoid giving the impression of taking sides amid Brazil’s leadership uncertainty.
As Brazilian officials took their places, there were shouts of “Out with Temer” from sections of the crowd.
There were magical scenes at Rio’s Maracana Stadium as the first Olympic Games ever held in South America officially got underway on Friday.
It harked back to a time when Brazil was entirely covered by forests.
Anna Meares of Australia leads her team.
Adding that extra half-hour, the 8-11:30 average of a 16.5 was still able to mark the top Friday overnight on any network since Sochi’s opening ceremony in 2014. “We have a very unequal city, a very divided city, and after the Olympics we are going to have an even more divided and segregated city”.
The U.S. team enters the stadium, led by flag bearer Michael Phelps. History’s greatest Olympian will be looking to add to his record haul of 22 medals, in three individual swims plus relays, before the August 21 closing ceremony.
The athletes were given tree seeds, plus cartridges of soil.
The spotlight of the night was on the Russian team, which has been whittled down to 271 athletes from an initial 389 following doping allegations.
Iran picked a woman, archer Zahra Nemati, as flag-bearer for its team made up overwhelmingly of men.
Unlike the opening ceremonies in Beijing in 2008 and London 2012, a financially constrained Brazil had little choice but to put on a more “analogue” show, with minimal high-tech and a heavy dependence on the vast talent of Brazil and its Carnival party traditions. Grammy award winners Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and supermodel Gisele Bündchen were featured.
Due to Brazil’s most intense security operation ever, some among the 50,000 attendees faced two-hour-long lines as Brazil staged its most intense security operation ever. But it was with media members and volunteers from throughout the world, all of us cheering our home countries.
It was a heck of a statement, coming after a lengthy segment on global warming. “We are calling for action”, said Fernando Meirelles, one of the directors of the show.
After seven years of preparations for the opening at the Maracana stadium late last night, organisers hope the start of the Games will turn the page on months of bad publicity for Rio, from polluted water to faulty plumbing at the athletes’ village and worries about the Zika virus.
One of the most anticipated moments was that of discovering which famous Brazilian will light the Olympic cauldron.
“Smile is the approach the Brazilians have toward life,”said Marco Balich, the executive producer”.
Advertisement
The ceremony told the story of Brazil’s development, from pristine rainforest occupied by indigenous peoples to a nation of teeming cities and agricultural plenty, via the colonial influxes and the introduction of slavery.
