The recently-created team of worldwide refugees marched under the flag of the Olympics in the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Games held at the Maracana Stadium in Brazil on Friday, August 5 (Saturday morning, Manila time). Retracing the history and culture of Brazil from the Portugal era to it’s rise as a city, the ceremony enrapt the viewers around the globe with live performances and a musical show with around 1,500 artists.
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The lighting of the Olympic cauldron followed, with the honor going to Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, a former runner who led the marathon at the 2004 Games until he was attacked by a spectator.
With green Olympic rings and white kites, organisers of the Rio Games tried to stress two very important messages at the opening ceremony: Take better care of the planet, and each other.
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.
The ceremony deviated from its carefully-constructed script within five minutes of the lavish event starting however, when Brazil’s acting president Michel Temer was not announced to the crowd.
Athletes from 205 nations and territories marched behind their flags, joined by a first-ever Refugee Olympic Team of 10 athletes, displaced from Syria, South Sudan, Congo and Ethiopia.
NBC broadcast the opening ceremony on a one-hour tape delay because it wants the entertainment spectacle to be shown completely in US prime time.
Including Brazil’s history of slavery in the opening ceremony brought cheers from many on Twitter.
The show also saw an environmental theme running through the ceremony.
Members of team China take pictures during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 5, 2016.
Brazil’s most-famous song, Girl from Ipanema, was blasted out as supermodel Gisele Bundchen strutted through the arena.
Police used tear gas and stun grenades to subdue the group of a few hundred protesters denouncing what they said was corruption and overspending in preparation for the games, while Brazil struggles through an economic downturn.
“The world needs to know – I am here watching this spectacle from a slum right next to where they are opening the Olympics, and my life has not improved at all”, said Jose Carmo, a 23-year-old construction worker who lives in Mangueira.
This year’s Olympics opening ceremony didn’t disappoint.
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He replaced his ally-turned-enemy, suspended President Dilma Rousseff, who was booed here when she arrived at the World Cup’s inaugural game two summers back. Athletes will compete in 21 sports throughout the day. There will be 207 species of seeds planted, one for each country participating in the Games.
