“It showed Brazil has a proud history”, Morgan said about the ceremony.
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“With the Olympic Games as a catalyst you have achieved in just seven years what generations before you could only dream of”.
Bach, however, said the Games were a “catalyst for transforming Rio into a modern metropolis that is even more handsome than before”, while Nuzman said he was the “proudest man alive” that his city had got this far.
There were times after the International Olympic Committee selected Rio ahead of Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid in 2009 when it seemed that the city of 6.5 million people might not get its act together for the world’s greatest sporting mega-event.
The athletes were given tree seeds, plus cartridges of soil. The groups recreated patterns of their art, performing their native dances while holding elastic bands that formed giant huts, known as ocas.
Meirelles, 60, was born in Sao Paulo.
Bach told the crowd we are in a world of crisis mistrust and uncertainty.
To top things off, Bundchen walked the length of the stadium accompanied by the classic Brazilian samba “Girl From Ipanema” as performed by Daniel Jobim, grandson of the song’s composer, Antônio Carlos Jobim. Funk artist Ludmilla delighted the audience with her rendition of “Rap da Felicidade”, an anthem in Rio’s favelas. He had this week said that business deals would prevent him participating. “A flower has sprouted in the street”.
But organisers will hope the focus can now shift to the action in 28 sports, with 207 teams, after the Games of the 31st Olympiad were officially opened.
The country indeed made a statement last night.
One nice touch in NBC’s coverage was having the show’s producers describe what they were going for as the event was unfolding, including a radical tone change from party time to a long segment on the effects of climate change. Many residents are upset over how much money was spent on these games, saying it could have been better-directed toward Brazilian needs.
Call us homers, but it was a little magical to watch Team USA enter the stadium with Michael Phelps bearing the American flag.
He competed in racewalking at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
It drove that message simply with a video presentation and a modest start to finding a solution, offering 11,000 seedlings to the competing athletes which will later be planted in a park in Rio to form an Olympic forest.
The host city had been put under scrutiny and criticized for construction delays and rife crime.
The ceremony concluded with more fireworks and a stunning visual show as the Olympic cauldron was lit and risen into the air.
Brazilian football great Pele will not be attending the Olympic opening ceremony due to ill health. But the word out of Rio de Janeiro has been especially troubling.The biggest question has been whether the financially strapped city could get everything ready on time.
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A demonstrator identifying himself as “Spiderman” said: “Brazil is crying blood”.
