As they patiently waited for 91 other nations to enter the storied stadium ahead of them, they passed the time snapping selfies and soaking up the electric atmosphere.
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Day 1 of the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
There followed the first ever awarding of an “Olympic laurel” to Kenyan running great Kip Keino, before the traditional unfurling of the Olympic Flag, rendition of the Olympic Anthem and recitation of Olympic oaths leaving the traditional cauldron lighting to conclude the dramatic event.
Nuzman’s mention of central government support for Rio 2016’s budget was briefly jeered but he was on safer ground when he told the crowd “the whole world is here and we welcome them with open arms”.
The 2016 summer Olympic Games have officially opened to great fanfare, and amid tight security.
The opening ceremony was decidedly simple and low-tech, a reflection of Brazil’s tough economic times.
The opening ceremony included a tribute to the many nationalities that have contributed to Brazil’s culture – indigenous people, Europeans (who came as explorers and conquerers), Africans (who came as slaves), and Arabs and Asians (who came as immigrants escaping hardships).
It was a heck of a statement, coming after a lengthy segment on global warming.
“We had a very bad rehearsal two days ago, our last rehearsal was a disaster – this might be a good thing, everyone is now very aware”, Meirelles, who also directed the 2002 film City of God, said before Friday’s ceremony.
After the grandeur of Beijing’s opening ceremony in 2008 and the high-tech, cheeky inventiveness of London’s in 2012, Rio’s was expected to be more earthy, with funk, samba and joie de vivre laced with more serious messages from the country with the world’s largest forest, the Amazon, for the need to protect the planet.
The crowd roared when Bundchen sashayed from one side of the 78,000-seat Maracana Stadium to the other, as Tom Jobim’s grandson, Daniel, played his grandfather’s famous song about the Ipanema girl “tall and tan and young and lovely”.
Beginning of life in Brazil.
“Smile is the approach the Brazilians have toward life,”said Marco Balich, the executive producer”.
Space limitations in the Maracana also curbed the creative possibilities for the show.
Palma criticized the city’s failure to keep its promise when bidding for the Olympics to control horrific pollution in the Bay of Guanabara, where sailing events will take place.
Universal, the United States’ exclusive Olympics broadcaster, is planning 6,500 hours of coverage from Rio on 11 different networks and via the Internet, the broadcaster said. The leader who was supposed to preside over the Games, President Dilma Rousseff, was suspended last May to face an impeachment trial and tweeted that she was “sad to not be at the party”.
But Friday night, Brazil did what it does best.
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“The Olympic dream is now a wonderful reality”.
