We’ve hit carnival time. 1,500 dancers rush on to the field (I didn’t
count them, it says that in the media guide) and have a general party.
They then invite members of the audience to join them in the party.
Vladimir Putin is yet to show us his samba skills though.
Seeing as every opening ceremony has to have a cute kid at some
point, we now have 12 year-old MC Sofia rapping alongside Karol Conka
while break dancing, capoeira and general merriment ensues in the
background. If you want to know more about MC Sofia, you can read our
story here:
Sonia Guajajara, head of The Association of Indigenous Peoples of
Brazil, tells the Guardian she is unimpressed by the interpretation of
history earlier in the show:
“The images are beautiful but they hide
the reality,” she said. “That the Amazon is threatened with extinction
from logging and fires and the growing demand from soy and beef. So much
from demand for what people eat in other countries. We are not
folkloric we are real and we are the only ones who can protect the
forest.”
We knew it was coming eventually. Here’s the Girl From Ipanema,
apparently the second-most recorded song in history behind the godawful
Yesterday by the Beatles. The song is sung tonight by Daniel Jobim, the
grandson of the song’s composer, Tom Jobim and we are all reminded that
it is 20 MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN YESTERDAY. You’ll want to know who
The Girl is though. Why, it’s supermodel Gisele Bundchen who is really
good looking, and is known to US viewers as the partner of Patriots
quarterback Tom Brady, who is also really good looking.
Gisele is now walking and when she passes each one she passes goes
“ah”. I can also report she is walking like a samba that swings so cool
and sways so gentle. She’s looking straight ahead but I’m pretty sure
it’s not at me. And she’s still walking! She’s just passed but she
doesn’t see. I’m sorry, she doesn’t see.
This is Gisele’s retirement from the catwalk apparently. We’ll miss
her she was great at the Givenchy 2007 show: she gave it 110% and it was
her best performance IMHO.
Gisele Bundchen does her thing for the last time. Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images
We have video of Santos Dumont, one of the early pioneers of powered
flight, cruising over Rio at night. The actor playing Dumont has a
killer moustache.
So, the people of Brazil have arrived and now it’s time for them to
build cities for art, culture and McDonalds. We get a great display of
parkour with people running over a simulation of the rooftops of Rio.
Next up is the arrival of the Europeans, Africans and Middle Eastern
people. The Portuguese are first, in ships crossing the Atlantic and
they’re shown encountering the indigenous population. We’’re then
reminded of the fact that slavery existed for 400 years in Brazil and
Africans are shown in shackles making their way to join the Europeans
and indigenous people, there’s plenty of art reminding us of the huge
part African culture has played in the formation of Brazil. Finally,
immigrants from the Middle East and Asian arrive, making up the final
part of the current Brazilian population.
Performers walk in shackles symbolising the slavery which existed for 400 years in Brazil. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
Right, we’re going to be taken through the history of Brazil now. And
we’re starting waaaay back – as far back as pre-internet times! We’re
shown the very start of life on Earth and then the Brazilian rainforest
before the arrival of Europeans. This looks a bit like the Tree of Life …
but a lot shorter and with a more understandable plot.
Soon, we see the dance and music of the indigenous inhabitants of
Brazil. The art is created with huge elastic bands. Again, this segment
is more simple than London or Beijing but no less effective.
Thomas Bach, the IOC president, is introduced - he’s not booed like
Sepp Blatter was at World Cups in his days of ruin. And then a lovely
rendition of the Brazilian national anthem by Paulinho Da Viola, as the
Brazilian flag is raised with athletes draped in the flag looking on. A
simple, classy opening.
Fireworks explode around the Maracańa. Photograph: Elsa/Getty Images
As it’s an Olympics
opening ceremony, we start with a lot of people – 1,000 we are told -
holding up tiles to create some pretty shapes, and a countdown from 10
to 0. Then we’re hit by another opening ceremony favourite – drummers –
who help create a storm of noise and movement out of which rises the
peace symbol. But wait! It’s inverting! Has Brazil used this ceremony to
covertly usher in the apocalypse? No - phew. The symbol actually looks
like a tree upside down, and this is a sign of the environmental message
we’ll be getting in this ceremony. That or the end of days, anyway.
Fireworks explode while dancers perform at the start of the ceremony. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
We’re close now, the stadium is bathed in a blue-purple light and the
noise in the Maracańa is rising. We’re treated to early shots of the
ocean breaking on Rio’s beaches. And then, inevitably, football. Not the
2014 World Cup semi-final, mind.
If you’re expecting a comparable experience to the Beijing or London
opening ceremonies then you may be disappointed. Because the Rio
organisers have decided shipping in 12 millions drummers may be a waste
of money. Tonight’s ceremony is estimated to cost something like 5% of
the Beijing opening ceremony and 10% of the London one.
It’s a little known fact that the Olympics
isn’t just about various officials from around the world getting free
tickets to sporting events. There are athletes here too. And we’ve
compiled a handy list of the 100 most compelling ones to watch over the
next few weeks:
The streets of Rio are quiet tonight so far, despite some predictions of strife. Here’s Jonathan Watts on the ground:
A protest in Cinelandia had been called on Facebook (the usual medium
to rally the disaffected to demonstrations) but nobody showed up.
Another called at Maracana also appears to have come to naught. So far
this evening’s threatened anti-government or anti-Olympic activity has
been less than a damp squib.
Our own Bryan Graham is at the stadium, and says security is tight:
If the Maracanã Stadium is not the most safeguarded public space in
the world right now it certainly feels like it. The atmosphere around
the 66-year-old ground, one of only two venues to host two World Cup
finals, can best be described as a demilitarized zone: roads have been
closed throughout the area with only official vehicles granted clearance
through security checkpoints. As our bus from the main press center in
Barra made the final approach, uniformed officers from a various forces
and agencies could be seen scattered throughout the area: positioned on
ramps and nearby rooftops, inspecting trash bins, moving about in loose
formations.
And Jonathan Watts, out Brazil correspondent, says there have been
outbreaks of trouble around the city but not as bad as the last time the
country hosted a major event:
The demonstrations do not seem as big or as violent as those before
the World Cup in 2014, but there is still clearly a lot of frustration.
The latest in Saens Pena has just been broken up by Military Police
shock troops, apparently using percussion grenades. Families in the main
plaza were sent running, according to Chris Gaffney, a senior
researcher at the University of Zurich. He said the police response was
disproportionate because the crowd was peaceful and the demonstration
had begun winding down from a peak of about 450 people to about 150 -
and were outnumbered by almost twice that number of police.
The biggest protest so far was at Copacabana earlier in the
afternoon, when several thousand people - many wearing the red of the
ousted Workers Party government - called for the removal of the interim
president Michel Temer with chants of “Fora Temer” (Temer Out). It
mostly passed peacefully, though there were reports of police using
pepper spray.
Be part of an experiment by the Guardian US Mobile Innovation Lab as we test web notifications throughout the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
We’ll be sending experimental notifications providing a daily medal
count leaderboard, news quizzes, live morale meters during big events,
and real-time medal notifications for your favorite countries. These web
notifications are currently only available on Chrome, so if you have an
Android mobile phone (Samsung, included!), we hope you’ll sign up. Click here to sign up for the experiment.
Unfortunately it won’t be Brazil’s most famous athlete,
Robinho
Pele. The football legend will be unable to attend tonight’s
ceremony due to ill health. “At this point I’m not physically able to
attend the opening of the Olympics,” the 75-year-old said in a
statement. “As a Brazilian, I ask God to bless all who participate in
this event and to make it a great success.”
Sources confirm that Robinho is still available though, although
three-time French Open tennis player Gustavo Kuerten is many people’s
tip to step in.
At London 2012 we got Danny Boyle who is best known for
Trainspotting, a film about people having a good time on drugs before it
all goes wrong. Tonight we have Fernando Meirelles who is best known
for City of God, a film about people having a good time on drugs before
it goes REALLY wrong. Any Japanese directors who fancy a go at the Tokyo
2020 ceremony may want to start thinking about a project involving the
Japanese underworld right about now.
Rumours are that tonight’s ceremony will contain environmental
themes, warning of the dangers of deforestation and climate change.
Expect, therefore, Donald Trump to deny the ceremony is taking place.
The crowd rehearse before the start. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP
Hello, and welcome to live coverage of the opening ceremony of the [checks year] 2016 Olympic Games
in Rio. The Beijing ceremony in 2008 gave us the most impressive
choreography this side of a One Direction concert, while 2012 gave us
the sight of the Queen parachuting out of a helicopter with James Bond
as she played warm-up to the most important person in Britain, David
Beckham.
So what have Brazil got in store for us? Well, apparently they’ve been channeling the spirit of ... MacGyver,
the 80s TV spy who would spend each episode desperately trying to get
himself out of trouble by cobbling together every day junk:
“Our budget was not on a par with expectations and we got used to
this – makeshift improvising, being MacGyver,” said Daniela Thomas, a
film director on the team who also oversaw Rio’s contribution to
London’s ceremonies in 2012. “We have to do it with the resources we
have but this is not a problem. Out of this MacGyver-ing came what was
basically pure creativity.”
Let’s hope this doesn’t end up being a metaphor for the entire Games.
copy https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2016/aug/05/olympics-opening-ceremony-rio-2016-live
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