GREEN, FESTIVE OPENING SEES SOUTH AMERICA’S FIRST OLYMPICS KICK OFF
With a glittering ceremony incorporating Brazil's popular music forms of samba, bossa nova and hiphop, its diverse but vibrant history, a commitment to the environment and supermodel Giselle Bundchen making the last but longest catwalk of her career, the 31st Olympics got underway here late Friday.
Saying Rio — hosting the first Games in South America — is ready to make history, President of the 2016 Games, Carlos Nuzman, promised to deliver a great experience and turn dreams into reality.
While Kosovo and South Sudan made their Olympic debut, refugees were for the first time recognised as a separate team with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, saying: "We do not just tolerate diversity, but welcome it as an enrichment to our unity." Brazil's Acting President Michel Temer then declared the Games open before to a capacity crowd at the famed Maracana Stadium.
An Olympic Laurel, a special recognition, was given to Kipchoge Keino, chairman of the Kenyan Olympic committee for his contribution to education, development and the Games. The theme of the Olympic Games ceremony called on people to replant and save the planet.
"It's not enough to stop harming the planet, it is time to begin healing it," said the literature explaining the opening ceremony, saying promoting world peace is the basis of the Olympic spirit.
Samba drums and energetic dancing ushered in the Games, with Brazil in a mood to throw a great party in the next 17 days, overlooking months of negative news and troubles which at times threatened to derail the biggest sporting show on Earth.
Preparation problems and political upheaval have marked the run-up to the Games, but on its opening day Brazilians were celebrating, aiming to make the Olympics a success. Fireworks at the end lighted up the spirits of those gathered to witness the show.
Temer was not introduced in the beginning though there was a mention. Presi- dent Dilma Rousseff was suspended following moves to impeach her by the legislators over a massive accounting scandal.
Bach alluded to the troubles by saying, "You have managed this at a very difficult time in Brazilian history."
The three-and-a-half hour ceremony, which opened at 8.00 p.m. Brazilian time (4.30 a.m. IST), reproduced patterns created by local artist Athos Bulcao through volunteers who turned their metallic paper into exotic shapes depicting what the organisers said where the indigenous geometry, African patterns and traditional Portuguese tile design.
Soon the floor of the large stadium, which housed over 60,000 people, was covered with shapes from sea and forests, reminding the packed audience of the need to conserve.
It harked back to a time when Brazil was entirely covered by forests. Sea ice melt and impact of climate change came back in the presentation with hope being depicted in the greening of the cities and rural areas by plantation of seeds by volunteers. Right till the end, when the green Olympic rings were revealed by mirror-hugging volunteers, the green theme carried on.
The greenery soon enough gave way to geometric patterns to show that nature had been taken over by the geometry of agriculture, mining, roads and city plans — not something unique to Brazil but a pattern seen the world over.
The patterns and the people also pointed to the birth of a nation forged from the encounter of natives, Europeans and Africans which also absorbed many waves of migration, including those from the Middle East and Asia.
Then came Gisele Bundchen, to a roaring ovation, in her last catwalk to the strains of iconic song "Garrota de Ipanema" ( The Girl from Ipanema)" as she crossed the length of the stadium in a shimmering, trailing dress, closing her career as the world's best-known model, who had launched dozens of brands and whose face graced the covers of the top fashion magazines around the world.
Popular songs and music often accompanied the performance on the ground. The rhythm and songs from the most underprivileged sections of the country, made famous by the culture coming out of its favelas or urban slums, also found a pride of place as did its raps and the dance which had taken the country by storm.
The organisers said they had jettisoned the high-tech approach and dependence on electronic and mechanatronic effects, changing the paradigm of Olympic ceremonies with an "analogue inventiveness" making the most of the "low-tech spirit, the richness of Brazilian popular culture and the energy and passion of thousands of volunteers".
“You can do much more with heart, without spending," well-known film director Fernando Meirelles, who was one of the ceremony's creative directors, told the media earlier, mentioning that the budget was "far less than" what had been spent at London in 2012 and Beijing in 2008. IANS