Russia Soars High Despite Short, Unexciting Opening Ceremony
Vanessa Obioha
Ab World Cup opening ceremonies are usually a spectacle to behold. It avails the host country the opportunity to showcase its culture and beauty to the rest of the world. The fanfare is usually similar to a circus show and involved gymnasts, musicians and other side attractions that depict the spirit of the game. Due to the array of activities involved, opening ceremonies are usually lengthy but that was not the case in Russia yesterday when FIFA World Cup 2018 officially kicked off.
It was the shortest in the history of world cup tournaments. In thirty minutes, English pop-star Robbie Williams and Russian Soprano artiste Aida Garifullina the thousands of football fans with their songs, the Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech, national anthems sung, and the game began.
So fast-paced were the performances that at one blink, moments were missed.
The ceremony began with a pre-recorded video of the violinist Yuri Bashmet and the pianist Daniil Trifonov performing Tchaikovski on a floating platform on the Moscow river. Brazilian football star Ronaldo, a child and Robbie Williams waltzed into the lush green field that accompanied by dancers and other performers. Without much ado, Williams launched into singing ‘Let Me Entertain You’ from his 1997 album ‘Life Thru a Lens’. Just as he was rounding up the performance, the harpist Alexander Boldachev began to play. Aida Garifullina made an impressive entrance by arriving in a firebird. The colourful performers in the pitch played with the firebird’s feathers while Williams returned to perform ‘Feel’, the lead single from his 2002 album Escapology.
The performance quickly segued to another hit track of the artist ‘Angels’. He was joined by Garifullina while 32 pairs consisting of a matching man and a woman dressed in the colours of the participating teams took to the field. Meanwhile 211 kids of the “Football for Friendship” programme waved their flags while spectators held golden stars. Russian model Victoria Lopyreva brought the official ball in. The ball went into space earlier this year, spent some time on the International Space Station and got back on June 3. Ronaldo however performed the symbolic kick by passing the ball to the mascot, Zabivaka. Robbie although not captured on camera performed one last song before Putin took to stage to make his welcome address.
In a rousing speech, Putin whose country won the bid to host the World Cup eight years ago welcomed the world to his country and encouraged them to bask in their hospitality.
“We have been responsibly preparing to host this wonderful event and we have done our upmost for fans, athletes and experts to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of a splendid football feast, and of course we hope they enjoy their stay in Russia, an open, hospitable and friendly country, and meet new friends – people with whom they share the same values.”