Rio Olympics opening ceremony highlights Brazil, environment

“I’m not in physical condition to take part in the opening ceremony”, Pele said in a statement, per The BBC. The ceremony will reportedly feature a song highlighting the country’s number of road accidents, and Brazilian model (and Tom Brady’s, 38, wife) Gisele Bundchen, 36, was supposed to get mugged.

Rosie MacLennan, Canada’s flag-bearer and its only gold medallist from the 2012 London Olympics, wore a wide grin as she waved the Maple Leaf.

Samba and pop music singers are expected to perform, including Grammy award winners Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

The floor of the stadium will be a vast stage for projections, a substitute for more expensive structures in a nod to Brazil’s economic troubles.

In all, 4,800 performers and volunteers will be involved in the show created to showcase Brazil as a garden of the world.

“Smile is the approach the Brazilians have toward life”, said Marco Balich, the executive producer.

Athletes in the Olympic Village have also posted further video footage of incomplete rooms and water leaks, raising more questions over the suitability of hosting the event in Rio de Janeiro.

The Rio Olympics, the first to be held in South America, are being held at a time of heightened concerns of terrorism following attacks in European cities inspired by Islamist extremism.

It is uncertain if the bags have been stolen or lost in the transfer from the holding camp in Belo Horizonte, with the British Olympic Association trying to track them down.

Brazil’s political crisis could crash the party as interim President Michel Temer opens the Games. NBC will broadcast the opening ceremony on a one-hour tape delay because it wants the extravaganza to be shown completely in US prime time. In a bitterly divided country, protesters are encouraging spectators to boo Temer, who took over after the Senate voted to subject leftist President Dilma Rousseff to an impeachment hearing this month.

Millions of television viewers from around the world are expected to watch the three-hour ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night, which culminates in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.