Six Things You Should Know About The Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony

A samba dance group perform on the street while waiting for the arrival of the Olympic torch ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 4, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Olympic flame will be carried through the streets of Rio de Janeiro to Maracana Stadium for Friday’s opening ceremony. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

By NAN Sports Editor

News Americas, RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Fri. Aug. 5, 2016: It’s here! The 2016 summer Olympics and here are six things you should know about tonight’s opening ceremony:

1: First of while the event is set to get under way at 7 p.m. EST tonight, August 5, 2016 but NBC has confirmed that it broadcast for the United States audience from 7:30 p.m. ET/PT.

2: The opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games will take place in the Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro and will combine the formal ceremonial opening of this international sporting event (including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation’s culture. The Olympic cauldron will be lit inside the Maracanã.

3: The creative directors for the ceremony will be the Brazilian film directors Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) and the producer Daniela Thomas (who co-directed the handover from London 2012) and Andrucha Waddington. Deborah Colker, Brazil’s most celebrated choreographer, has been preparing a cast of over 6000 volunteers who will dance in the opening ceremony.  Brazil’s suspended president, Dilma Rousseff, will skip the grand opening following accusations of mishandling government money in 2015. Rousseff is due to appear in an impeachment trial at the end of August.

4: The creative directors are working with a budget totaling only 10 percent of the total budget for the ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

5: Performers for the opening will include Brazil’s Anitta, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil and despite announcing her retirement, Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen will take part in the opening ceremony.

6: It has been estimated that more than 11,192 athletes 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will take part in the 2016 Summer Olympics. Kosovo and South Sudan would be participating for the first time.,

Usain Bolt In Rio

Meanwhile, access to the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, has been scarce for the media desperate to speak with arguably the biggest star of the Rio 2016 Games as he prepares to defend his three Olympic titles.

However, this week a group of children from underprivileged communities surrounding the Jamaican track and field team’s training base were invited to meet the reigning 100m, 200m and 4x100m champion.

In a post on his Facebook page, Bolt shared a photo of him doing his trademark lightning bolt pose with dozens of kids from favela communities located close to the Navy Physical Education Centre in the Penha neighborhood, which the Jamaicans are using as their pre-Games training base.

“They say these children are from the most dangerous communities (favelas) here in Rio. They are our future and I’m very happy I got to meet them,” Bolt wrote.