The World Cup opening ceremony will be full of Samba!

In just a few hours, the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup will take place. What has host Brazil done to make a difference for this first World Cup in South America after 36 years?

NATURE, PEOPLE & FOOTBALL

It is no coincidence that the World Cup Organizing Committee chose Franco Dragone - a Belgian choreographer and stage director of Italian origin - as the general director of the opening ceremony. This man born in 1952 is no stranger to the art-loving public with his famous works, especially the film Sun Circus. Having spent a long time researching South American culture, especially Brazil, Dragone understands this football powerhouse very well.

Director Franco Dragone and artists will bring an opening ceremony full of Brazilian colors

“In Brazil, nature, people and football are always intertwined. That is why this is the theme of the opening ceremony of this year’s World Cup,” Dragone told FIFA.com. The opening ceremony will bring to the audience wonderful emotions about the diverse culture of the host country Brazil and the other 31 countries participating in the finals. Dance, music, smiles and above all, the love of football of the Brazilian people will bring fans a real festival.

The highlight of the opening ceremony is the LED ball made from 90,000 light bulbs to create an extremely bright light. After that, there will be acrobatic performances, martial arts, stilt walking... to help Brazilians and the world audience discover unique cultural features, remind them of the anti-racism campaign, and the connection from the ball. The opening ceremony ended with the most anticipated performance: The main song of the 2014 World Cup (We Are One) performed by artists Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte.

SPECIAL CHARACTERS WILL APPEAR

In addition to more than 600 Brazilian artists, the opening ceremony will also feature many famous figures in the world entertainment industry. Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull and Claudia Leitte will perform songs to the music of the famous Brazilian drum group Olodum. More than 60,000 spectators are expected to attend the opening ceremony at Arena Corinthians. In addition, singers such as Shakira, Santana, Wyclef, Arlindo Cruz, Ricky Martin, Sergio Mendez, Carlinhos Brown, Rodrigo Alexey, Beyonce and The Beatles legend, Sir Paul McCartney will also participate in this special festival.
According to the Brazilian press, the World Cup Organizing Committee and the host country's President, Ms. Dilma Rousseff, only invited a few leaders from countries with teams participating in the finals. Instead, the guests were mostly football players. The appearance of "All-time top scorer" Just Fontaine was also a special highlight of the opening ceremony. Then the King of Football Pele and former supermodel Claudia Schiffer will enter the stage with the 2006 World Cup version of the Golden Cup. In addition, more than 150 former world champion players will also attend. These special guests even recreated the image of the Stade de France stadium in the 1998 France final, the tournament in England in 1966...
“The opening ceremony is dedicated to Brazil and its cultural heritage. No matter who you are, you will be moved by the smiles that are always present here,” said director Dragone.

Football Ball 25 minutes

The World Cup opening ceremony will begin at 1:15 a.m. on June 13 and will last 25 minutes. Before that, the Organizing Committee will also spend 1 hour welcoming guests and VIPs to prepare for the opening ceremony.

NUMBERS:
1 - An estimated 1 billion people worldwide are expected to watch the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Brazil this year.

20 - The 2014 World Cup Organizing Committee said that the artists had to practice continuously for 20 hours to prepare for the opening ceremony.

90 -BTC spent 90 million USD just for the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup.

According to bongdaplus