In English it translates to “River of January,” but the most important month this year for Rio de Janeiro is August. The city has recently been plagued with many setbacks including politics and the Zika virus. Will this stop the games?
NEVER!
The athletes worked too hard for this. The people of Brazil worked too hard for this. WE, the audience, worked too hard for this. Well, we didn’t really do much, but you get the point. The Olympics are too important to ever be destroyed or discontinued. At its core, the Olympics should exemplify humanity, as a species, in its finest hour.
Arguably one of the most magical moments of the Olympics, the opening ceremonies have been always been a spectacle of hope and pride. With all of its pomp and circumstance, the sights and sounds of the Olympic opening ceremonies strike a chord of joy and respect for our fellow nations around the world.
Here are some reminders of how past Olympic opening ceremonies have filled us with happiness through music and imagery.
The 2008 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, China. Stunning visuals were the feature of this opening ceremony. Here are synchronized percussionists hit their Fou drums with intense precision.
The 2010 Winter Olympics ceremony in Canada. Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams, both themselves Vancouver residents, performed "Bang the Drum,” which was written by Adams and producer Jim Vallance as a tribute to the Olympic athletes.
The 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London, England. The night's ceremony was filled with rich music straight from the motherland including music provided by Paul McCartney and the London Symphony Orchestra. Also, how could you forget when the James Bond theme played and a stunt double, dressed as the Queen of England, jumped out of an airplane!
The 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Sochi, Russia. The Sretensky Monastery men's choir sang the Russian National Anthem, music from the famous ballet Swan Lake, and as the fireworks soared we heard the beautiful classical music from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty.