Vanney Daily English-Vol.20 Rio Olympics Opening Ceremony

After A Rough Run-Up, Rio Aims For An 'Awesome' Opening Ceremony August 5, 20165:00 AM ET Bill Chappell Two of Brazil's greatest strengths — its dazzling culture and its flair for spectacle — will power the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics on Friday night. Organizers will unleash samba drums, singers and dancers in a show designed to thrill a global audience and silence the criticism surrounding the preparations. To pull it off, producers had to figure out how to move thousands of athletes and hundreds of performers in and out of a stadium whose field presents a unique problem. As one official explains, "There is no entrance." We'll dig into that later. For now, let's focus on the positive. "I hope that the Opening Ceremony will be a drug for depression in Brazil," film director Fernando Meirelles says in material provided to the media in Rio de Janeiro. Meirelles is one of three creative directors for the show. He's best known abroad as the director of City of God, the 2002 film that shares its name with a favela just five miles away from Rio's new Olympic Park. That film led to an Oscar for Meirelles. The Opening Ceremony's highlights will range from singers such as the legendary Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil to MC Soffia, age 12. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen will also play a role. The idea is to present a strong and beautiful message that drowns out the drumbeat of negative stories we've heard about these Olympics, from construction problems and the threat of the Zika virus to pollution and environmental concerns. And then there's Brazil's economic and political turmoil, which has exacted a toll on Friday's show. For one night, Brazilians hope, all this can be set aside. With the opening ceremony, "Brazilians can look at it and say we are a cool people, we are different ethnic groups, we live together, we never went to war, we are peaceful, we know how to enjoy life and we tend to be happy," Meirelles says. Details about the show have been kept secret, but several pictures emerged from a dress rehearsal held Sunday, along with a few particulars. Early on, expect to see Portuguese ships crossing a virtual Atlantic Ocean to Brazil's shores, followed by the subjugation of indigenous populations through slavery, booms in immigration, and explosive growth that eventually culminates in the creation of sprawling megacities like Rio. Brazil's friendly customs and its natural attractions, such as the Amazon rain forest, will also play a role. In one portion, athletes will be given tree seeds — which will later be planted in the new Athletes' Park. The world will also meet Soffia Corrêa, the 12-year-old rapper who performs as MC Soffia and whose catchy song "Menina Pretinha" — literally, "Nightshade Girl" — is about being proud of her black skin. REF. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/08/05/488696800/-it-s-going-to-be-awesome-a-rio-2016-opening-ceremony-preview