Rio Promises “Coolest” Olympic Opening Ceremony

Rio de Janeiro, 02 Dzulqa’dah 1437/05 August 2016  (MINA)  – The opening ceremony for the 2016 Rio Olympics will be the “coolest party” ever, organizers said Thursday, though they acknowledged having to make do with a much smaller budget than their recent predecessors.

“Athens was classical, Beijing was grandiose, London was smart – ours is going to be cool,” filmmaker Fernando Meirelles, creator of “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener,” was quoted by foxnews.com as telling a press conference.

Meirelles, the event’s creative director, was joined in front of reporters by executive producer Marco Balich, who urged the 12,000 Olympic athletes “to join what is going to be the coolest party they have participated in.”

The spectacle will unfold Friday night at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana stadium.

Asked about rumors that Brazilian soccer great Pele will light the Olympic flame, Meirelles and Balich said they still didn’t know who had been chosen for that honor.

“The message that should be taken home from the ceremony is the importance of tolerance,” Meirelles said. “The world is very tense, the political situation here is tense, in the U.S. with (Donald) Trump, the U.K. with Brexit. This is shown in the ceremony and the solution that comes through tolerance.”

“Also, we need to stop attacking our home. The whole planet is under threat, the human race is under threat. There is a strong aspect on this,” the award-winning director said.

The event will feature 500 musicians – including stars Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso and Elza Soares – and the recitation of poem in English and Portuguese by Dame Judi Dench and Brazil’s Fernanda Montenegro, respectively.

Some 3 billion people are expected to watch the live broadcast of the ceremony. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)