Leading up to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, there have been some bumps in the road: a spike in crime in Brazil, a lack of security, a president facing impeachment, pollution andBrazil’s economic strain to name a few. The world is waiting to see if Brazil can pull it off. Will Brazil’s opening ceremonycreated with less than half of the $42 million London spent in 2012, as Vox reported, the world will soon find out if the opening ceremoniesin Rio will be a spectacular or a disaster. Opening ceremonies are a big production that includes lighting, dancing, singing, thousands of volunteers… hey, what could go wrong?
Check out these past Olympic opening ceremonies wins and losses:
Remember that time a little girl got caught lip-syncing because the actual singer had bad teeth? That was 2008 in Bejing.
Soul queen Diana Ross really had the crowd going in 1994. It was the first time the Summer Games were being hosted by the United States. All Ross had to do was get a soccer ball past a goalie who was in on the secret— it was planned that Ross would make the goal— when she wiffed and missed. To top it off, the goal fell apart.
Picture it: 1988. Seoul, South Korea. Doves are released in a magestic opening spectacular.
This part you might not want in your mind’s eye.
The birds of peace perched on the lit Olympic Torch and well…
Flambé anyone?
The day the fifth ring decided it wasn’t coming out to play is a day Putin might never live down. The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi were hyped up and protested due to economic, social and humanitarian issues in the country.
Baron de Coubertin Pierre de Frédy wanted to bring back the ancient Olympic games, and he did. During the first Olympic Games in 1912, the baron wrote a letter to a friend and on the top, he drew five colored rings. The five rings represented the five inhabited areas of the globe at the time, Mental Floss reported. In 1915, the five rings became the official symbol of the Olympics.
“A white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red … is symbolic; it represents the five inhabited continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colors are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time,” de Frédy reportedly said.
Blue stands for Europe; yellow stand for Asia; black represents Africa and green for Oceania. The red? That one stands for the Americas.
Hey wait a second. Is Putin trying to tell us something?
