The greatest show in sport has arrived. The Olympic Games Opening Ceremony is upon us, and we’re here to follow every great photo, video and piece of action live.
Follow us for updates and all the best from around the web from 9am AEST.
All the talk in the lead-up to the Rio Games has been negative. But the Opening Ceremony gives the host nation the opportunity to put on the complete spectacle celebrating everything about the country.
Who could forget the one the London Games put on? And while the 2016 version has just a fraction of the budget that the London one did, it still promises to be a unique celebration of everything Brazilian.
The 31st Olympic Games will be brought to life at the Maracana Stadium in Rio, and there will be plenty of dancing, waving of ribbons and confetti as we usher in the first Games to be held on the continent of South America.
Always kept tightly under wraps, we’ll update this live blog with the best photos, videos and other notable updates from the Opening Ceremony.
We can finally forget about the Russian doping scandal and the development delays that have plagued the lead-up to the even, as athletes from the 206 competing nations (plus a refugee team) are ready to compete in 31 sports over two-and-a-bit weeks, watched by billions.
The budget for all four ceremonies was just over $53 million, meaning we might not get the grandiose spectacle of Games gone by. But the tips are in for what we might rightly expect.
It’s probably going to be a little smaller – focussing less on theatrical effects and more on individual performers. There’s even a tip Katy Perry is going to show up, so we’ll wait for that one.
Samba is expected, being one of the cultural pinnacles of Brazil, and the ladies performing it are tipped to be very good looking, another thing Brazil is famous for.
We’re also expecting Pele to be there to light the Olympic torch. One of Brazil’s best ever athletes was one of the best footballers we’ve ever seen, but there are concerns as to whether he’ll make it due to health concerns.
Some flagbearers of note include Australia’s Anna Meares, Rafael Nadal for Spain and Michael Phelps for the USA.
Let’s find out together! Join us for the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, as we cover it live from 9am AEST.
Pia
Guest
Johnno answer this question, if China host another Olympics and cut the Aussie team's entrance to a commercial, is it ok with you?
Eric
Guest
They did that on purpose, targeting China and China only, each time they aired the opening ceremonies, in 2008 Beijing, in 2012 London, and in 2016 Rio. That is pathetic and does not serve Australia's national interest.
Eric
Guest
aboriginals certainly did not feel good to watch some Aussies' grand ... grand fathers came to this continent centuries ago.
yqs
Guest
As a Chinese person, I also think this is a jingoistic overreaction. I am sorry to see this being blown out of proportion. Ever since the South China Sea arbitration, many of my fellow Chinese have become overly sensitive and possess a strong propensity of politicising everything in the western world, as if we are now untouchable. Please do understand they don't represent all of us. It is not in line with the Olympic spirit to make enemies and create conflict. I'd rather give Channel 7 the benefit of doubt. They paid for the right to broadcast the Olympics then they certainly have to run ads to recoup the cost and make profit. It would be unreasonable to expect zero ads. The timing happens to be unfortunate for us Chinese.
wobaba
Guest
7 has taken its stupidness to a whole new level.
Edward
Guest
Yes, shame on 7!
Beyond the grind
Guest
None of the countries should be skipped by the media for any reason unless you agree that Australia should be skipped while in Russia. The audience can choose to watch or not. But as a media, especially a national media in a country proud of its multicultural tolerance, it is a bottom line to at least APPEAR to care about people and their heritage - that is political correctness. Channel 7 successfully failed the bottom line by delivering the near 1 million Chinese Australians in this country the I-don't-give-**** trio in the first 12 hours of the Rio Olympic: cutting the Chinese entrance to commercial, skipping Beijing Olympics when going through past Olympic cauldron lightings and assigning the Chilean national flag to China in their medal tally forecast. If the media have ever done these on purpose, I'd say that they lack the basic ethnics in media communications and are pathetic. Otherwise they are totally unprofessional and incompetent for the job, which might be better handled by the 9 network!
Beyond the grind
Guest
Agreed as an individual. But remember 7 is not an individual, it's a media with nearly 1 million domestic audience with a Chinese heritage. We all know media are never objective despite that they always appear to be unbiased with political correctness as a bottom line. 7 brings their twisted opinion towards Chinese to a new level by delivering a trio within the first 12 hours. In addition to the commercial episode, the commentary just skipped Beijing Olympics when going through the past few Olympic cauldron lighting part and 7 again managed to get the Chilean national flag for China in their medal tally forecast. channel 7 may have either overestimated their influence to believe they can pass a message to Chinese government or they are too dumb to figure out who the real recipients are of their message. Either way, the media had shown their unprofessionalism by failing to uphold the bottom line of political correctness.
Gavin
Guest
Isn't it quite obvious? In the broadcasting of all country entering the stadium, China was the only country was avoided by the ads. And just now, in the medal projection, 7 once again made a terrible mistake by changing the China's flag.
Chris
Guest
Johnno answer this is it ok for a public media to racial when all your country does all day is praising itself equity and condemning racial discrimination?
jameswm
Roar Guru
See above - coincidence maybe?
jameswm
Roar Guru
Why does everyone think 7 was making a political statement by cutting to ads when the Chinese came in? What exactly IS that point? Is there no chance it was just coincidence? The ceremony went for 4 or 5 hours - they had to cut to ads at some point.
Cathy
Guest
Should've been more specific, the ONLY ad was cut in when Chinese team entering the arena... totally disrespectful and very RUDE. did not expect to see this on a large national media like channel 7!
ronald
Guest
because,aussie just do not feel good to watch the giant contingent of China, or say they love RMB but not people from there...and media has to reflect the sentiments otherwise, the media would be blamed for their support for 'communist china' ...haha.....just get used to it...
70s Mo
Guest
They should have skipped Russia
Glen
Guest
Maybe next time they can rotate it. Skip a different team most Aussies wouldn't give a stuff about. Like maybe Great Britain, Greece or Italy.
Cathy
Guest
Why ads when Chinese team marching through?
Cathy
Guest
Being an Australian Chinese, I'm outraged to see commercial being put on when Chinese athletes were entering. I watched the whole thing and there was no commercial interrupting any other country's team??? I know 7 never liked China but this trick is so LOW!!! I couldn't believe what I saw and being a national TV you could be doing something like this. SHAME ON YOU 7!!! I KNOW THIS WOULDN'T GET POSTED BUT I WANT YOU GUYS THERE TO KNOW WHAT YOU DID WAS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THIS IS OLYMPICS, NO POLITICS PLS!!!
Glen
Guest
That is true. But channel 7 underestimate the diversity of bogans. I consider myself to be an aussie-chinese bogan. We aren't asking for a dedicated channel. Just don't slap an ad over the team walking out.
Johnno
Guest
Once again, a lot of 7 audience is white aussie bogans a large percentage of there audience is. Do you really think they care about all things Chinese?