Millions watched whileBrazil took the audience from the beginning of time through history to themodernday in the 2016 Summer Olympic opening ceremony. From the sea to slavery to industrial growth to Gisele Bündchen, Brazil shared its history with the world. As NBC’s Matt Lauer reminded us, Brazil did not have an Olympic-sized budget, but the money the 2016 Summer Olympics host country did have, it used wisely. The opening ceremony relied heavily on a projection system that minimized the number of sets required. One thing that was not a projection was the representation of Alberto Santos Dumont’s 14-bisairplane. Brazil maintains theactual birth of flight happened in1906 and the Brazilian pilot Santos Dumont was the first to do it. Brazil says “the Wright brothers had no witnesses,” the NBC co-hosts finishedin unison. One of three creative directors for the opening ceremony, Oscar-winning directorFernando Meirelles, stopped the party long enough to introduce another theme: global warming. Lauer said if the Amazon rainforest was its own country, it would be the ninth largest country on the planet.
PHOTOS: Opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio
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