Top 5 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremonies
You would expect World Cup ceremonies to get better every after the fourth year, but this year Brazil failed to impress. That is why they didn’t make this cut.You should learn a thing or two from previous countries who have hosted, take that and try and make something better and original. Keep in mind you should make it look good. With all the technology and innovations, failure to deliver is not an option. Here is a list of the top 5 world cup ceremonies that impressed.
1) 2010 FIFA World Cup – South Africa
We can conclude that South Africa set a really standard for Brazil, one that they couldn’t beat. After an aerial display by the South African air force, a group of drummers and dancers performed a Welcome to Africa song that included an introduction to all 10 of the tournament’s venues. The next sequence saw a gigantic beetle show off its football skills with the Jabulani – the official football of the finals – before large pieces of cloth were used to show a map of the continent and then the world.
A smoking calabash, depicting the stadium design, represented another side of Africa. Musicians and artists from the other African countries – Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria – also had their chance to perform. Multiple Grammy Award-winning R&B star R Kelly then sang the ceremony’s showpiece song, Sign Of A Victory, with South Africa’s Soweto Spiritual Singers.
The opening ended with a display of flags from the 176 competing member associations that failed to qualify, surrounding those that did, with voices of children sounding out the names of all the 32 qualifiers and then uniting to form a human version of the official tournament logo.
2) 2006 FIFA World Cup – Germany
This was a spectacular ceremony, almost theatrical. This was rich culture portrayed in all the scenes. It begins with German drummers in their German attires. Then there is one constant slapping sound made. A red carpet is rolled out across the stadium. A young girl walking and a boy riding a bicycle enter the red carpet making it look like a fairytale. The girl hands the boy a trumpet and he plays it, he is then joined by choral singers, the orchestra and dancers.
Artists from different countries performed. Shakira performed the 2006 FIFA World Cup theme song and the crowd loved her. She rocked her sexy dance moves.
3) 1994 FIFA World Cup – United States of America
The opening ceremony was emceed by Oprah Winfrey. Diana Ross gave a musical performance. Diana Ross was suppose to end the performance by kicking the ball into the net, yet she kicked it too wide.The ceremony represented all the countries that were participating in the tournament. Every time a country’s name was called out, dancers would come out all dressed in the attire of that country and dancing the traditional dance of that particular country, playing the music too.
The only disappointing about this world cup was the state of the stadium.
4) 2002 FIFA World Cup – Japan
This event was quite intriguing. Korean, Japanese and Chinese people will always get you with their moves. The garments and moves were on point. The event was too cultural if you ask me, way too traditional. It is still one of the best.
Starting with a Japanese troupe of dancers wearing hats, doing the cool moves that will make it seem like they were wearing two garments though it was one, was just awesome. A highlight was the inclusion of the Tv-face Teletubby.
5) 1998 FIFA World Cup – France
Gigantic was the theme of the event. Four big-sized football players were created to represent each continent. Accompanying the giant stars were hundreds of Parisian street performers all showing off France’s natural affinity for cabaret. The event was so colourful.
Things were flying up in the air, dropping down colourful balls and colourful smokes. They had flowers going on the ground. At some point there were people jumping on trampolines, making really cool moves. This kept the crowd going.
