Rio 2016 opening ceremony: beating heart of Brazil's musical heritage reveals deeper message

 A joyful sashay through Brazil's extraordinary musical heritage was infused with a social message and a warning over the dangers of climate change as Rio de Janeiro drew back the curtain of the 2016 Olympic Games with a highly charged opening ceremony."Past the risky point" is how creative director Fernando Meirelles described the state of the planet hours before the ceremony in the Maracana Stadium, and the Oscar-nominated director of City of God made good on his promise to urge the expected three billion-plus television audience to sit up and take action. 

 The flame is lit by marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (Photo: Getty Images/Ezra Shaw). 

 Giant, NASA-inspired heat maps showing the projected effect of sea-level rises on cities including Amsterdam, Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro were displayed, while the sight of smiling musical legends Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veleso delighted the watching thousands.The Amazon featured heavily, with one section highlighting the birth of the world's biggest rainforest inducing gasps of delight as clouds of luminous yellow butterflies engulfed the iconic football stadium.