FIFA World Cup 2014 Opening Ceremony As It Happened

Follow live coverage of Brazil v Croatia here

7:42pm: Well that's that. The 2014 World Cup is officially underway and now we can turn our attention to the football bit. Our live blog of the opening fixture will begin at 8pm so change channels to follow Brazil v Croatia but until then, goodbye.

7:41pm: Not that I am complaining but the sound is terrible. All three artists raise their hands in the air and it's all over. Rain drops, footballs and trees join together for one final dance, a last dance if you will, before we reach a conclusion.

7:37pm: Now Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull enter the fray. Pitbull is wearing a Brazil polo shirt with white trousers pulled up to his ears, while Lopez has a questionably wafer-thin green dress on. It's all a bit of a shambles really. They're signing the official anthem "We Are One".

7:35pm: If football's governing bodies have got one thing right, it's to have informed host nations to keep opening ceremonies on the short side. Coming to end to proceedings in Sao Paulo. First Claudia Leitte on stage singing, if the PA system would allow her to be heard.

7:32pm: Now we reach the football section of the ceremony, and the final part. At the moment, several children are playing with hacky sacks on the oversheet on the pitch while men dressed as balls leap around. Pele should be here any moment.

7:27pm: I wouldn't say there is exactly an electric atmosphere in Sao Paulo, slightly timid if you ask me. Presumably this means something to the local, because it looks very random and unorganised so far.

7:25pm: Onto the second part of the ceremony; diversity as learn about how Brazil became a vareid community. In short, there is ample dancing with umbrellas.

7:23pm: The LED ball in the middle is now showing the changing weather conditions in the Amazon, with rain drops now filtering into the stadium, while a women is carried, via canoe, in between the trees.

7:18pm: So we start with the first theme of the ceremony; nature, with a dipiction of Amazonian Brazil the central image. Dozens of dancers dressed as flowers or trees scattered across the surface of the playing area.

7:16pm: Here we go then. The Opening Ceremony is about to get going in Sao Paulo. A video ball in the centre of the pitch is currently saying 'Welcome' in each of the languages of the 32 nations in the World Cup.

7:07pm: Lee Dixon is currently talking about how asthetically pleasing both France and Italy kits have been over the years, as ITV begin their World Cup coverage. Ian Wright now doing a piece to camera. Less than 10 minutes to go thankfully....

7pm: An image from Sao Paulo ahead of the opening ceremony:

6:58pm: Less than 20 minutes away from the start of what will be a colourful, if not brief, opening ceremony. São Paulo's Itaquerão stadium will be at full capacity for the first time, with a temporary stand in place after work on the ground was incompleted. If nothing else, there is something of a safety risk ahead of this ceremony and the opening game given the test event hosted a fraction of the people expected this evening. Fingers crossed it passes without incident.

6:40pm: Before Brazil and Croatia kick-off the tournament in a few hours times, what can we expect from the opening ceremony in Sao Paulo? Well organisers say we will get a taster of the three pillars of Brazilian culture; nature, people and football. Expect a bit of dancing and Pele thrown in also, hopefully not at the same time. Naturally, the 25-minute extravaganza live performance of the official World Cup song "We Are One" from Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez. Am reliably informed the latter will not be taken a ill-advised 'Diana Ross-style' penalty during the evening's entertainment.

6:30pm: After as torrid a build-up to a World Cup finals in recent memory, with the tournament set to begin under a cloud of angry local protests and continued questions of the integrity of Fifa and president Sepp Blatter, it's a relief to finally turn attention to the final's. Welcome to live coverage of the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup finals from Sao Paulo, which comes ahead of the opening game of the tournament between hosts Brazil and Croatia. IBTimes UK will be with you every step of the way over the next four and a half weeks with every twist from what promises to be an eventful finals in the honouree home of the beautiful game.