Rio 2016 Olympics opening ceremony - As it happened

One final fire work display brings an end to a brilliant night. So far, so good Rio, let's keep it going.

And here comes the flame! French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten brings it into the Maracana before handing it over to basketball player Hortência Marcari. She carries it up the stage to Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima who lights the flame for Rio 2016.

There's time for one last samba show kicks off before the lighting the cauldron.

We are still going here. We've had the Olympic anthem, we've had the oaths, just need the torch lit.

The Olympic flag is now carried in by some of Brazil's sporting greats, including icon of women's football Marta.

BOOOOOOO. Temer's presence goes down as everyone expected. He declares the Games officially open as quickly as possible and we move on.

Brazil's interim president Michel Temer now has the mic. This ought to be good...

It's all very grandiose from Bach. "We are living in a world of selfishness," he lectures. It's difficult to listen to someone from the IOC harp on like this.

Bach says: "We live in a world of crisis, mistrust and uncertainty. Here is our Olympic answer. The 10,000 best athletes in the world competing with each other and at the same time living peacefully together, sharing their meals and emotions."

Thomas Bach has been speaking for AGES.

After all the athletes had made the way into the Maracana, the fireworks weren't bad.

Nuzman rescued that well and signs off in style before handing things over to IOC president Thomas Bach.

Uh oh. Nuzman's speech is going swimmingly until there is a reference to the Brazilian government. Boos quickly follow,

Nuzman says: "Brazil welcomes the world with open arms. I am the proudest man alive."

One more spectacular firework show erupts before President of the Rio 2016 committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman, a former volleyball Olympian, addresses the crowd.

That's it! Everyone is here.

And here comes Brazil! The Maracana is suddenly doused in green as 477 athletes home athletes dance their way out.

The team of 10 refugees gets an enormous cheer from those in attendance at the Maracana. You can read their stories here.

Jamaica were a huge hit when they walked out earlier, even if Usain Bolt wasn't in attendance.

Etimoni Timuani, the sole representative of Tuvalu, makes his way out. The 24-year-old is a footballer in the Tuvalu A-Division but he will run in the 100m qualifiers next week.

Tonga's Pita Taufatofua leads his country out and he has gone heavy on the oil. The taekwondo hopeful looks a bit more WWE this evening.

Serbia, led by Ivana Anđušić Maksimović, are out with Novak Djokovic in tow. He is another tennis superstar yet to taste Olympic success. After picking a bronze medal in 2008, he returned to London in 2012 where he was beaten in straight sets by Andy Murray in the semi-finals. With every other honour in professional tennis already won, can he add Olympic gold?

And here come... Russia. What will their reception be like? Not too bad, actually. There is a smattering of boos around the Maracana, but it's all faily ambivalent.

A beaming Rafael Nadal led Spain out earlier this evening.

Portugal make their way out in their traditional dress of blue jeans.

It is starting to fill up a bit at the Maracana. We are down to P in the list as Poland join the party.

Panama make their way out... no hats to report.

Norway make their way out in gear that has a very early-90s Premier League away shirt feel to it. I'm a fan.

Moldova make their way out now with British-born Aaron Cook among their party. The 25-year-old won gold for Great Britain in European Championships in 2010 and 2012 but after a falling out with taekwondo authorities, switched allegiances.

David Katoatau dances his way down the line as he leads out Kiribati. The champion weightlifter gave us a first look at his sweet, sweet moves at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow two years ago.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce leads the bouncing Jamaica team out. Usain Bolt in amongst it somewhere.

A word from Pele after he was forced to withdraw from tonight's ceremony.

Sticking my neck out on the line here, reckon we might see a few more of these over the next few weeks.

USA. USA. USA. Etc, Etc.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray leads Team GB out. Mo Farah, Nicola Adams, Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford, Alistair Brownlee and many more follow in tow, hoping to recreate the British gold rush that took place in London four years ago.

Speaking of Team USA...

Team USA have arrived. All 560 of them.

The Spanish lads are rocking as they make their way out, led by Rafa Nadal. One of tennis' all-time greats missed the chance to carry his country's flag in London four years ago; this is a huge moment for him.

Ecuador make their way out. Which means we are obliged to post this.

Team Canada join the party.

The huge Mijaín López Núñez leads Cuba out. The Greco-Roman wrestler has two gold medals to his name already.

Anna Meares leads Australia out.

China's huge team is out, led by fencer Lei Sheng.

Just to let you know, there will be absolutely zero speculation in here over whether Andy Murray will carry the GB flag with one hand or two later on.

Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa leads his country out. Plenty more still to come.

The Bermuda team walk out in... Bermuda shorts. It's now up to Panama to walk out in the appropriate head gear later on.

Australia's 421-strong team marches out, led by gold medal-chasing Anna Meares.

Argentina, the old enemy of Brazil, march out to a few boos.

I told you things would get weird.

Germany are on their way out at the moment. Last time this many Germans marched through the Maracana they had just inflicted the most humiliating defeat in Brazil football's history in that infamous World Cup semi-final.

As tradition dictates, Greece march out first, led by Sofia Bekatorou.

Judi Dench! She reads out the poem "A Flor e a Náusea" to conclude that slightly bleak reminder of how terrible we've all been. Never mind all that for now, though, her come the athletes!

Things have got well serious now. All that dancing, joy and fun has been replaced with a sombre look at what an awful mess we've made of the planet. Rising sea levels, pollution, CO2, all the bad stuff.

Apparently this was Gisele's last ever catwalk? Not a bad show to do it at if so.

Now there are hundreds down there, dancing away. Lots and lots of colour, looks like someone and smashed a lava lamp down there.

Is this a sing-off? A few interchangeable Brazilian pop stars hit the stage at the same time. Now it's time for some break dancing.

Not bad, Rio. Not bad.

Things are moving on quickly. Super model Gisele saunters across the stage and then we quickly move onto a tribute to some more favela music. It's all going well, but then suddenly some drops in a dubstep wobble. Moving on.

Now we have a tribute to Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Brazilian inventor who, depending on who you ask, beat the Wright brothers to the punch in inventing the first ever plane. He jets across the stretch of the Maracana in a hastily knocked up late model.

The 'Metropolis' stage starts off with what I can only describe as what looks like the most mental game of Tetris I've ever seen.

More folk arrive from Africa, the middle east and east Asia. Now we are stepping up a gear to the 'Metropolis'.

The dancers have gone all Transformers and formed together to create ships to symbolise the arrival of Portuguese settlers on Brazilian soil.

Here's the moment the Brazil flag was raised for the first time tonight.

Now we've moved onto a representation of the Amazon and settlers rocking up on South American soil for the first time.

The first theme on show is 'the birth of life', or something like that. Microbes? Is that what these are? I'm already confused.

Paulinho da Viola provides a simple but elegant rendition of the Brazil national anthem as the country's flag is raised. Not bad at all.

First potential hot point of the night, IOC president Thomas Bach is given a shout out and receives warm applause from those in attendance as he does. Interim president of Brazil Michel Temer might not get the same joy a bit later.

After a opening montage of all things Rio (beaches, football in the street, you get the picture) we are back to the Maracana where the countdown begins...

Here we go then. What have you got, Rio?

I won't lie to you, readers; things could get weird tonight.

There are 10,500 athletes in Rio for the biggest two weeks of their life. Tonight's opening ceremony is really the only occasion they have to take it all in before it ends, and they have been loving the build-up. IBTimes UK look at some of the best social media posts from the athletes out there.

You know things are tense in Rio when Olympic organisers already have plans in place to drown out the sound of boos during tonight's opening ceremony. Interim president Michel Temer will formally declare the Olympic Games open but, according to newspaper Folha, organisers plan to pump in the tunes as soon as he stops speaking. They add his speech will be just 14 words long.

Andy Murray will proudly lead Team GB out this evening. Four years on from providing some of the most iconic moments in the history of British sport, the hunt for more gold is on.

Hang on. We are just over 40 minutes away from the start of the opening ceremony and it is safe to say it's looking rather sparse around the Maracana. It could be a theme that continues over the next two weeks, with some 1.5 million tickets remain unsold to other competitions. Read the full story here.

We were all expecting Brazil's most iconic sportsman Pele to light the cauldron at the Maracana tonight. But the three-time World Cup winner has been forced to pull-out of tonight's showcase due to poor health. A statement from the 75-year-old read:

Dear friends, only God is more important than my health. In my life I have had fractures, surgeries, pain, hospital stays, victories and defeats, and respecting those who admire me.

"I've always tried not to disappoint my family and the Brazilian people. At this point, I'm not physically able to attend the opening of the Olympics. "And as a Brazilian, I ask God to bless you all.

The Maracana is already lit up ahead of a long night in Rio.

Tonight is supposed to be a party, however. So what can we expect from the show? Officials have remained tight-lipped over the itinerary for the night, but Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen and Dame Judi Dench are down to have roles to play.

You can read about a few of the other names expected to show their faces tonight here.

Fernando Meirelles, director of City of God is the man behind tonight's show. How has he described it? "Bargain-basement." Oh.

It takes something special to put a downer on a party in Rio de Janeiro, but a doping scandal for the ages has done its best to do that. Following the unveiling of "state-sponsored doping" deeply embedded in Russian sport, it looked at one point that no Russian athletes would be making the trip to South America.

With all track and field athletes banned, the possibility of a blanket ban loomed, only for the International Olympic Committee to instead pass responsibility to individual sporting federations. The end result? 70% of the Russian team will compete as planned. It leaves a bitter taste.

Away from sport, there are mounting problems in Brazil. The country's recession has fuelled the ill-feeling spreading through Rio with crime soaring. The unmistakable flamboyance of Rio will be at odds with a heavy security presence, with 88,000 police and troops deployed in Brazil to protect locals and as many as half a million sports fans travelling in.

The threat of the Zika virus has had some question whether the Games should even go ahead. Many of golf's biggest names have cited fears of the virus as reason enough to not travel to Rio, while the World Health Organisation has recommended pregnant women also avoid travelling.

The spotlight falls on the iconic Maracana in Rio de Janeiro this evening. The 2016 Olympic Games officially begin, but forces have conspired to ensure that the giddy euphoria that usually accompanies the start of the most celebrated competition in sport has been tempered somewhat.

Brazil's political crisis and a litany of social and economical woes and the looming threat of the Zika virus have provided a darker backdrop to one of the most colourful cities on the planet. Oh, and what has perhaps been the biggest doping scandal in sporting history has hardly helped matters. But with so much to negate what is supposed to be one of the most celebrated night's in the sporting calender, Rio, the carnival capital of the world, will try to get us in the mood this evening.

Events may have actually started two days ago in the women's football event, but tonight, Rio will officially lift the curtain on the 2016 Olympic Games. Over the next five hours with billions watching from home, the city will show us the best it has to offer.