Rio 2016 opening ceremony: The best and bizarre things to look out for - Gisele Bundchen and Dame Judi Dench

The Maracana Stadium hosts the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games as Brazil looks to put the doom and gloom of the past few weeks behind it and raise the curtain on what will be 17 days of the best the South American nation has to offer.

But what will it offer? Any Olympic ceremony often indicates what is to come over the ensuing fortnight of action, with London’s grand opening a sign of things to come as the capital staged a memorable Olympic Games.

While the build-up to Rio has been blighted by fears over the Zika virus, concerns over health and safety and shock at the extreme poverty that the less fortunate experience in Rio de Janeiro, Friday signals a chance to put that all to one side and showcase the city in its finest light.

We already know that the ceremony will not be as flash as London, or even on the same scale as 2012, given that the money spent on it is around a tenth of the £27m spent four years ago. Film director Fernando Meirelles, famous for his City of God, will coordinate the opening ceremony and explained that he could not justify spending a similar amount to the London showcase given the level of poverty in his home country.

But while the ceremony is set to show the best of Brazil, there could be a few bizarre stop-offs along the way.

For instance, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen will feature prominently, but in what was viewed as a controversial decision, she was set to be mugged as part of the show. Given that crime is one of Rio’s darker habits, why the organisers believed it was necessary to incorporate a mugging scene into the opening ceremony beggars belief.

However, Meirelles spoke to the Washington Post to reveal that the scene was a “tremendous misunderstanding” and had now been axed from the set.

Plans for the appearance of a jaguar, were scrapped after one used in the Olympic Torch ceremony broke free from its handlers and had to be shot, leading to animal rights groups criticising organisers for the use of a live animal in an event the size and scale of the Olympics.

There will also be a seed planting…yes you read that right. The 12,000 athletes that march into the stadium waving their nation’s flag will all plant a sapling in a totem which will then grow into a 12,000-tree forest in Deodoro Olympic Park to promote the Games’ sustainability.

Dame Judi Dench will also feature, following up her James Bond co-star Daniel Craig’s appearance in the London 2012 opening ceremony, although rather than jump out of an airplane the legendary actress will instead join 86-year-old Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro to read classic poem A Flor e a Nausea (Flower and Nausea) to celebrate Brazil’s natural beauty.

However, the biggest question remains who will light the Olympic flame that will burn brightly throughout the Games, with Brazilian football icon Pele the favourite to be given the honour to officially start Rio 2016.