Tonight’s opening ceremony for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will feature, among many people and musicians, the supermodel Gisele Bündchen portraying “The Girl From Ipanama.” Bündchen, wife to quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, might be the most famous Brazilian alive. And “The Girl From Ipanema” is undoubtedly the most famous Brazilian song of all time.
But as I wrote in a feature for Zócalo Public Square, “Even ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ Can’t Save Rio’s Olympics.” Read it to find out why! Here are some of my other Olympics-related stories published this week at Americas Quarterly:
- A ‘School of Rock’ in Rio’s Biggest Favela
- Eight Ways to Not Enjoy Rio During the Olympics
- 10 Things to Do: Rio de Janeiro
I’m curious to see what Bündchen does as the tall and tan and young and lovely “Girl From Ipanema,” while anti-Olympics and anti-government protesters gather just a few blocks away. Whatever happens, it’s still a great song. Here’s the original version:
Frank Sinatra also did a famous version:
