The ball in the centre has opened up - and disappointingly there's no Spinal Tap style reveal of Jennifer Lopez. Missed a trick there.

If you are in Brazil, and you can dance, get in touch with the organisers and they'll get you in for the closing ceremony.

What's this now? A Brazil flag is making its way to the middle.

Image source, AFP

Aaaron:, external This must be one of the most peculiar opening ceremonies ever.

Martin:, external This opening ceremony is trippy. And here comes the Forest of Fangorn?

BBC Radio 5 live

South American football expert Tim Vickery on BBC radio 5 live: "The stakes are so high for Brazil. I knew some of the players who lost the World Cup on home soil against Uruguay in 1950. I can tell you that they went to their graves haunted by that defeat.

"Neymar has so much pressure on him, he is going to be hero or villain. It's difficult to see Brazil winning the tournament if Neymar doesn't come to the party and the team is set up for him to shine. When he said at the Confederations Cup last year that he would wear the number 10 shirt he was making a declaration: 'I am the man.' Well we are going to find out.

"Manager Luiz Scolari is totally unconcerned by his form at Barcelona- where let's not forget he is second fiddle to Lionel Messi. For Brazil he plays behind a target man in Fred and that is how he likes to play. Fred is not the most mobile perhaps but he is gifted with his back to goal and can lay the ball off to Neymar coming in off the diagonal."

There's still dancing going on. Imagine the London 2012 ceremony, but with 90% less people. Or fireworks. Or bands. Or anything remotely impressive.

It's more of a village fete in the middle of the stadium.

Image source, AP

We've been asking who you are most looking forward to seeing in this summer's footballfest? Is there anyone you are desperate for your team to sign? Any inside info on who the ones to watch may be?

Chris:, external Croatia's kit is by far my favourite of any national side. I don't know why it works, it just does.

Ed:, external As I've said before every major tournament since I was born: I've got a good feeling about England this year.

Alistair:, external It's just impossible not to get excited about the World Cup!

Work on composing the soundtrack for the Opening Ceremony began two and a half months ago, and changes were made to it as a result of the rehearsals and prior to final mixing.

I can also tell you that 15 seamstresses put in 240 hours of work to fashion the 120,000 metres of fabric, 50,000 metres of thread and 50,000 sequins and glass beads into the works of art on display.

Or something.

The game starts in 90 minutes...

Image source, AFP

Brazil legend Cafu, a World Cup winner in 1994 and 2002, tells BBC World Football his country have a 90% chance of winning the tournament:

"We can't place all of our hopes onto one single player because Neymar can't win the World Cup on his own. If the rest of the team isn't ready and doesn't perform he won't be able to do anything on his own.

"We have great expectations about him, he's a wonderful player, we place a lot of hope in him and we can't blame him if we don't win the World Cup.

"There's a 90% chance of Brazil winning the tournament and I'd like them to beat Argentina in the final. In football there is no 100% certainty."

We've had men dressed as trees, now it's people kitted out as raindrops. Nature is very much the theme of the moment.

Image source, AFP

You don't just knock up an opening ceremony overnight - ask Danny Boyle.

Workshops began in March, with 150 hours of work going into the development of the 'artistic language'.

There were 84 hours of rehearsals, with some 20 hours of artistic work going into each minute of the ceremony.

It's all a bit lost on me...

Image source, AFP/GETTY

Men dressed as trees stalk across the pitch. It's very Lord of the Rings.

Chris Waddle
BBC Radio 5 live summariser at the Arena De Sao Paulo

"I think people have got carried away with Brazil. I watched them play Serbia in a pre-tournament friendly and Serbia could easily have got a result. Yes Brazil have talented players, but they rely too heavily on Neymar, Oscar has had a bad second half of the season at Chelsea, Fred, although he works his socks off up front is not the greatest centre-forward. Hulk has a fantastic shot on him but has been frustrating in a Brazil shirt, he doesn't seem to do enough.

"It will be interesting to see how Croatia set up but for me, if you can break very quickly then Brazil are very vulnerable because Dani Alves and Marcelo leave big gaps at the back."

Here we go then. The giant ball on the centre circle has lit up and is currently saying hello in all 32 languages. No sign of J-Lo yet...

Ben Smith in Sao Paulo

"The Brazil team coach is on its way to Estadio Itaquerao now, followed by a swarm of TV and police helicopters. I don't imagine they will have much trouble negotiating the notorious São Paulo traffic.

"Meanwhile, here at the stadium the opening ceremony is preparing to get under way. Early observations include lots of men dressed as trees, a few stormtrooper look-a-likes, with footballs for heads, and the ubiquitous ball in the centre circle that will open to reveal something marvellous, no doubt, later on. Two hours to go, 15,000 already in their seats."

Image source, @BishopK

BBC News correspondent Kevin Bishop, external on Twitter: "So it would appear the treatment the Manaus pitch is getting, is a coat of green paint."

The stadium is really filling up now. It's just after three PM in Sao Paulo, where it is a national holiday. 90% of the crowd are decked out in replica shirts - here we go...

Sorry Oli, but Ciro Immobile has already signed for Dortmund...

We've been asking who you are most looking forward to seeing in this summer's footballfest? Is there anyone you are desperate for your team to sign? Any inside info on who the ones to watch may be?

Connor:, external Would love to see Shinji Kagawa do well at the World Cup. A chance to prove his doubters wrong!

Stark:, external Japan could be a dark horse, play lovely football.

Oli:, external Antoine Greizmann, Alex Witsel, Ciro Immobile, Dries Mertens. Hopefully they'll make their way to the Premier League after the tournament!

Plenty of the cast members are starting to file out onto the pitch in advance of the opening ceremony.

There's a large ball in the middle of the pitch, with various obstacles in each corner. It looks a bit like a dog agility course at Crufts at the minute.

We are 15 minutes away from the start of the ceremony.

Image source, AP

Croatia have two men in their squad who were born in Brazil.

Former Arsenal forward Eduardo has said he will sing both anthems if he is picked. The second-highest scorer in Croatia's history could come in as Bayern Munich totem Mario Mandzukic is suspended.

The other man is midfielder Sammir, who was born in Itabuna, Brazil. He has struggled with a drink problem, and has not been overly popular in Croatia.

If he scores tonight he won't be popular in his homeland either.