19:34There are 32 kids representing the 32 countries, all kicking footballs around. The footballs are kept in place on ropes. I think that's technically known as cheating.
19:32There are some dancers who have footballs for heads. I think they will haunt me forever.
19:32We're not into the football section of the ceremony. It's kicked off by some kids dressed as referees brandishing red and yellow cards. That's hardly in the spirit. "I didn't touch him ref."

19:31Twitter is obviously enjoying the ceremony in its usual manner. Poking fun and making LOLs. Standards.

19:28There are some great dance routines going on, but it's all a bit lost in the middle of a football pitch with barely any staging. Even the cameramen don't seem to know where to look.
19:27There are now some women dressed as giant meringues on the pitch. I'm hungry.
19:24Bye bye trees. We're now entering the second part of the ceremony, which will apparently celebrate the rich diversity of Brazil. That means samba dancers with colourful umbrellas and a trippy giant Russian doll being rolled around.
19:23The LED ball is quite fancy, but this is all pretty low budget stuff compared to what we've seen at recent Olympics. There is now someone being carried in a canoe. It's nice to see some less stereotypical representations of Brazil, but it's not exactly scintillating.

19:19This is all very trippy. It's the sort of thing you'd dream about after eating too much Stilton and watching a Tim Burton film.

19:18The men dressed as trees got lucky. There are also women dressed as flowers and trampolining water lilies.
Purple, Violet, Terrestrial plant, Lavender, Iris, pinterest
DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP
19:17There's a distinct lack of music. I presume that's ITV's sound department.
19:17It opens with lots of men, dressed as trees. Why? It's the Amazon stupid.

19:16A giant LED ball is the centrepiece at the stadium, which looks stunning in the Brazilian sun. You don't get weather like this down Wembley Way too often.
19:15Here we go! Come on Brazil. Show us what you've got.
19:13I presume we're all keeping our fingers crossed that J-Lo is getting asked to take a penalty a la Diana Ross in 1994. If they can remake this magic, we'll be on for a great tournament.

19:11Wrighty has found a hot German surfer on the beach. He insists on giving him a hug. It's very awkward. Is this going to be a running feature? It's like Andi Peters' Wheel of Cash transported to Rio. Wrighty's Beach Larks, coming to ITV very soon.
19:09We're still waiting for the Opening Ceremony to start. While we wait, Ian Wright is stumbling around a beach, pointing at things. "Look, there's a studio." Thanks Wrighty.
19:08Adrian Chiles is looking a lot healthier than he did in Miami last week, when he was left dripping in sweat during an electrical storm. That was definitely a career high for the former Daybreak man.
19:04Anyone wondering what food they should be eating to get into the Brazilian spirit, I'd suggest checking out this video with top chef and cool dude Andy Bates. Tasty stuff.
Video poster
19:02From the beauty of Brazil to Adrian Chiles's face in the studio.
19:01The ITV opening credits are a mix of traditional Brazilian culture, classic football moments and women playing beach volleyball. You'll be seeing a lot more of that over the coming weeks. Every Brazilian stereotype will be worn thin come July.
18:59Good evening everyone. If you hate football, look away now. It's coming and it wants to take over your life.