Olympics Opening Ceremony 2016: Highlights, Flag Bearers and More from Rio

The last steps in the parade have been taken. The cultural celebration is done lighting up TV screens around the globe. The torch has been lit.

And now, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are officially here.

Friday's opening ceremony began with both traditional and not-so-traditional Brazilian music and dance.

NBC Olympics provided a visual of the latter category: a countdown that looked like something out of a Daft Punk video, minus the techno music:

An extravagant display of music and dance walked the audience through the history of Brazil after the early performances. There were gigantic creatures walking across a backdrop that turned the stadium into the Amazon rain forest, featuring descendants of Brazil's indigenous people as well as re-creations of Portuguese settlement, the early slave trade, immigration from all over the world and the emergence of a metropolis.

The U.S. Olympic team's Twitter account shared a selection of photos:

The story was capped off with a look at Alberto Santos-Dumont, who Brazilians claim beat the Wright brothers to flight. NBC Olympics provided a glimpse of the virtual flyover:

Oh, and Gisele Bundchen took center stage for her final stroll down the catwalk, via NBC Olympics:

The people behind this year's ceremony pulled all this off on a budget that came in at 10 percent of what London spent on its opening ceremony in 2012, according to the Chicago Tribune's Tim Bannon and Chris Hine. 

"A theme of the night was 'gambiarra,'” Bannon and Hine wrote. "Described as 'the Brazilian talent for making the most out of nothing.'"

Considering the reported budget, these images provided by the Olympics' official Twitter account are even more stunning:

Following the retelling of Brazil's rich history, the teams of 207 participating nations paraded through the stadium.

Spain and Great Britain followed tennis stars Raphael Nadal and Andy Murray, respectively. NBA big man Luis Scola bore the flag for Argentina. Sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce led Jamaica through the stadium. And the USA was led by flag bearer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, as NBC Olympics showed:

A number of Americans, including Haley Augello and Kyle Chandler, took to Twitter to share their reactions to the ceremony:

The team that may have gotten the biggest response, though, was made up entirely of refugees. The official Twitter account of the Refugee Olympic Team shared the scene:

Host country Brazil was the final nation to enter. Behind flag bearer Yane Marques, a pentathlete who won bronze at the 2012 Games, the Brazilians received a downpour of praise.

NPR's Melissa Block described the reaction:

The flag bearers for every country can be found on the Olympics' official website.

Following the Parade of Nations, Brazil's acting president, Michel Temer, officially opened the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Brazilian sailor Robert Scheidt then took the Olympic oath on behalf of all the athletes.

To wrap things up, Brazilian tennis star Gustavo Kuerten carried the torch into the stadium and handed it off to Hortencia Marcari. She passed the flame to Vanderlei de Lima, who lit the cauldron, as the Rio Olympic Games' Twitter account noted:

Let the Games begin!