Let the games begin!
The 2014 FIFA World Cup officially kicked off Thursday at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but not without a performance from singer Jennifer Lopez first. The 44-year-old crooner sang the World Cup theme song "We Are One (Ole Ola) ".
Despite initial reports claiming that the singer dropped out of the World Cup opening ceremony, Lopez, alongside Pitbull and Brazilian pop star Claudia Leitte, were all on hand to sing for the crowd of over 62,600 people, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
They entered the stage from the inside of a giant colorful ball placed in the middle of the football field. Lopez wore a low-cut sparkling green outfit, while Pitbull sported a yellow "Brasil" t-shirt with white pants and Leitte donned a blue leotard.
The trio jumped up and down on stage, swaying their arms while encouraging screaming fans to do the same. The energetic performance included dancers dressed as trees, flowers, water droplets and musical instruments.
According to UK's Telegraph, some viewers were distracted by the poor sound quality of the performance.
An ITV spokesman said: "The sound problem that regrettably caused some disruption to viewers was caused by a technical issue with the host broadcaster, which provides the coverage of all the action at this year's World Cup."
At the end of her performance, Lopez become slightly emotional after receiving an overwhelming response of the crowd. The singer mouthed "thank you" before walking off the stage.
The World Cup is considered one of the largest sporting events in the world - 32 nations compete in 64 games to determine which is the best country at football. In the first match, Brazil defeated Croatia 3-1.
