Rihanna and Rod Stewart return to Rock in Rio 2015

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Critical Divide

Rihanna has been confirmed as the headline act at Rock in Rio on Saturday, 26 September 2015. The singer last played Rock in Rio in 2011when she shared the bill on the opening night with Elton John and Katy Perry. Perry also returns this year and will headline on Sunday, 27 September.

Rod Stewart returns to headline the night of 20 September. Stewart, like Queen, played at the first rock in Rio in 1985.

Other recent additions to the line up include Sam Smith, Royal Blood, Motely Crue, The Script and One Republic.

So far confirmed are:

Friday, 18 September: Queen, One Republic, The Script

Saturday, 19 September: Metallica, Motley Crue, Royal Blood

Sunday, 20 September: Rod Stewart, John Legend

Thursday, 24 September: System of a Down, Queens of the Stone Age, Hollywood Vampires, CPM 22

Friday, 25 September: Slipknot, Faith No More, Mastodon, De la Terra

Saturday, 26 September: Rihanna, Sam Smith

Sunday, 27 September: Katy Perry, Ah-Ha, Cidade Negra

FIFA confirms football venues for Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Critical Divide

It has been confirmed that the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men’s and women’s football tournaments will take place in six cities: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador, Manaus, Brasília and Belo Horizonte. It has also been decided that the 58 matches will be staged at: Corinthians Arena (São Paulo), the Maracanã and Olympic Stadium (Rio de Janiero), Arena Fonte Nova (Salvador), Mané Garrincha Stadium (Brasília), Amazônia Arena (Manaus) and the Mineirão (Belo Horizonte).

“The inclusion of Manaus (photo) in the Rio 2016 Olympic schedule will enrich the tournament with a visit of the football players to one of the most iconic locations in the world,” said Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman. “I am certain that the Amazon will welcome the Olympic world with a memorable celebration.”

Football is the only sport that will be hosted outside of Rio de Janeiro, with the tournament taking the Rio 2016 Games out to the rest of Brazil. There will be 16 teams in the men’s competition and 12 in the women’s tournament.

Marco Polo Del Nero, chairman of the FIFA Organising Committee for the Olympic Football Tournaments, said: “The Olympic football tournaments will be a fantastic opportunity to revive the great atmosphere seen during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, not only in Rio de Janeiro, but also in the other five cities. They did an excellent job in 2014, and now they can use the World Cup stadiums and infrastructure already in place to unite the country for a major event once more. I am confident that the participating teams will have an unforgettable Olympic experience.”

Two South American teams are already confirmed in the Rio 2016 men’s football competition: Brazil, as host country, and Argentina, as the winners of the South American under-20 championship. In the women’s tournament, Colombia confirmed their place, along with hosts Brazil, by finishing runners-up in last year’s Copa America. All the remaining places will be decided by April 2016.

The men’s Olympic football competition features players up to the age of 23 (born after 31 December 1992), with the exception of three ‘over-age’ players per nation. The16 teams will be divided into four groups of four and the competition will begin on 4 August, one day before the Olympic Games opening ceremony. The two best-performing members of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. The final will be played on 20 August, a day before the closing ceremony, at the Maracanã Stadium.

In the women’s competition there are no age restrictions. The 12 teams will be split into three groups of four, and matches will start on 3 August. The top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams will progress to the quarter-finals. The final will be played on 19 August, also at the Maracanã Stadium.

79 new hotels for Rio for 2016

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Critical Divide

According to the O Globo newspaper, there are 79 new hotels waiting to open in Rio de Janeiro in time for the Olympic and Paralympic games. 43 of these will be four star properties and 15 are expected to be five star.

The new hotels are expected to include a branch of So, the boutique range of Sofitel; and Yoo (photo), which has been designed by Phillipe Starck’s studio. Another major project is Prodigy, a hotel that will be part of the Bossa Nova Mall that is to be located in a building neighbouring the Santos Dumont airfield that used to be the administrative headquarters of the Brazilian airlines VARIG and VASP. The building has sweeping views across the bay to Sugar Loaf.

Blue Tree are developing a new resort property in Recreio, while Barra, where the Olympic Village is located, should receive new hotels from both Hilton and Hyatt in time for the games.

Rio gains a new Clubhouse

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Critical Divide

Following the success of The Clubhouse in Buenos Aires, Oasis Collections has announced it will expand its members-only club network to include Rio de Janeiro. The new location will serve as a home away from home for its local and global members, as well as provide support to travellers staying in any of Oasis’ 100 hand-picked homes around the city.

The new club, The Clubhouse, will be located on Rua Saint Roman, in Cantagalo between Ipanema and Copacabana, and is scheduled for a soft-launch in April 2015.

Cultural Director Cande Salles, has worked closely with the Clubhouse team to select a diverse group of founding members which include supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio, fashion icon Alice Dellal, designers Oskar Metsahvat and Lenny Niemeyer, Brazilian musician Seu Jorge and prominent artist Vik Muniz.

French architect/designer Jean-Luc Boucharenc and Parker Stanberry, Co-Founder & CEO of Oasis Collections, have led the renovation of a 1940s residence, with interior design direction by British designer Lizzie Ward, whose previous work has included set design and production for Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and Mario Testino.

Inspired by the carefree Carioca lifestyle of the 60s & 70s with a hint of the English gentleman’s club, the property will offer five stylish guest suites, infinity pool, two bars and a multi-level terrace with views of the surrounding hills and the Atlantic.

As with the Buenos Aires location, Clubhouse Rio will host a full and eclectic calendar of events for its members, including private dinners with top local and international chefs, art exhibitions, music performances and screenings. Membership will cost roughly US$1,500 per year.

“When we started thinking about our next location, Rio and Sao Paulo were both natural targets given our focus on the Brazilian market,” says Stanberry. “Despite its smaller size, Rio quickly became our top choice due to the demand from the creative class of that city for this concept.”

Clubs in the partner network that members will have access to include not only the The Clubhouse in Buenos Aires but also The Hospital in London, The Spoke in Toronto, and the Oasis Collections in Cartagena and José Ignacio.

Rio will host the FIVB Volleyball World League 2015 Finals

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Critical Divide

The FIVB Volleyball World League 2015 Group 1 Finals will be played at the Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The tournament will serve as a test event for the volleyball competition at the Olympic Games in 2016, which will take place at the same venue.

The Group 1 Finals will be held from July 15-19 and will feature six teams (the host country, top two teams from Pool A and Pool B plus the winner of Group 2) playing off for the title of the 26th edition of the World League.

The confirmation of Rio de Janeiro as the 2015 World League Finals host city follows the news that volleyball attracted the most attention for 2016 Olympic Games tickets (27%) ahead of football (21.9%), swimming (21%) and athletics (20.6%) via the Rio Olympics ticketing registration process when it officially opened in January.

The 2015 World League Intercontinental Round features eight countries competing in Group 1 (Pools A & B). In Pool A, Finals hosts Brazil, who are nine-time winners and 2014 silver medallists, will be joined by Australia, who have been promoted from Group 2, last edition’s bronze medallists Italy and three-times silver medallists Serbia. Iran, world champions Poland, Russia and reigning champions USA will compete in Pool B.

Last year’s World League saw 28 teams compete for honours and USA defeat Brazil in the Group 1 Finals in Florence, Italy.

Rio dock area taking shape for 2016 Olympics

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Critical Divide

Rio de Janeiro is already starting to see the benefits from the demolition of an extremely ugly raised highway, the Perimetral, that ran along the bay and through the heart of the dock and historic area of the city. A new tunnel, part of the Porto Maravilha project, was opened on 1 March, the 450th anniversary of the city, that is now handling and hiding much of the traffic that used the freeway.

Olympic Park takes shapes

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Critical Divide

A video of how the Olympic Park looked in January 2015 and how it will look when the games open in August 2016.

Where to locate Rio’s Olympic flame

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Critical Divide

Rio de Janeiro is going to have to decide where to put the Olympic cauldron and the Olympic flame, and this is on the list of points for Rio 2016 to discuss with the IOC.

The problem is that the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2016 Olympics will take place in the Maracanã while most of the track and field will take place in the Engenhão. The Maracanã only hosting a couple of the football games.

In the opinion of Rio the Guide the best and most spectacular solution will be to locate the Olympic flame at the feet of the Christ the Redeemer statue on the summit of Corcovado.

The result would be the first Olympics when most of the host city and its visitors could easily see the Olympic flame at all times during the tournament. That would include the yachtsmen and women in the bay, the rowers on the Lagoa, the cyclists as they cross through Flamengo Park, the archery and marathon at the sambodromo, and so on.

No you won’t be able to see the flame at Corcovado from the Olympic Village in Barra, but neither would you see an Olympic cauldron tucked away in the Maracanã or Engenhão.

We really hope that Rio 2016 will have the courage to think out of the box and play to Rio’s strengths as there will be few host cities, if any, that will have a mountain in the centre of it to use with such an iconic global landmark.

And talking of iconic, we all remember the iconic shot that went viral at the end of the 2014 World Cup!

Happy 450th Birthday Rio!

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Critical Divide

On 1 March 2015 the city of Rio de Janeiro celebrated the 450th anniversary of its founding. The date relates to the first time the Portuguese really made an effort to set up a colony in Rio after driving out the French.

The Portuguese Government had first ordered the Governor General of Brazil, Mem de Sá, then resident in Bahia, to expel the French colony in 1560. His fleet entered the harbour of Rio on 21 February 1560, and in just two days he had taken control of the settlement. His job done, Mem de Sá returned to Bahia but without taking the precaution of establishing his own garrison. With Mem de Sá’s departure, the French returned, this time to set up camp on the mainland close to what is today Catete.

It would not be until 1565 that the Portuguese returned to Rio under the command of the Governor General’s nephew, Estácio de Sá, who landed on 1 March of that year (the date of the 450th anniversary) just west of Sugar Loaf. A bitter two-year struggle then ensued with the French defeated by the arrival of Mem de Sá himself on 18 January 1567. Two days later, on 20 January, Estácio de Sá was mortally wounded by an Indian arrow while in combat with the French settlers and their native allies. With the death of his nephew, Mem de Sá moved the site of the new town to Morro do Castelo, an area in front of what is today Santos Dumont Airport.

For a full history of Rio de Janeiro CLICK HERE

Rock in Rio 2015 takes shape

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Critical Divide

Queen, the stars of the first ever Rock in Rio in 1985, and Metallica are the latest acts to be added to the line-up for Rock in Rio 2015. Metallica (photo) last played Rock in Rio in 2013.

Queen and Metallica join other acts announced that include Katy Perry, who also performed in 2013, John Legend, A-Ha (that attracted a crowd of 198,000 in 1991, when the festival was staged at the Maracãna), System of a Down, Queens of the Stone Age (who played in 2001), Slipnot (who played in 2011), Faith No More (who played in 1991), and Hollywood Vampires, the group made up of Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry.

The festival takes place between 18 and 27 September 2015 close to where the Olympic Village is being built.