The world's biggest party burst into life as the Rio Carnival got underway with a breathtaking parade of giant floats and samba dancers. Samba time: Members of the 'Beija-Flor' samba school perform during celebrations of the Carnival at the sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, today.
Playing the field apparently has evolutionary advantages. The group, its theme Imagine the (World) Cup in a nod to Lennon's Imagine ballad, first played in 2010 to a crowd of barely 5,000 people. The biggest band in the history of the world meets the biggest party in the world.
More than a million Rio Carnival revelers laid aside bitterness at Brazilian leaders to join wild festivities Saturday in what has been dubbed "the greatest show on Earth." Back in Rio, 1980s star Zico is the theme of the Imperatriz Leopoldinense school's performance in the city's own nod to soccerized Carnival.
