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Johannesburg - A crowd of thousands celebrated into the night in Johannesburg on Thursday as music stars from around the world got South Africa's World Cup party off to a musical start.
The show, which was broadcast live around the world, started with President Jacob Zuma telling the crowd that Africa had shown that it was capable of "handling any matter of the world".
"We would like to thank FIFA for the decision to bring the World Cup for the first time to the continent of Africa," said Zuma, who was accompanied on the stage at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
"We would like to thank South Africans for having received our visitors so warmly. I want to ask you to show this warmness for the whole tournament."
Blatter told the crowd that he was "happy" to be in Soweto. "Football is not only a game, football is connecting people," he said.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was also cheered as he danced his way onto the stage.
Tutu, dressed in a yellow Bafana Bafana top, told the crowd that it was former president Nelson Mandela who had made the tournament possible for South Africa.
"Friends before I tell you who will be in the final," Tutu said with a giggle, "I think we have to pay a wonderful tribute to the man we all owe this to. If we make enough noise he will hear us."
Waving flags
The concert, which began shortly after 20:00, started with a performance of Grazing in the Grass by jazz artist Hugh Masekela.
US artists The Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and later Somalian performer K'naan all brought the flag-waving crowd to its feet with their performances.
Colombian singer Shakira had the crowd dancing and singing "Waka, waka, it's time for Africa" with her performance of the World Cup theme song Waka Waka.
Outside the stadium the departing crowd blasted vuvuzelas and bought trinkets, flags and boerewors rolls from the waiting hawkers.
Shortly after the end of the show cameras flashed away at a man who had been handcuffed by the police after allegedly attempting to steal a laptop from journalists in the stadium's media centre.
"We caught him red-handed," a young woman said at the scene. "He had two laptops in his bag."
The man, dressed in a photographer's jacket, smirked at the photographers taking his photograph.
"Are you done yet," the man said before he was led away by the police.
The show, which was broadcast live around the world, started with President Jacob Zuma telling the crowd that Africa had shown that it was capable of "handling any matter of the world".
"We would like to thank FIFA for the decision to bring the World Cup for the first time to the continent of Africa," said Zuma, who was accompanied on the stage at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
"We would like to thank South Africans for having received our visitors so warmly. I want to ask you to show this warmness for the whole tournament."
Blatter told the crowd that he was "happy" to be in Soweto. "Football is not only a game, football is connecting people," he said.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was also cheered as he danced his way onto the stage.
Tutu, dressed in a yellow Bafana Bafana top, told the crowd that it was former president Nelson Mandela who had made the tournament possible for South Africa.
"Friends before I tell you who will be in the final," Tutu said with a giggle, "I think we have to pay a wonderful tribute to the man we all owe this to. If we make enough noise he will hear us."
Waving flags
The concert, which began shortly after 20:00, started with a performance of Grazing in the Grass by jazz artist Hugh Masekela.
US artists The Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and later Somalian performer K'naan all brought the flag-waving crowd to its feet with their performances.
Colombian singer Shakira had the crowd dancing and singing "Waka, waka, it's time for Africa" with her performance of the World Cup theme song Waka Waka.
Outside the stadium the departing crowd blasted vuvuzelas and bought trinkets, flags and boerewors rolls from the waiting hawkers.
Shortly after the end of the show cameras flashed away at a man who had been handcuffed by the police after allegedly attempting to steal a laptop from journalists in the stadium's media centre.
"We caught him red-handed," a young woman said at the scene. "He had two laptops in his bag."
The man, dressed in a photographer's jacket, smirked at the photographers taking his photograph.
"Are you done yet," the man said before he was led away by the police.
