World leaders, star performers expected at World Cup opening; Mandela still a ‘maybe’

World Cup opening: Many stars and VIPs expected

JOHANNESURG — The most important person on the guest list may or may not appear. Otherwise, the stage is set for a spectacular and emotional opening ceremony to kick off the first World Cup on African soil.

Organizers have issued a standing invitation to Nelson Mandela, the longtime political prisoner who became South Africa’s first post-apartheid president, to attend Friday’s ceremony before the opening match between South Africa and Mexico.

However, Mandela, soon to turn 92, is frail, and his family says a decision on his participation may not be finalized until shortly before the ceremony.

Plenty of dignitaries are expected to be on hand at the Soccer City stadium, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and numerous African heads of state, including the host nation president, Jacob Zuma. Both of Kenya’s top leaders, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minster Raila Odinga, are coming.

The ceremony’s theme is “Welcoming the World Home” — chosen, according to local organizers, because of Africa’s reputation as the cradle of mankind.

“We are saying everyone has got a bit of Africa in them,” said the organizing committee’s marketing chief, Derek Carstens.

There’s also a new World Cup anthem, “Sign of Victory,” written by American singer R. Kelly, who will be on hand to perform it with the Soweto Spiritual Singers.

“It’s definitely, no doubt, a humanity song, and I’m hoping that everybody feels the same way when they hear it,” Kelly said Thursday on arrival in South Africa. “(I’m) hoping they can be as touched by it as I was when I heard it in my head.”

A number of African artists also are expected to perform — including South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, Nigeria’s Femi Kuti, and the Ghanaian band Osibisa.

Overall, the cast will include more than 1,500 performers, but a singer picked by Mandela to perform a song called “Hope” won’t be among them. Siphiwo Ntshebe, 34, died of bacterial meningitis last month.

A global TV audience of several hundred million is expected to watch the ceremony.