RIO DE JANEIRO _ Winner: Cost containment. If the budget for this ceremony was really only 10 percent of what they spent in London, then bully for them. According to the organizers, a theme of the night was "gambiarra," described as "the Brazilian talent for making the most out of nothing."
_Loser: Gisele Bundchen. That's it? Just a dispassionate strut across the stage to the "Girl from Ipanema."
_Winner: Paulinho da Viola. His minimalist national anthem, on acoustic guitar with a small string section, was perfect.
_Loser: Earth. Apparently.
_Winner: John Kerry. When U.S. athletes entered the Maracana stadium, Secretary of State flashed his social media skills and went straight to his phone to get up an Instagram. Or was it to Snapchat? Or to post a Glide?
_Winner: U.S. athletes' outfits. Horizontal red-white-blue shirts somehow managed to pull the whole thing together.
_Winner: Tyrone Smith. Long jumper makes long leap from North Chicago high school to flag bearer for Bermuda.
_Loser: Australia. Those jackets were hideous. Maybe the airline lost their real outfits.
_Winner and loser: IOC boss Thomas Bach. Doping scandal? What doping scandal?
_Winner: Those tricked-out tricycles. DoesVillage Cycle Center sell those?
_Loser: NBC. For not showing the ceremony live. The artistic directors did a masterful job and didn't need the TV network behind "America's Got Talent" to edit it.
_Two-time-loser: NBC. Live coverage is part of the beauty of sports. NBC's decision to tape delay the opening ceremony for advertising dollars tarnished the luster, especially for those playing along on Twitter. The first 30-some minutes were consumed by beautiful snapshots of Rio and something we never thought we would see _ Tom Brokaw on a horse _ as well as so many commercials.
