Russian TV hides Olympic rings failing.

                                                  Minutes into the extravagant Winter Olympics opening ceremony, one of five snowflakes failed to open out into an Olympic ring. But all was well if you were watching Russian state TV channel Rossiya 1 - which cut from the shambles (centre inset) to flawless rehearsal footage (centre). The event also featured torchbearer Alina Kabaeva (far right) - a former gymnast rumoured to be Putin's girlfriend - and Irina Rodnina (second from right) who sparked outrage with a 'racist' doctored Twitter photo of Barack Obama looking at a banana last year (right inset).                                                                                                                                                            Perhaps most bizarre of all was a huge animatronic bear mascot (left inset) - quickly dubbed the Scare Bear on Twitter. Meanwhile riot police cracked down on gay riots protestors hours after 'faux-lesbian' singers tATu performed to the world while holding hands - and IOC President Thomas Bach made what some interpreted as an attack on anti-gay laws, saying: 'Games are never about erecting walls to keep people apart'. The Winter Games in Sochi are already the most expensive Olympics in sporting history, costing £31.8 billion.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             posted by Emanto Ngaloru  Feb 8, 2014.