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Russia kicks off the opening ceremony Friday in Sochi as the world turns its

attention to the costliest Olympic Games in history.
Spectators from all over the world will watch the lavish event and

introduction of athletes, marking the official start of the Winter Olympics.
Light shows and music, lots of it, will fill the air.
"Most of the ceremony focuses heavily on Russian classical music," said

Konstantin Ernst, the main creative producer of the ceremony.
 U.S. warns airlines of possible attack Sochi scrambles as crowds arrive The

dangers of slopestyle snowboarding
"Unfortunately, unlike London, we cannot boast a plethora of famous world-

known pop performers. This is why we are now focusing on what Russia is

best known for musically around the world; namely, classical music."
Despite anxiety about terror strikes, controversy over gay rights and ridicule

for poor preparations, the nation's officials have maintained that the sites in

Sochi are secure.
It will be "the safest place on Earth during the Olympics," said Dmitry

Chernyshenko, head of the Games.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who pushed the International Olympic

Committee to hold the Games in the nation, will attend the ceremony.
"The head of state is expected to declare the Games open during the

ceremony," Ernst said. "It is a requirement. And naturally, Mr. Putin will be

doing just that."
The ceremony, the only event scheduled for the day, will last about two and a

half hours.
"We believe this is going to be a respectable format. It will be very

comfortable for the spectators," he said.
About 40,000 people will be watching from the stands at Fisht Olympic

Stadium in Sochi.
Russian classical music star Anna Netrebko will perform the Olympic anthem,

Ernst said.
A day before, high excitement marked qualification events in the men's and

women's slopestyle, women's moguls and team figure skating.
SECURITY
Russia has drafted 37,000 police and security officers to handle security in

Sochi, but that has not done much to assuage fears.
Toothpaste terror: A day after the United States warned of how explosive

materials could be concealed in toothpaste or cosmetic tubes, its government

Thursday temporarily banned all liquids, gels, aerosols and powders in carry-

on luggage on flights between the United States and Russia.
U.S. partnership: U.S. authorities are working with Russia and other countries

to try to disrupt several possible threats, including the toothpaste tube

concern, a U.S. intelligence source said Thursday.
The threats vary in credibility, and the biggest one traces to the group Imarat

Kavkaz in Russia, which has publicly said its followers will try to disrupt the

Games, the official said.
"The threat stream is credible, I think it's real," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein,

D-California.
Private protection: The U.S. ski and snowboarding team has hired a private

security firm, Global Rescue, to provide protection. It's not clear how much

the firm could do in the event of a major incident when Russian forces will be

in charge. But it has been gathering intelligence on the ground and will

provide an extra layer of protection as athletes travel around.
Ships for safety: Two U.S. Navy ships have steamed into the Black Sea, where

they will be ready to help if any mass evacuation of U.S. citizens is needed.

U.S. security officials are working with their Russian counterparts to keep the

Games safe against the backdrop of a regional separatist movement that has

threatened to use terrorism at the Olympic Games.
Targets of threats: Americans are not the only ones who are jittery. Austria

said two of its female athletes had been the target of specific threats.

Austrian media reported that an anonymous letter was sent warning Alpine

skier Bernadette Schild and skeleton racer Janine Flock they could be

kidnapped.
We've heard it before: It's not the first time security issues have dominated

the buildup to the Olympics. Britain parked missile batteries on apartment

block roofs and a warship on the River Thames before the 2012 Games. The

Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 were held amid heightened security

only months after the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. And in 1996,

the Summer Games in Atlanta were subject to a terror attack.
PREPARATIONS
When Russia bid to host its first Winter Olympics in 2007, a document quoted

an expected cost of around $12 billion. That figure has ballooned to around

$50 billion. That's more than four times over budget and surpasses the cost of

Beijing's 2008 Summer Games -- making it the most expensive Olympics

ever, summer or winter.
Russia had less than seven years to transform what was a fairly low-key

seaside resort town into a Winter Olympics venue. The project required

staggering feats of engineering in building a new freeway and rail link up a

mountain, and a ski resort on the top. And yet questions about Sochi's

readiness have dogged the final run-up to the Games.
Not quite there: While the sports facilities were completed in good time,

journalists and others arrived in Sochi this week to find that some of the

40,000 new hotel rooms were far from ready and that construction workers

were still hard at work on parts of the Olympic Park.
Thanks to pictures of chaotic scenes posted on Twitter, Russia's pride has not

been spared.
But CNN's Ben Wyatt in Sochi reports that the picture is not all bad. His hotel

has been "superb," and staff and Games volunteers are clearly making an

effort to be helpful and speak English, he said.
While some media hotels and landscaping projects have not been completed

on time, the sporting venues all look to be in very good condition, he said.
PROTESTS
Every Olympics has protests. But thanks to social media, Russia is facing a

global backlash.
What got many people riled was Russian lawmakers' passage last summer of

legislation known as the anti-gay propaganda bill. The law makes it illegal to

tell children about gay equality.
Open letter: More than 200 writers from around the world signed an open

letter published Thursday in the UK newspaper The Guardian, calling for a

repeal of laws that have placed a "chokehold" on the right to free expression

in Russia.
"As writers and artists, we cannot stand quietly by as we watch our fellow

writers and journalists pressed into silence or risking prosecution and often

drastic punishment for the mere act of communicating their thoughts," the

letter said.
Designated site: There is a designated protest site in Sochi. But there's been

criticism of organizers' decision to tuck it away in a hard-to-reach village 7

miles (11 kilometers) from the main Olympic Park.
More protests may be yet to come -- perhaps even by athletes -- despite an

Olympic Charter rule that bans demonstrations in any Olympic sites and

other areas.