Brand-new Fisht Olympic Stadium was a sea of Russian color and pageantry Friday. There, the opening ceremony for the Sochi Olympics featured Russian music, plus ballet stars, acrobats and cosmonauts, and many other entertainers. Athletes from the more than 80 nations competing in Sochi packed the 40,000-seat stadium, as did Olympic fans from all over the world. More than 40 world leaders were in attendance, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. VOA Moscow Bureau Chief James Brooke was also there. He spoke to VOA by Skype. "Yes, it was really a celebration that Russia's back, a celebration of Russian pride, stretching through 400 years of Russian history, from Peter the Great building the navy, all way up to the Soviet cosmonauts exploring space. There were ballerinas; there were references to the classical authors Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, music by Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky; very stirring, and a huge applause by the crowd of 40,000."