Past Olympic opening ceremony flubs

Host nation China put on a spectacular fireworks display over the National Stadium for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony. Too bad it wasn't all real. Because it was decided it was too dangerous to fly a helicopter to film to spectacle, some of the pyrotechnics were computer generated for Chinese television.

Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke garnered world attention for singing 'Ode to the Motherland' at the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony. She got more attention when it was discovered she lip-synched the song. The 7-year-old Chinese girl who was the true chanteuse was deemed 'not suitable' because of her looks.

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, children appeared in costume of the 56 ethnic groups of modern China. Officials later admitted that some of the children did not belong to the ethnic minorities their costumes indicated, but were majority 'Han' Chinese.

A lopsided Olympic flame was lit during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. An arm that was supposed to rise up a meet the other three malfunctioned, leaving one torchbearer with nothing to do.

President George Bush made a faux pas at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Bush departed from the Olympic charter by saying 'On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation' instead of the traditional formula, “I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City.”

President Bush also got flack for opening the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games standing among the US athletes. Previous heads of state opened the games from an official box.

Torch Bearer Cathy Freeman made a dramatic entrance for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. The sprinter lit a ring of fire in a pool and waited for a saucer-like contraption to rise above her. But it didn't. For four agonizing minutes, she smiled and waited. A computer glitch was finally fixed and the flame flew up to meet the cauldron.

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