The Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 will open this week with millions across the globe eagerly awaiting to see how their nations will do at a host of top winter sports events. Below there is information on the TV schedule to watch all the action in the United States, as well as a list of the events set to be featured at the Opening Ceremony.

The Opening Ceremony is scheduled to start at Feb. 7, 11 a.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. in Sochi.

NBC will be the home-station of the Olympic Opening ceremonies in the U.S. With Bob Costas as host for both primetime and late night events this year.

The Parade of Athletes will be the first event to take place. Small groups from each nation including a flag bearer and several athletes will file into the stadium alphabetically. The flag bearers of Russia and Greece will not be held to this order, Greece coming first as the first nation to ever hold the Olympics, and Russia, as the host nation, will file in last.

Speeches will be given by the head of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games  President Dmitry Chernyshenko, and by the Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. These will be capped off by a declaration of the commencement of the games by Russian President Vladmir Putin, who has been zealously preparing for this event since its inception, spending more than $50 billion on the Games so far. 

The Olympic Flame will be brought in for the final event of the opening ceremony, formally kicking off the games as it lights the Cauldron. The Cauldron will be lit throughout the Olympics until it is extinguished on the Games' final day.

Some performers that will showcase their talents throughout the Olympics include Al Michaels, Dan Patrick, Rebecca Lowe, Lester Holt, Ato Boldon, Mary Carillo and Cris Collinsworth.

The first competitive events will take place before the opening ceremony for the first time in Olympic history. They include freestyle skiing and figure skating, and take place the day before the Feb. 7^th ceremony.