The opening of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games brought together figures from global music, fashion and sport at the San Siro Stadium, bringing to the fore the harmonious cultural fusion that seeks to position the event before an international audience.Mariah Carey, backed by a career with 19 Billboard No. 1 singles and six Grammy Awards, took center stage with a performance entirely in Italian, her first foray into the language at a public ceremony.
The singer chose to pay tribute to local culture with a version of “NelBlu, dipinto di Blu”, popularly known as “Volare”.This piece, written and performed by Domenico Modugno at the 1958 San Remo Festival, achieved a historical record for Italy by winning two Grammy awards, an unprecedented feat for its country until that time.The organization highlighted the meaning of this election by framing it within the ambition of “underscoring local culture and projecting it to the world,” those responsible for the ceremony indicated when explaining the symbolic scope of the performance.
After the performance of “Volare,” Carey linked with “Nothing isImpossible,” taken from her 2025 studio album “Here For It All.”With this repertoire, the opening established a balance between international promotion and a focus on Italian tradition.
Among the highlights, the organization included a tribute to GiorgioArmani, a legendary fashion icon who died at the age of 91 last September and was considered one of the great ambassadors of Milan.Representatives of the Olympic committee remembered Armani as “the greatest global symbol of Milanese elegance.”
At the television distribution level, the magnitude of the event was reflected in the coverage device announced by Warner Bros. Discovery.The conglomerate will broadcast 865 live hours of the Olympic Games spread across 15 venues, using the Eurosport signal.In the United States, NBC and Peacock will drive full deployment, while in Europe the broadcast will be supported by HBOMax in alliance with local broadcasters.
