The mammoth Opening Ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Games took place at San Siro Stadium. The stadium, in its swansong before being demolished, was sold out: 67,000 tickets were sold for the show, the best ever for a Winter Olympics. Over two billion spectators watched the event.
From the national anthem sung by Laura Pausini to Gianni Rodari's anti-war poem recited by Ghali, to the homage to the world's most famous Italian song (so much so that it's evoked by its chorus, "Volare") featuring Mariah Carey, the best-selling female artist of all time with over 200 million albums sold: the opening of the Games was a star-studded affair, with many Italian and international artists. Charlize Theron, UN Ambassador for Peace, also brought a message of hope inspired by Nelson Mandela, and tenor Andrea Bocelli performed "Nessun dorma." The show, created by Marco Balich, the master of ceremonies for the opening ceremony, explored the concept of Harmony with various tributes to Italian culture, art, music, fashion, and all the excellence that makes Italy unique.
The tribute to beauty
The tribute to Italian beauty began with Antonio Canova and his Cupid and Psyche, which transformed the playing field into an open-air museum, with display cases housing 70 dancers from the Teatro alla Scala Academy, suspended in a timeless dimension. The stadium lit up with Domenico Modugno's "Nel blu dipinto di blu," performed by international diva Mariah Carey , wearing a dress designed by Italian designer Fausto Puglisi. Laura Pausini sang the Italian national anthem, while actress Matilda De Angelis took on the role of an exceptional conductor, inspired by three of the great masters of Italian opera: Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Gioachino Rossini. She also featured a pop foray into the music of Raffaella Carrà. The tribute to Italian genius was all Italian, with a parade of models dressed in Giorgio Armani, led by supermodel Vittoria Ceretti, Leonardo DiCaprio's partner.
Favino recites Leopardi
The warm voice of Piefrancesco Favino recited Leopardi's Infinito, transforming the poem into a shared and collective experience. Actress Sabrina Impacciatore recounted the 100th anniversary of the Winter Olympics like a musical, journeying through a century of emotions, athletes, and achievements that have helped shape the identity and grandeur of the Winter Olympics. Brenda Lodigiani explained Italian gestures while, In keeping with the concept of the Olympic truce, rapper Ghali—shot from a great distance and with an evidently pre-recorded voice—brought a message of peace to the opening ceremony, reciting Gianni Rodari's poem "Promemoria": "There are things you should never do, for example war," in Italian, English, and French. At the end of the ceremony , solo piano player Lang Lang, the voice of Cecilia Bartoli, and the Children's Choir of the Teatro alla Scala Academy performed the Olympic Hymn.
Malagò: "Italian beauty is an energy."
"Italian beauty doesn't belong to us; it has been entrusted to us by history as a responsibility: it is more than an aesthetic value, it is an energy," said Giovanni Malagò, president of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation. " We are ready to write a new page in Olympic history, inspired by the values that unite us all: excellence, friendship, and respect. What awaits us over the next two weeks is a pioneering edition."
The parade of delegations
The first to cross the Meazza stadium in the traditional parade of participating nations were the athletes from Greece, bringing up the rear for Italy. Above them, the five gold Olympic rings loomed, and the stadium was illuminated with a thousand blue lights. Arianna Fontana and Federico Pellegrino, the Italian flagbearers, greeted the parade of Italian athletes to the tune of "The Barber of Seville" by the roar of the San Siro crowd. Among the applause from the stands were those from the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, while the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, leaped for joy. Celebrations also erupted in Cortina, where Federica Brignone marched on the shoulders of Amos Mosaner, the other flagbearer. Closing the event were Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, the last torchbearers who lit the Olympic flame at the Arco della Pace in Milan, while Sofia Goggia, at the same time, lit the flame in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Mattarella arrives by tram
Mattarella on a tram at the Olympics: it was the surprise entrance that characterized the prologue to the opening ceremony of Milan Cortina 2026. A film featuring the President of the Republic seated like an ordinary citizen, on a tram that also features special passengers: the orchestra of La Scala and athletes on skis. For this film that inaugurated the Olympics, the chosen approach was low-key, with a warm and familiar sense of normality and a touch of presidential self-irony. But it is nothing like the spectacular footage of other Olympic editions. Tram number 26 (a clear reference to the year of the Games) makes a nighttime journey through an almost enchanted Milan, passing the city's most iconic sites. When Mattarella disembarks, he realizes that the tram has been driven by an exceptional driver: Valentino Rossi in perfect tram driver's uniform . Mattarella enters the stadium, ready to take his seat in the stands alongside IOC President Kirsty Coventry.
The ceremony in the name of harmony
Harmony was the guiding principle for the entire ceremony, curated by creative director Marco Balich . For the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics, it is being hosted by two cities, Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, with a narrative thread uniting the city and the mountains. "Harmony is also a universal message," the organizers explain, "a call for peace, dialogue, and the ability to build connections in a fragmented world." The San Siro Stadium is the scenic heart of Harmony, the point from which the narrative of the widespread ceremony radiates. At the center of the stage stands a circle, a tribute to Milan, which began as a circular city, founded in Roman times as Mediolanum and developed over time through successive rings of walls and urban rings. Around the central circle are four ramps that create trajectories that ideally connect Milan to Livigno, Predazzo, and Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Olympic venues.
(Unioneonline/D)