Andrea Bocelli will be among the headline performers at the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb. 6, organizers said. The ceremony will be centered at Milan’s San Siro stadium, with a “Parade of Athletes” and entertainment as part of a three-hour spectacle expected to be the Games’ most widely viewed moment.
Organizers said elements of the ceremony will reflect the Milan Cortina Games’ geographic spread. In addition to Milan, parts of the opening will be carried out in Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo, with moments beamed to television audiences from the Dolomite mountains area and from locations in Italy’s Alps and the autonomous province of Trento.
The program will also include a tribute to the late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, organizers said. Armani died in September at age 91, and his work has long been tied to the Italian Olympic team’s uniforms, as well as to Milan landmarks including the Armani theater and the Silos museum.
Organizers said Armani also helped shape Milan’s fashion and sports footprint, including through sponsorship of the EA7 Emporio Armani Milano basketball team. They said the tribute is part of the opening’s effort to link the spectacle to Italian culture and to the Games’ setting.
Bocelli is a classically trained singer whose recordings include classical and pop music. Organizers said his career has included performances for the coronation of King Charles III and for the 75th anniversary of the Italian Constitution in Rome.
Organizers said Bocelli will appear during a break from a world tour and that his official calendar has him traveling the next day to perform at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio on Feb. 7, followed by six other U.S. dates. Organizers said Bocelli’s inclusion will “contribute a contemporary and global tone to the narrative,” and they added that his performance “will constitute one of the most iconic moments of the event, uniting the spectacle with the essence of Olympic values.”
The ceremony is being produced by Marco Balich, a veteran of more than a dozen Olympic ceremonies, organizers said. Details about the opening event have been emerging over recent months, with the decision to stage parts of the program in multiple locations.
Mariah Carey, who organizers said is the first international pop star named to perform at San Siro, is also slated to appear. Organizers said Carey announced her participation in an Instagram post saying, “Ci vediamo a Milano,” Italian for “See you in Milan.”
Organizers said Italian actors Sabrina Impacciatore and Matilde De Angelis will also take part in the opening ceremony. A crowd of 60,000 spectators is expected, with millions more watching on television.
For the closing ceremony, organizers said Roberto Bolle will headline an event slated for Feb. 22 at Verona’s ancient Roman Arena.