Milano Cortina 2026, the Ceremony: who will be there, the performances

Yesterday, January 5th, the Olympic flame has arrived in Milan and today, after a final stretch through the city, it will land at the San Siro Stadium who will host the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Renamed for the occasion Milan San Siro Olympic Stadiumthe Meazza is ready to welcome him almost two and a half hour show which will officially kick off the Olympics.

In addition to the parade of the 92 delegations arrived from all over the world and opened by Italian and international athletes double lighting of the braziers technological, inspired by the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, one at the Arco della Pace in Milan (said to be by Alberto Tomba), the other in Piazza Dibona in Cortina d’Ampezzo, there are two other key moments of the ceremony. When the flames light up, the 2026 Winter Olympics will officially kick off.

The ceremony will come alive thanks to the participation of leading figures from the world of music and cinema. Among these it stands out Mariah Carey who, according to a video that emerged in the last few hours of rehearsals, would be ready to play “In the blue, painted blueOn the musical front there will also be Andrea Bocelli and Laura Pausiniwho was entrusted with the Mameli Hymn. Pierfrancesco Favino, Matilda De Angelis and Sabrina Impacciatore will instead arrive from the big screen, together with an international star like Tom Cruise. The pianist Lang Lang and the mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli will also perform during the evening.

Also in the lineup Ghaliwhich ended up at the center of a heated political debate precisely because of its presence. In the past few hours the rapper responded to the controversy with a message posted on social media: “I know when a rumor is accepted. I know when it is corrected. I know when it becomes too much. I know why they want someone like me. I also know why they wouldn’t want meIn his message, Ghali also hinted at what the public should have initially expected from his presence: “I know why they invited me. I also know why I was no longer able to sing the Italian anthemAt the moment it is therefore not known what the voice of “Good times” will bring to the stage.

In addition to the musical guests, the ceremony promises to be great a great event also thanks to the participation of approximately 1200 performers volunteers involved, including dancers from the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, professional dancers and people who have dedicated weeks of preparation to the show, and a cast from 27 different countries with ages ranging from 10 to 70 years. There will be five thousand athletes who will parade, including guests from other sports that are not strictly winter such as volleyball world champions or former footballers. The soundtracks of the show will then be played 500 musicianswhile 1400 is the number of various costumes that will be seen worn on stage, among 1000 props.

For those who will follow the ceremony from home, the appointment starts at 7.50pm on Rai 1 which will broadcast the opening of the games in full, in free streaming on Rai Play and by subscription on Eurosport, a channel available in streaming on HBO Max, Discovery+, Dazn, TIMvision and Prime Video Channels.