Olympics Opening Ceremony: Bocelli Shines, Carey Falls

I knew we were really in Milan the second the camera pulled back from San Siro and I saw the whole circus: cars that looked borrowed from a fashion shoot, outfits that belonged on a runway instead of a track, even food shots that made the risotto look like a co‑star. The Olympics Opening Ceremony wasn’t shy about its mission. Before it worried about athletes or medals, it wanted to scream “Italy” in capital letters.

On paper the theme sounded almost impossible for 2026: peace. That is a hard word to sell when half the headlines in the world say the opposite. And yet, for a good chunk of the night, the show more or less pulled it off. Dancers turned themselves into a giant dove, Charlize Theron walked out to read a line from Nelson Mandela, and there were enough flags on screen to start a small United Nations. It could have been painfully cheesy. Instead, the vibe sat in that narrow space between sincere and overdone. Not subtle, but not cringe either, which is already a victory for an Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Bocelli does exactly what everyone hoped he would

The one person who seemed born for this kind of stage was Andrea Bocelli. Toward the end, when the torch‑lighting sequence kicked in, he appeared almost casually, sunglasses on, like he’d just wandered in from another, quieter party. The orchestra slid into “Nessun dorma,” and you could feel the whole stadium shift from “look at the lights” to “okay, shut up, this matters.”

There were no surprise arrangements, no extra high notes bolted on just to go viral. He sang it straight, in that calm, heavy way of his, and it landed like a proper full stop on the entire night. For once, the cameras didn’t need tricks. One guy, one aria, 70,000 people holding their breath – the simplest part of the Olympics Opening Ceremony ended up being the most effective.

Mariah Carey gets the spotlight, but not the win

Mariah Carey had a tougher time. She was clearly booked as the big international “wow” name: non‑Italian, global superstar, the kind of person you throw on the poster. The set‑up was perfect – silver dress, absurdly large boa, stage completely cleared – and then she started singing in Italian, quietly, almost politely.

If you’re used to the Christmas‑season version of Carey who belts like the mic owes her money, this was… strange. The pitch was fine, the notes were there, but the performance never loosened up. Even when she slipped into one of those glass‑shattering whistle notes, her body stayed tight, like someone still thinking about the next line of a speech. Side by side with Laura Pausini later roaring through the national anthem up in Cortina, Carey’s supposedly huge slot in the Olympics Opening Ceremony felt oddly small.

Sabrina Impacciatore saves the sleepy middle

Somewhere around the point where the parade of nations had gone on long enough for people to start checking their phones, Sabrina Impacciatore turned up and basically kicked the show awake. If you’ve seen her in The White Lotus or The Paper, you know she can chew scenery, but here she went full musical‑theatre host.

Her job was to walk everyone through a century of Winter Games history. On the running order that probably sounded like a bathroom‑break segment. Instead we got a deliberately silly trip through time: cartoon graphics flipping the calendar back, then Impacciatore charging down the field with dancers in ridiculous costumes. Fuzzy old‑school coats, slick mid‑century ski gear, neon 80s monstrosities – it looked like someone cracked open a costume warehouse and said “take whatever makes you laugh.” It was the first part of the Olympics Opening Ceremony in the third hour that made you sit up again instead of checking how much was left.

NBC talks a lot but doesn’t always say much

In the U.S., all of this came with NBC commentary layered on top. Terry Gannon did the play‑by‑play, and Mary Carillo slid into the analyst chair after Savannah Guthrie stepped aside because of her family situation. Given that backstory, it’s understandable they kept the mood fairly light. Sometimes that worked: a quick piece of background here, a smart observation there.

But there were also stretches where you wanted them to say less, not more. Famous Italians walked on and off screen with no identification, while a segment with giant paint tubes somehow turned into a mini lecture on primary colours. At one point we were told, in case elementary school had slipped everyone’s minds, that red, yellow and blue make all the others. Meanwhile the pictures from Milan – especially the wide shots of the rings, the torch and the crowded stadium – were doing the heavy lifting just fine. Whenever the booth shut up for a minute, the Olympics Opening Ceremony suddenly felt bigger and more confident.

🔗Don’t miss out - More Global news, US politics, and energy updates: (Click Here)

FAQ's

Q1: When and where did the Olympics Opening Ceremony happen?

The Olympics Opening Ceremony for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games took place on February 6 at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. It officially opened two weeks of competition with performances, speeches and the parade of nations.

Q2: What made Andrea Bocelli’s performance the highlight of the night?

Andrea Bocelli closed the Olympics Opening Ceremony with a calm, powerful version of “Nessun dorma.” Without extra drama or gimmicks, he gave the torch‑lighting sequence a focused, emotional climax that felt bigger than all the special effects around it.

Q3: Why are people saying Mariah Carey underperformed?

Mariah Carey had a huge solo slot early in the show, but her Italian‑language ballad came off careful and a bit tense. Even when she hit one of her trademark whistle notes, her body language stayed stiff, so her segment in the Olympics Opening Ceremony never reached the big, confident payoff fans expected.

Q4: Who is Sabrina Impacciatore and what did she do in the ceremony?

Italian actress Sabrina Impacciatore, known from “The White Lotus” and “The Paper,” led a playful history‑of‑the‑Winter‑Games number. With dancers in over‑the‑top period costumes, she turned a potential lecture into one of the most energetic and fun parts of the Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Q5: How did NBC’s commentary team handle the broadcast?

On the U.S. feed, Terry Gannon and Mary Carillo mixed light trivia with basic play‑by‑play. Viewers felt they sometimes missed simple context—like naming Italian celebrities on screen—and that the Olympics Opening Ceremony actually worked better whenever the commentary backed off and let the visuals speak.