Crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli will be among the headline performers at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Feb. 6, joining previously announced pop star Mariah Carey, Olympic organizers said on Sunday. The opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will be staged at Milan's iconic San Siro Stadium, featuring the Parade of Athletes and a three-hour program of performances and visual storytelling. Organizers said the ceremony is expected to be the most widely watched moment of the Games. Reflecting the Games' status as the most geographically dispersed Winter Olympics to date, elements of the opening ceremony will also take place simultaneously in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livigno, and Predazzo, with live feeds broadcast to the global television audience. The ceremony will include a tribute to late Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died in September at the age of 91. Armani had long designed the Italian Olympic team's uniforms and left a lasting imprint on Milan's cultural and fashion landscape. Bocelli, a classically trained tenor with a career spanning opera, pop, and crossover music, has previously performed at the coronation of King Charles III and during celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the Italian Constitution. He will appear at the Olympic ceremony during a break from his world tour before resuming performances in the United States the following day. Organizers described Bocelli's appearance as "one of the most iconic moments of the event," saying it would blend spectacle with core Olympic values while adding a contemporary, global dimension to the ceremony. Carey, a six-time Grammy Award winner, was the first international star confirmed for the San Siro event and announced her participation on social media, writing in Italian: "Ci vediamo a Milano" ("See you in Milan"). Italian actors Sabrina Impacciatore and Matilde De Angelis will also take part in the opening ceremony, according to organizers. Around 60,000 spectators are expected to attend the opening night at San Siro, with millions more watching worldwide. The closing ceremony, scheduled for Feb. 22, will be held at Verona's Arena di Verona, with internationally acclaimed ballet star Roberto Bolle set to headline the event. — Agencies
