At the 2026 Olympics Opening Ceremony, Weirdness Was in Short Supply — but Not Attempts at ‘Harmony’

As the Milan-Cortina festivities unspooled across multiple locations, the theme of "harmony" felt more necessary — and harder to capture — than ever.

The theme? “Harmony.” But as the opening ceremonies (yes, plural) of the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina unspooled across multiple locations on Friday, the theme of “harmony” felt more necessary — and harder to capture — than ever.

Overall, it proved to be a more sedate and traditional opening than Paris’ divisive 2024 offering. Less out-there, sure, but a little too much been-there.

The ceremony kicked off at 8 p.m. local time (11 a.m. PT and 2 p.m. ET for my fellow Americans, a very nice way to spend a winter Friday). The majority of the festivities were held at Milan’s 76,000-capacity San Siro stadium, but with this Olympics officially taking place in both Milan and Cortina, smaller events ran in tandem at Cortina d’Ampezzo (about 250 miles northeast of Milan) and in hubs like Livigno and Bormio in the Valtellina valley; Tesero and Predazzo in the Fiemme Valley; and the Antholz-Anterselva valley on the Austrian border.

Because of the two host cities, there were two cauldrons lit by the iconic Olympic torch at the conclusion of the ceremony: one in Arco della Pace (Arch of Peace) in Milan and one at Cortina d’Ampezzo’s main square.

Athletes walked as part of the traditional parade that ends the ceremony proper — easily and forever my favorite part of any opening ceremony — in whichever location they chose. Some of the best editing of the entire endeavor was on display here, seamlessly cutting between each location to show off their various contingents in — oh gosh, is it true? can it be? — harmony.

In the arena, however, there was a different sense of not only what this looked like, but how it felt. A friend in attendance at Milan said that the energy of the entire effort felt weak, and the athlete parade felt oddly empty. “There’s barely anyone in the arena,” she texted me. “Just figure skating, speed skating, and hockey.” That’s also why when the Canadian team emerged, cheers were so loud. Everyone was “just happy to see people.”

Before that? About 45 minutes of showmanship, pageantry, and some mixed attempts to lean into the theme that didn’t live up to the easy joy of the athlete parade. At least there were no less than three giant dancing heads to keep up the weird spirit of Paris. There was no Tom Cruise. (There’s still time, Tom.)

Interpretative dance still seems to be en vogue when it comes to these sorts of events — no need to worry about words, let your body carry you, which does indeed fit nicely with the notion of athletic excellence — and the ceremony opened with dozens of angelic dancers mixing, mingling, and reaching out to the audience as well as each other. Inspired by Milan’s own opera house, Teatro alla Scala, and some of the country’s most timeless works of art (large-scale marble busts were at each corner of the “stage”), it offered a classy, soothing start to the festivities.

Things soon got cinematic, with a “La Dolce Vita”-inspired second segment (cinephiles everywhere were heard screaming, “viva cinema!”) that also, somehow, honored other great Italian traditions, like paparazzi (??) and classic composers Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, and Giacomo Puccini (thanks to dancers wearing giant papier-mâché heads of each, my personal favorite way to be honored).

One announcer gleefully proclaimed, “Some art is about to happen!” as giant tubes of red, blue, and yellow paint appeared above, and began “pouring” colors on the dancers below. I, too, love art. Costumed dancers popped up, dressed as various recognizable pieces of Italian culture, from miniature Colosseums to, I am fairly certain, multiple stove-top espresso makers. Later, there was a disco number.

Harmonious? Not really, but still, quite entertaining in its whiz-bang, “do you know this was Italian, too?!” spectacle.

Then, some real art happened: Mariah Carey performed her own rendition of the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest classic “Nel blu dipinto di blu,” better known worldwide as “Volare,” in Italian. Framed as a medley with her own “Nothing Is Impossible,” it was reserved in a way that felt at odds with the perennially dancing big-headed opera superstars, gyrating just off stage. They would have loved the water-dancing horse from Paris.

What’s more Italian than Giorgio Armani? Dozens of women wearing Giorgio Armani suits in the colors of the Italian flag. At the end of their seemingly unending lines? Model Vittoria Ceretti, dressed all in white, who presented the Italian flag to a gentleman who then “passed” it (via the magic of technology and good, old-fashioned editing) to the Cortina contingent, miles away. Soon, everyone was asked to stand (if able!) for the Italian national anthem, sung by Laura Pausini. (Helpful NBC graphics informed viewers she’s a Grammy and Golden Globe-winning artist, which sure felt like a way to inject some very American sensibility into the entire thing.)

Finally (finally) things got, if not weird, at least a little Gothic, zinging to the mountains around Antholz to a very talented violinist playing in the middle of a moon-lit snow field, lit only by flaming lanterns. Now this is what we want to see! Alas, no sooner had I started Googling his name (Giovanni Andrea Zanon), we were back in Milan, where Zanon then magically (aka editing magic) appeared in the stadium to finish playing.

At this point, I began to ponder the nature of “harmony” — though I was temporarily distracted by the appearance of two giant floating rings, which seemed positively demonic, even if they are very standard markers of the Olympics — and how it might be reflected in this ceremony. The rings? They started to rise! “Are these two damn things just gonna smush together, and that’s gonna have to suffice for ‘harmony’?,” I wondered. Nope! Instead, the two people standing in the middle of each ring jumped out, embraced each other, and floated downward — harmony by way of weak Cirque du Soleil inspiration.

And, then, well, they got me. Our two rings? Soon, there were five, and yes, they joined into a magical, massive, and only slightly demonic Olympics symbol in the middle of the stadium. Yes, they looked too orange (demonic!) and when they sparked, I worried about the safety of those below, but it did finally spell a moment of, yes, harmony.

The ceremony was overseen by Marco Balich and his Banijay-owned events company Balich Wonder Studio. Balich is no stranger to Olympics glory, and he has been involved in 15 Olympic ceremonies over the course of his career, including Salt Lake City in 2002, Turin in 2006, Sochi in 2014, and Rio in 2016.

Numbers-wise, Deadline reported earlier that the ceremony will include 3,500 athletes and more than 1,300 performers, feature 182 original designs, more than 1,400 costumes and 1,500 pairs of shoes, with 110 make-up artists and 70 hair stylists working behind the scenes.

While preliminary heats have already kicked off for a number of events — I watched some women’s hockey and mixed doubles curling before the big event started, while luge, snowboarding, and alpine skiing events played elsewhere — Friday night’s big event inevitably feels like the true beginning. Let’s hope for a bit more energy over the next few days.

If you didn’t catch the ceremony live, a primetime cut will be available on Friday evening, starting at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. It will also be live-streamed via DirecTV, Sling, Hulu + Live TV, and Peacock.