The 2026 Winter Olympics are almost underway, with spectators preparing to pack into the historic San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, for the iconic inaugural ceremony.
While some events, like ice hockey and curling, start competing Wednesday, the opening event will be held Friday at 2 p.m. ET and will be available to watch on both NBC and Peacock.
This year’s show is themed around “Harmony” to represent the two Italian cities that serve as 2026 hosts: Milan and the mountain town of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
In addition to the show-stopping performances, expect to see plenty of celebrities at the games, including Snoop Dogg, who is Team USA’s first honorary coach and will be part of NBC’s coverage team.
As talented athletes from around the world come together to celebrate their milestone achievement, here’s who will be ringing in the start of this year’s opening ceremony.
Mariah Carey
The headliner for this year is the “All I Want for Christmas Is You” singer, who will make her debut performance at the Olympics.
While it is currently unknown what songs she will be singing, it is rumored that she will perform a well-known song in Italian.
Andrea Bocelli
Bocelli is one of Italy’s most internationally renowned singers and will return to the Olympic stage after previously performing at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. Over the course of his operatic career, the celebrated tenor has earned five Grammy Award nominations
Laura Pausini
Laura Pausini was the first Italian woman to take home a Grammy and won a Golden Globe for her song “lo Si” from the 2020 Netflix film The Life Ahead.
Ghali
Italian-Tunisian rapper Ghali has collaborated with international musicians, including Ed Sheeran and Stormzy. All of his albums have achieved gold status or greater in Italy.
Cecilia Bartoli
Italian Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli has won five Grammys and is the first woman to be appointed the director of the Opera de Monte-Carlo in 2003.
Sabrina Impacciatore
The star of The White Lotus andThe Paper will also be making an appearance at the opening ceremony. Rather than singing, Impacciatore will take part in a storytelling segment alongside Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, violinist Giovanni Zanon and actor Matilda De Angelis.
Lang Lang
The Grammy-nominated pianist from China, known for “ushering classical music back into the 21st century,” will also be returning to the Olympics this year after previously performing at the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Games.
This year’s Winter Olympics will run until the closing ceremony on February 22 with 116 medal events across the 19 days in Italy.
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