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≡ BALICH ON OLYMPIC OPENING ≡
The Opening Ceremony for the Milan Cortina Winter Games will emphasize humanity over technology while performing the complicated task of merging athlete parades in four locations throughout Italy.
Creative director Marco Balich (ITA, pictured below from a video screenshot) said that while technology has advanced in the 20 years since he won an Emmy Award for his work on the 2006 Turin Winter Games, his team is striving for a “very essential human-driven” ceremony with “no technological thrills.”
“When we think of the big images, we remember Muhammad Ali shaking [in 1996], the archer [Antonio Rebollo] in Barcelona lighting the cauldron,” said Balich, who has worked on a record 16 Olympic ceremonies. “We do not remember how much LED on the floor there was, or what kind of super powerful flying system was on top. The essence is human-driven and the emotion comes from humanity. This is our secret ingredient.”
The 70,000-seat San Siro Stadium in Milan is the main venue for the 2½-hour show, while simultaneous ceremonies will be held in Cortina, Valtellino and Val di Fiemme. During the athlete parade, the camera will jump from place to place to seamlessly show each country’s participants “marching together.”
“It’s challenging, but at the same time I think it is a great new feature of this Olympics,” Balich said. “We enable all the athletes to participate in the athlete parade … even if they have a competition the next day. That’s a beautiful gift that this Games gives to the athletes so they can represent their country with a big smile.”
Balich introduced the overall theme of “Armonia,” a word with Greek roots that connects man and nature or city and mountains.
“Everything that is harmonious is beautiful and for us Italians, beauty is an essence,” Balich said. “And Armonia is also a universal message of peace, which is very needed now in 2026.”
The Olympic Truce will be a major element in the show.
The set design in San Siro Stadium features a 30-meter [98-foot] central circle representing a place of gathering and communion, while four ramps are conceptual roads connecting Cortina, Anterselva, Val di Fiemme and Livigno.
Balich said the athletes will be placed next to the action while also being next to the protocol stage for the speeches.
Celebrities who will perform include Andrea Bocelli and Laura Pausini, who are Italian icons. The top international star is American Mariah Carey, who will sing a famous Italian song, and Balich said, “You will see the entire stadium singing along. That is my promise.”
The show will also celebrate Italy’s three famous composers: Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi and Gioachino Rossini.
During an online round table with more than 200 journalists, Balich revealed the cauldron, which is “usually a very well-kept secret,” he said.
However, this was necessary because there will be two cauldrons built in public areas – one in the heart of Milan and the other in the main square of Cortina.
The design was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci and his geometrical knots. The flame is small, as a nod toward sustainability, and and the cauldrons will expand during evening shows at the top of every hour.
“It’s a contemporary symbol that speaks of design, sunshine, sustainability and beauty,” Balich said. “I really expect that to become a viral social media sensation.”
He said the projected audience for the opening ceremony – without Africa and India – is estimated to be 2.2 billion people.
He hopes to appeal to Gen Z and the younger generation as well as the traditional Olympic fans.
“This is a true moment when the entire world is watching,” Balich said. “We are a small nation that contributes a lot to the world in terms of beauty, in terms of culture, in terms of sense of brotherhood. We are not a belligerent country. We love peace and we want to state that big and loud.”
The show will also feature a tribute to Giorgio Armani, a symbol of all the great fashion designers from Milan. Balich said they changed the perception of Italy “from pizza, pasta, mozzarella into an elegant, design-driven and beauty-inspired generation of Italians.”
Armani, who died in September 2025, left one of his final marks on the Games.
“For the first time we share that among the last drawings that Giorgio Armani did when he was alive is the the drawing of the outfit of the flagbearer in Milano Cortina,” Balich said. “It’s going to be very emotional for us Italians to see this.”
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics had some controversial moments, but Balich did not expect any from the Milan Cortina presentation.
“It’s a unique platform to convey good messages and not messages that divide,” he said.
While Balich said the opening ceremonies for Paris, Athens 2004 and London 2012 were “guru-driven,” he prefers a model where the creative director coordinates with other talents. His team includes veterans from the worlds of opera and Cirque du Soleil.
“It’s like a football team versus a single tennis player,” Balich said.
He did not want to reveal too much, but said 1,200 volunteers join professionals in the segments, which change every three to four minutes.
One segment will celebrate 102 years of Winter Olympics. “We go through different eras with people changing outfits in front of your eyes,” Balich said.
At 8 p.m. local time on 6 February, the Olympic opening ceremony will be appointment TV around the world.
“People will be awake to see their team, to see who is lighting the cauldron,” Balich said. “It’s always a beautiful celebration of the athletes, the sports and the Games.”
And it’s his job to make sure Italy shines.
Limited tickets are still available for the opening ceremony. Explained Balich:
“One goal of our ceremony is to deliver three or four strong images of the ceremony, among which two or three images that really trigger the sense of pride to the host nation.”
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