{"id":2272220,"date":"2026-02-08T06:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T06:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2272220"},"modified":"2026-02-08T06:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T06:04:12","slug":"mariah-carey-2026-olympic-opening-ceremony-performance-sparks-lip-synching-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/mariah-carey-2026-olympic-opening-ceremony-performance-sparks-lip-synching-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariah Carey 2026 Olympic opening ceremony performance sparks lip-synching questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F02%2Fnewspress-collage-y2plortoc-1770529550047.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261770511575\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The performance by\u00a0pop star <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/06\/sports\/mariah-carey-sings-in-italian-at-the-2026-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony\/\">Mariah Carey\u00a0at the\u00a0Milan Cortina Winter Olympics<\/a>\u00a0opening ceremony was the talk of the town \u2014 but it also raised a few questions.<\/p>\n<p>The rendition by the\u00a0American singer\u00a0of Italian classic \u201cNel Blu Dipinto di Blu\u201d \u2014 better known as \u201cVolare\u201d \u2014 was a showstopping highlight in the\u00a03\u00bd-hour spectacle\u00a0that kicked off\u00a0the Games.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuch a dream come true to perform (in Italian!) at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony,\u201d she later wrote in an Instagram post.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Mariah Carey performs at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics Opening Ceremony at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 6, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She received rave reviews from many, who called her marvelous and touted her high notes.<\/p>\n<p>But her performance Friday also prompted a good deal of criticism online, where commenters were confused why an Italian singer wasn\u2019t given the honor.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Some noted a large teleprompter with a phonetic breakdown of the song\u2019s Italian lyrics, while others wondered if she was lip-syncing.<\/p>\n<p>Three reporters \u2014 including The Associated Press \u2014 asked the International Olympic Committee and local organizers about her during their daily news conference Saturday to address the teleprompter and doubts about lip-syncing.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Non-Italian background<\/h2>\n<p>Carey was born in New York to an Irish American mother, who was an opera singer, and a Black father with Venezuelan roots.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Carey received rave reviews from many, who called her marvelous and touted her high notes. <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite her non-Italian background, the local organizing committee asked her to perform at Friday\u2019s opening ceremony and touted her for months as\u00a0a big get to open\u00a0the Winter Games.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe that Mariah Carey\u2019s performance was exceptional,\u201d Milan Cortina\u2019s director of ceremonies Maria Laura Iascone said Saturday. \u201cShe was capable of creating a magic moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear whether Carey chose to sing \u201cVolare,\u201d but\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/mariah-carey-2026-olympics-opening-ceremony-performance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">she told Vogue<\/a>\u00a0after the ceremony that the song has long been a favorite of hers.<\/p>\n<p>The show did feature the Italian <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/06\/sports\/2026-winter-olympic-games-kicks-off-with-fireworks-star-performances-and-more\/\">voices of tenor\u00a0Andrea Bocelli, <\/a>singer-songwriter Laura Pausini and mezzosoprano Cecilia Bartoli.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lip-syncing questions<\/h2>\n<p>While armchair analysts mused online that the\u00a0\u201cAll I Want for Christmas is You\u201d\u00a0singer appeared stiff, especially while singing in Italian, the crowd inside the\u00a0San Siro stadium\u00a0cheered and applauded when they realized she was performing in the local language.<\/p>\n<p>She later stunned the audience with her own \u201cNothing is Impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked Saturday if Carey was lip-syncing, Iascone dodged the question and instead praised her as \u201creally extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Despite her non-Italian background, the local organizing committee asked her to perform at Friday\u2019s opening ceremony and touted her for months as\u00a0a big get to open\u00a0the Winter Games. <span class=\"credit\">Xinhua\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She said that \u201cin order to be on the safe side,\u201d they always record performances ahead of time for internationally broadcast events.<\/p>\n<p>She didn\u2019t directly address if Carey was lip-syncing and said the singer wasn\u2019t paid for her performance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were all satisfied with the result we had,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Phonetic teleprompter<\/h2>\n<p>A large teleprompter was visible inside the stadium, spelling out phonetically how Carey should sing the Italian words.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoh-lah-reh,\u201d it read for \u201cVolare.\u201d And \u201cNell blue Dee-peen-toe D blue\u201d for \u201cNel Blu Dipinto di Blu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Posts of the scrolling lyrics on social media, including from Italian high jumper\u00a0Gianmarco Tamberi, racked up hundreds of thousands of views online.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>It\u2019s unclear whether Carey chose to sing \u201cVolare,\u201d but\u00a0she told Vogue\u00a0after the ceremony that the song has long been a favorite of hers. <span class=\"credit\">Walter G. Arce\/ZUMA \/ SplashNews.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When the AP asked Iascone about it, she said \u201cof course\u201d there was a teleprompter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEspecially for those artists who sang in a different language than their own native language,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd they needed some support, especially regarding the pronunciation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Iascone added: \u201cThis is part of the show. It is a way to support the talents on the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The performance by\u00a0pop star Mariah Carey\u00a0at the\u00a0Milan Cortina Winter Olympics\u00a0opening ceremony was the talk of the town \u2014 but it also raised a few questions. The rendition by the\u00a0American singer\u00a0of Italian classic \u201cNel Blu Dipinto di Blu\u201d \u2014 better known as \u201cVolare\u201d \u2014 was a showstopping highlight in the\u00a03\u00bd-hour spectacle\u00a0that kicked off\u00a0the Games. \u201cSuch a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2272221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[21741,325852,312296,29901,439758],"class_list":["post-2272220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-entertainment","tag-italy","tag-mariah-carey","tag-singers","tag-winter-olympics-2026"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Mariah-Carey-2026-Olympic-opening-ceremony-performance-sparks-lip-synching-questions.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2272222,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272220\/revisions\/2272222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2272221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}