The ceremony began at 20:00 CET with a 30-second countdown. At the end of the countdown, the text "Armonia" appeared on the screen, and fireworks were set off inside the stadium. The show itself began with a tribute to Italian artist
Antonio Canova, telling the story of
Cupid and Psyche through a museum setting accompanied by dancers and music. After this, Italian actress
Matilda De Angelis 'conducted' Italian composers
Giacomo Puccini,
Gioachino Rossini, and
Giuseppe Verdi. Three hanging blue, red, and yellow paint tubes appeared over the stadium, releasing their colours while dancers performed, symbolising creativity and artistic expression. Their respective costumes showcased Italy's cultural heritage, cuisine, and history, most notably the character of
Pinocchio and the Italian
Moka pot. A brief tribute to the late Italian
pop culture icon Raffaella Carrà also occurred. Afterwards, A performance by American singer
Mariah Carey followed, with her performing "
Nel blu, dipinto di blu" in Italian and her single "
Nothing Is Impossible". At San Siro, a pre-filmed video segment introduced Italian President
Sergio Mattarella depicting him riding a
tram in Milan driven by
Valentino Rossi, before his entrance in the stadium together with
IOC President
Kirsty Coventry and the Games' organising committee president
Giovanni Malago. Following this, models wore costumes in the colors of the Italian flag designed by the late
Giorgio Armani.
Vittoria Ceretti passed the country's
flag off to the
Carabinieri; in Cortina,
Fulvio Valbusa,
Giorgio Di Centa,
Pietro Piller Cottrer, and
Cristian Zorzi did the same to an all-women Carabinieri. Italian singer
Laura Pausini performed "
Il Canto degli Italiani", while a mountain choir did the same simultaneously in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The
Olympic rings were unveiled during a segment featuring dancers showcasing the 'harmony' between the city (Milan) and the mountains (Cortina), symbolising the two host cities of the Games. In addition, Italian actor
Pierfrancesco Favino delivered a recitation of
Giacomo Leopardi's poem "
L'infinito". The score was led by
Giovanni Andrea Zanon playing the 1716
Berthier Stradivarius violin. After this, the
parade of nations commenced, beginning with
Greece and ending with the host nation,
Italy. Athletes from 93 countries paraded from four venues in Milan, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Livigno, and Predazzo, against the backdrop of dance music provided by producer DJ Mace; the Italian athletes marched as a remixed version of "
Largo al factotum" from
Rossini's opera
The Barber of Seville was heard. Following the parade, Italian actress
Sabrina Impacciatore and dancers celebrated the 100 years of the
Winter Olympic Games, first showcasing all the past Winter Olympics in backwards chronological order in a premade animated video - also featuring the Games' mascots
Tina and Milo - and then live in the stadium. This entire segment featured in the premade video before the animated sequence. Music played during the segment included "
Prisencolinensinainciusol" by
Adriano Celentano. Prior to the official speeches by Coventry and Malagò, actress Brenda Lodigiani performed a segment on
Italian hand gestures. President Mattarella then proceeded to declare the Games open. Afterward, Italian tenor singer
Andrea Bocelli performed "
Nessun dorma". A segment promoting peace featured South African and American actress and
United Nations Messenger of Peace Charlize Theron and Italian rapper
Ghali, the latter reciting the anti-war poem "Promemoria" by
Gianni Rodari while dancers recreated the "
dove of peace". The
Olympic flag was raised in both Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, carried by
Rebecca Andrade,
Eliud Kipchoge,
Cindy Ngamba,
Pita Taufatofua,
Tadatoshi Akiba,
Maryam Bukar Hassan, ,
Filippo Grandi,
Franco Nones and
Martina Valcepina; the
Olympic Hymn was performed by Italian singer
Cecilia Bartoli, American cellist
Yo-Yo Ma, Chinese pianist
Lang Lang, and the
Teatro alla Scala children's choir members. The
Olympic oath was stated at Cortina's Piazza Angelo Dibona by athletes (curler
Stefania Constantini and luger
Dominik Fischnaller of Italy), coaches, and judges. Before the lighting of the cauldrons, a tribute to the
European Union featuring the
anthem was shown. It was then followed by a short segment about Europe's involvement with space exploration and astronomy (with the
European Space Agency), showing Italian astronaut
Samantha Cristoforetti and a young girl witnessing a space-themed performance. The
Olympic flame, which previously briefly entered the stadium, then proceeded to its final destination. The cauldron, inspired by
Leonardo da Vinci's 'knot' geometric designs, was lit by Italian
alpine skiers Deborah Compagnoni and
Alberto Tomba located in Milan's
Arco della Pace monument, while another was lit by Italian alpine skier
Sofia Goggia at Cortina's Piazza Angelo Dibona. ==Anthems==