Olympics Music: Carmen, Nesun Dorma & Inspiring Anthems

As the 2026 Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics begins on the 6th (local time), songs that will echo throughout the stadium are also receiving attention. At the Olympics, a variety of music, from classical to pop, is used to heighten the cheering atmosphere.

The Olympics were opened by music stars such as five-time Grammy Award-winning pop queen Mariah Carey and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. Mariah Carey, who stood on stage at the opening ceremony held at the San Siro Olympic Stadium on this day, passionately sang ‘Nothing is Impossible’, which was released in 2005. This song is borrowed from the Bible’s Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all things because I have Him who gives me strength.’ It is a song that is both a cheering song and a prayer recited to oneself.

Andrea Bocelli, a world-renowned Italian tenor, is singing on stage at the World Cup draw ceremony held last year. [AP=연합뉴스]

Andrea Bocelli then sang ‘Nessun Dorma (Let No One Sleep)’ from the opera ‘Turandot’ composed by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. It is a song by Calaf, who is confident of his victory over the princess Turandot, who gives riddles to her suitors and immediately executes them if they cannot guess them correctly. This song is also the song that legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti performed as the finale at the opening ceremony of the Turin Winter Olympics 20 years ago. Pavarotti was unable to return to the stage due to health problems, and this performance remained the legend’s last performance.

Enhyphen‘s Seong-Hoon is the torch bearer for this year’s Olympics. [사진 빌리프랩]”/>

Enhyphen’s Seong-Hoon is the torch bearer for this year’s Olympics. [사진 빌리프랩]

K-pop also appears to be aiming for an ‘Olympic special’. The official cheering song for Team Korea at this Olympics is Enhyphen’s ‘Shout Out’. Lyrics such as “Voices growing as one/My heart is beating as if it will explode” and “I shout out my heart for you/Shout out with a warm heart” are expected to create a cheering atmosphere. In addition, Enhyphen member Sung Hoon, who participated as a torch bearer at the Olympics, is being reexamined as he served as a member of the national figure skating team before his debut.

Cha Jun-hwan is performing a short program at the 80th National Men’s and Women’s Figure Skating Championships held at the Mok-dong Ice Rink in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul on the 3rd of last month. [사진 뉴스1]

Music resonates even in the figure skating arena. Korea’s figure skating star Cha Jun-hwan performs choreography to ‘Rain, in your black eyes‘ in the short program. This song gives an even sadder feeling in combination with the tragic life of Azio Bosso, an Italian musical genius who freely used various instruments, including the piano and bass, and composed songs of various genres since childhood. Azio Bosso wrote numerous songs while battling illness after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor in 2011. However, in 2019, he became unable to play the piano due to a neurodegenerative disease, and passed away at the age of 48 in May 2020 after a long battle with the disease.

The song that Lee Hae-in, another national figure skating representative, chose as her free skating music was Georges Bizet’s opera ‘Carmen’ suite. This music, represented by the aria ‘Havanera’ sung by the main character Carmen, contains both confidence and passion, as well as Carmen’s dangerous charm. The scene where Lee Hae-in collapses on the ice at the end is reminiscent of the performance of gold medalist Katarina Witt at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, which is said to be the best ending in figure skating history.