Pop superstar Mariah Carey has been announced as one of the headline performances at the opening ceremony for this year's Winter Olympics, but many fans watching the Milan-Cortina games along at home won't understand a word she says.
The major sporting event is just a few weeks away, February 6, with the 56-year-old diva booked to perform a set that will 'touch the heart' of millions in Italy's San Siro Stadium, famous as the home of soccer teams Inter Milan and AC Milan.
Carey will form one part of an extravagant two-and-a-half hour Opening Ceremony that its Emmy-winning creative lead, Italian Marco Bailich, says will celebrate both Milan and his country's impact on global fashion and design.
With this focus on Italian culture, New York native Carey has agreed to a 'courageous' choice of song, Bailich revealed at a press conference.
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He explained: "When we ask artists to come, especially musical artists, we don’t want them to come and promote their own songs or new albums."
The creative director, who has been involved in a number of previous Olympic ceremonies, added that he wanted international artists to 'sing something that is pertinent.'
Therefore, Carey will be singing a song entirely in Italian, despite normally singing in English, with a few tracks in Spanish. So many of the millions watching around the world won't understand a word she's saying.
However, for the Italians crowding into the 76,000 seater stadium, or watching the proceedings on TV, Bailich is envisioning her performance as a moment of natural pride that will be the 'cherry on the cake' of the whole evening.
That is because the All I Want for Christmas Is You singer has agreed to belt out a song known to many.
“I am very thankful for Mariah Carey," Bailich shared. "She enthusiastically embraced the fact of singing an entire song in Italian, which is not that easy."
With intense preparations underway for the ceremony, which will feature the work of around 2000 volunteers across the two main locations of the games, Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, a town in the Italian Alps, Bailich refused to reveal any further information about Carey's set.
But he did say it would be 'a very well-known song' that will form an emotive moment for his fellow Italians. This will be because of Carey's renowned voice, with Bailich adding that she will 'sing in a very, very courageous way.'
While this might seem like a brave choice for the American singer, she has previously described how her mother often practiced German and Italian operas at home. She told Live With Kelly and Mark that she often joined in as she just had 'an ear for it'.
And if she doesn't pull it off, there will be one person performing at the same event who will definitely pick up on it. That's because she is joined on the line-up by famed Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, who is billed to 'celebrate the beautiful arias' crafted by his country's greatest musicians.
But while the creative lead has promised that superstar Carey 'will enchant us', he reminded the press conference that the 'real stars of the ceremony are athletes'.
Topics: Mariah Carey, Olympics, Sport, Music
William Morgan