Winter Olympics 2026 LIVE: Team GB curling updates and controversy over penis injections ahead of Opening Ceremony

Mariah Carey is set to headline, although it’s not yet been revealed if she will perform “All I Want for Christmas Is You”, with rumours circulating that she will perform a well-known song in Italian.

Andrea Bocelli, one of Italy’s most internationally renowned singers, will return to the Olympic stage after previously performing at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. Over the course of his operatic career, the celebrated tenor has earned five Grammy Award nominations.

Grammy-nominated pianist Lang Lang, known for “ushering classical music back into the 21st century,” will also be returning to the Olympics this year after previously performing at the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Games.

The likes of Snoop Dogg, who is Team USA’s first honorary coach and also part of NBC’s coverage team, will also make an appearance.

TNT Sports and streaming service discovery+ will broadcast every moment of the Winter Olympics, and will provide coverage of and build-up to the Opening Ceremony from 5.30pm GMT.

Viewers in the UK can also watch the Opening Ceremony live on the BBC. Coverage begins on BBC Two at 6:30pm GMT and will run until 10pm.

The ceremony begins at 7pm GMT.

The Winter Olympics officially kick off today, with the Opening Ceremony celebrating the start of two weeks of the very best of winter sport.

The main Opening Ceremony takes place in Milan’s San Siro Stadium, one of the historic site’s final events before it is slated to be torn down.

But due to the spread-out nature of these Games – taking place all across northern Italy – there will also be athlete parades in the mountain clusters, including Cortina, where the curling, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge all take place.

This Opening Ceremony has taken ‘Harmony’ as its theme, and will celebrate the two main sites hosting this Games: Milan and Cortina, which also hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the Winter Olympics.

Though the Games have already begun tonight sees the official opening ceremony of the winter sports festival ahead of two weeks of intense sporting action.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7pm GMT so we’ll have all the updates from Milan before it kicks off.