The 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics opened in grand style, but 'pop queen' Mariah CARRY, who took the main stage at the opening ceremony, was engulfed in lip-syncing allegations.
The British Daily Mail on the 7th (Korea time) reported that Mariah CARRY is being mocked on social media for seeming to awkwardly mimic the song, saying that her lip movements looked slower than the sound echoing in the stadium and that she did not seem to make enough effort in the high notes.
The controversial stage was the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics held at San Siro Olympic Stadium in Milan, Italy. CARRY appeared in a jeweled white dress and fur coat, performed Domenico Modugno's classic 'Nel blu, dipinto di blu' in Italian, and then followed with her own song 'Nothing Is Impossible.'
Although the crowd cheered loudly at her entrance, the atmosphere at the venue quickly cooled as the stage progressed. Observers noted that the cheers when CARRY blew a hand kiss and exited toward the end of the performance were noticeably reduced compared with the beginning.
Immediately after the performance, lip-syncing allegations rapidly went viral through foreign media and social media. Reactions such as "her mouth movements don't match the track," "she looked stiff as if reading a teleprompter," and "it was awful" followed, and many expressed disappointment given her reputation for world-class vocal ability.
It was particularly puzzling that Mariah CARRY, who is not Italian, appeared at the Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics. Mariah CARRY is of Irish descent, and her father is of mixed African American and Venezuelan heritage.
According to an AP report, the opening ceremony committee explained the reason for selecting the singer as a performer was that she perfectly expresses the moving atmosphere felt in the lead-up to the Olympic opening, noting that music is a universal language that evokes various stories and emotions and fits well with the opening ceremony's theme of unity.
By contrast, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who also took the same opening ceremony stage, received a completely different appraisal. Bocelli drew a standing ovation that filled San Siro as he passionately sang the aria 'Nessun dorma' from Puccini's opera Turandot.
On the symbolic stage of the Olympic opening ceremony, the performances of the two world-renowned musicians left a stark contrast and recorded mixed reactions.
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