It won’t be played during the opening ceremonies at the San Siro stadium, but “Ti Amo,” the 1977 chart-topper that has been chosen as the official song for the Winter Olympics, is likely going to be heard everywhere else at the Games over the next few weeks.
“Italy is a love story. Ti Amo is its heartbeat,” quips the website for the Games. The official ad for the Olympics features athletes singing the song — not always in tune — and has become a refrain on social media.
“It’s an iconic and well-known song, famous all over the world, and it represents and carries with it a cultural heritage that also represents Italy in the world,” said Lorena Lombardi, the head of music licensing for Sugar, an independent Italian record label and music publisher that owns the rights to the song.
“Ti Amo,” which means “I love you” in Italian, has had a long shelf life. Originally recorded by the Italian pop star Umberto Tozzi, the song was then recorded in English by Laura Branigan in 1984. There are also German, French and Spanish versions. A duet featuring Tozzi and Monica Bellucci was recorded for the 2002 film “Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra,” and it recently popped up in the mini-series “Disclaimer,” starring Cate Blanchett.
Tozzi and Giancarlo Bigazzi, who co-wrote the song, had to sign off on how it would be used by the Olympic committee, Lombardi said.
NBC, which has the exclusive rights to show the Games in the United States, and its streaming platform, Peacock, went with the London-born pop star Dua Lipa for its ads. Some British media outlets reported that NBC faced a backlash for selecting an English singer and songwriter, a move that was seen as “unpatriotic.”
In Italy, the choice of “Ti Amo” did not appear to have created any controversy.
“From the very first notes of the song, you know that the action is going to take place in Italy,” Lombardi said. “It is a symbol of Italianness.”
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
The post Naturally, Italy’s Song for the Olympics Is About Love appeared first on New York Times.
