Mariah to sing Olympic anthem
It is almost official, Mariah Carey is set to sing the Olympic anthem at the opening ceremonies for the 2004 Olympic Games. Several sources have been reporting this story during the last few days. Now, a major news source, MTV, has the confirmation of this amazing news: "Mariah Carey has been tapped to sing the Olympic anthem at the opening ceremonies for the 2004 Olympic Games, to be held August 13 in Athens, Greece."
Sabine from Germany sent an e-mail to the Athens 2004 Information Centre, to ask them who will sing the Olympic Anthem. They e-mailed her back saying: "We cannot provide you with any relevant information since all details regarding the concept and the participants of the Culture Programme are confidential. All relevant information will be posted on the Athens 2004 official website in the nearest future and, therefore, you are kindly urged to keep visiting it."
The Olympic Anthem, also known as the Olympic Hymn, is based on a poem, "Ancient eternal and immortal spirit", by Greek national poet Kostis Palamas (1859-1943). The music was written by Spiros Samaras (1863-1917) specifically for the first modern Olympics, in Athens in 1896. Samaras used the same melody in the overture to his opera, "Rea".
Other anthems were played at later Olympics. In 1958, the International Olympic Committee formally and unanimously adopted the Samaras-Palamas work as the official Olympic anthem. The anthem is played at the opening ceremony, when the Olympic flag is raised, and again at the closing ceremony, when the flag is lowered.
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