On February 10 , 2006 , Luciano Pavarotti appeared during a performance of the opera aria " Nessun Dorma " at the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin , Italy , at his final performance . In the last act of the opening ceremony , his performance received the longest and loudest ovation of the night from the international crowd . Leone Magiera , the conductor who directed the performance , revealed in his 2008 memoirs , '' Pavarotti Visto da Vicino '' , that the performance was prerecorded weeks earlier . " The orchestra pretended to play for the audience , I pretended to conduct and Luciano pretended to sing . The effect was wonderful , " he wrote . Pavarotti 's manager , Terri Robson , said that the tenor had turned the Winter Olympic Committee 's invitation down several times because it would have been impossible to sing late at night in the sub-zero conditions of Turin in February . The committee eventually persuaded him to take part by pre-recording the song
2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
Lip sync