The Olympiad 's official theme , " Summon the Heroes " , was written by John Williams , making it the third Olympiad at that point for which he had composed ( official composer 1984 ; NBC 's coverage composer 1988 ) . The opening ceremony featured Céline Dion singing " The Power of the Dream " , the official theme song of the 1996 Olympics . The mascot for the Olympiad was an abstract , animated character named Izzy . In contrast to the standing tradition of mascots of national or regional significance in the city hosting the Olympiad , Izzy was an amorphous , fantasy figure . Atlanta 's Olympic slogan " Come Celebrate Our Dream " was written by Jack Arogeti , a Managing Director at McCann-Erickson in Atlanta at the time . The slogan was selected from more than 5,000 submitted by the public to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau . Billy Payne noted that Jack " captured the spirit and our true motivation for the Olympic games . " The city of Savannah , Georgia ( host of the yachting events ) held its own local festivities , including a local cauldron lighting event on the first day of the Games ( headlined by a performance by country musician Trisha Yearwood )
opening ceremony
1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
1996 Summer Olympics