Eurovision stars Gabry Ponte and Achille Lauro perform at Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony

Eurovision stars Gabry Ponte and Achille Lauro performed at the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in Verona.

The 2026 Winter Olympics came to a close this morning (Australian time) with the Closing Ceremony held at the iconic Arena di Verona.

The Opening Ceremony had already featured a Eurovision classic sung by Mariah Carey, Eurovision host Laura Pausini performing the national anthem, and Sanremo star Ghali appeared.

The Closing Ceremony was no doubt going to feature some link to Eurovision.

Gabry Ponte

Italian DJ and producer Gabry Ponte, who represented San Marino, got the party started at Verona Arena.

Gabry, who took San Marino to the Eurovision 2026 Grand Final with Tutta l'Italia, performed the 1999 hit Blue (Da Ba Dee).

It was part of a special tribute to the volunteers of the Milano-Cortina Games.

Before his Eurovision days, Gabry was best known for being a founding member of the Eurodance group Eiffel 65, the act behind the song.

After departing Eiffel 65 in the mid-2000s, Ponte launched a successful solo career, producing high-energy EDM tracks and collaborating with international artists across Europe.

He went on to have countless hits in Italy and across Europe.

Achille Lauro

Italian megastar and Eurovision 2022 artist Achille Lauro also took to the Verona Arena.

He performed his Sanremo 2025 song Incoscienti Giovani.

Achille Lauro has competed multiple times at the Sanremo Music Festival, including with Rolls Royce (2019), Me ne frego (2020), Domenica (2022) and Incoscienti giovani (2025). Several of his singles have reached the top five of the Italian charts, and his 2021 album Lauro debuted at No.1 in Italy.

In 2022, he represented San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest with Stripper after winning Una Voce per San Marino.

He competed in the second semi-final in Turin but didn't qualify for the final.

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