Greatest Official Olympic Songs/Themes

Attention!!!

The Olympics is the largest and greatest international sporting event with almost all the nations of the world coming together forgetting their petty differences and conflicts with each other. Rio 2016 kicks off today as tens of thousands of athletes compete in over 300 events in 28 sports. To coincide with the opening ceremony, Katy Perry releases the video for her newest single Rise which serves as the official English theme for the Games this year. Music has always played a significant role in the opening and closing ceremonies of this global sporting phenomenon, as host nations highlight their folk music and mainstream artists release inspirational anthems while the International Olympic Committee handpick official songs for the Games out of several nominees. 

Just like the official emblems and mascots which changes each time, there are official songs also for each Olympics. Some songs have gone on to become chart toppers while others have received numerous accolades including Grammys. Whitney Houston's One Moment In Time takes the crown as the most successful Olympic theme worldwide, followed by Vangelis' Chariots Of Fire, which oozes motivation from the first chord. Composer John Williams and vocal powerhouse Sarah Brightman are the only one with double entries. There are also two songs each from the 1984 Winter Olympics, 1988 Summer Olympics, 1996 Summer Olympics and 2006 Winter Olympics. 

This list does not include the Olympic Hymn, the chorul cantata composed by Spyridon Samaras and lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas as after its inception at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, it became part and parcel of the Games and was declared as the official Olympic Anthem by the International Olympic Committee in 1958 at the 54th Session of the IOC in Tokyo, Japan. Since 1960, it has been played at each Olympic Games: during the opening ceremony when the Olympic flag is hoisted, and during the closing ceremony when the Olympic flag is lowered, adjusted by the hosting nations to suit there cultural compositions. Therefore, this is now part of the Olympics and does not vary each year. The following are the 18 best official Olympic songs arranged according to their chart performance and accolades received. 

1. Whitney Houston – One moment in time (1988 Summer Olympics – Seoul, South Korea)
2. Vangelis – Chariots of fire (1984 Winter Olympics – Sarajevo, Yugoslavia)
3. Gloria Estefan – Reach (1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States)
4. Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé – Barcelona (1992 Summer Olympics – Barcelona, Spain)
5. Katy Perry – Rise (2016 Summer Olympics – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
6. Muse – Survival (2012 Summer Olympics – London, United Kingdom)
7. Celine Dion – The power of the dream (1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, United States)
8. Björk – Oceania (2004 Summer Olympics – Athens, Greece)
9. Koreana – Hand in hand (1988 Summer Olympics – Seoul, South Korea)
10. John Williams – Olympic fanfare and theme (1984 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles, United States)
11. Sarah Brightman & José Carreras – Amigos para siempre (1992 Summer Olympics – Barcelona, Spain)
12. Andrea Bocelli – Because we believe (2006 Winter Olympics – Turin, Italy)
13. Richard Strauss – Olympische hymn (1936 Summer Olympics – Berlin, Germany)
14. Flipsyde – Someday (2006 Winter Olympics – Turin, Italy)
15. Liu Huan & Sarah Brightman – You and me (2008 Summer Olympics – Beijing, China)
16. Bryan Adams & Nelly Furtado – Bang the drum (2010 Winter Olympics – Vancouver, Canada)
17. Nikki Webster – We’ll be one (2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia)
18. John Williams – Call of the champions (2002 Winter Olympics – Salt Lake City, United States)

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