The ceremony was envisioned by Stefania Opipari, its show director, and she guided Blearred from the first drawings to the show. Creative direction came from Filmmaster, with Alfredo Accatino and Adriano Martella. Every lighting scene was built on what she had imagined, and rehearsed with her in the arena for ten days before the show.

Giò Forma designed the set around a drop of water. The stage is a series of rings around a central disc, laid on the floor of the arena like an Italian piazza shared by performers and athletes. Each ring is drawn by a continuous line of light, and the disc in the middle takes the projections.

Just under 750 Cameo Otos L16 bars were laid along the ancient steps of the cavea, and the tiers became the backdrop of the show. Under the Olympic rings they fan upward in blades. Around an orchestra in period costume they turn into points of light scattered across the seats, warm and gold.

The lighting was designed for television as much as for the stands. Eugene O'Connor worked as director of photography for the broadcast. In one scene the whole arena was held in blue, with one white shaft falling on the dancers at the centre.

Lighting design by Jordan Babev and Davide Pedrotti, with Ivan Russo as project manager and Elisa Fiumanò as assistant project manager. Matteo Masini led 3D and Depence, Olek Mar'Yanov and Francesco Rizzotto the CAD, Marzio Del Sole the 3D modelling. Francesco Mingoia and Nicolò Maffeis programmed and operated the show.

Two thousand years of steps, lit one bar at a time.