Eric Gay / AP

Italian cross-country gold medalist Stefania Belmondo lights the flame with the Olympic torch during Friday's Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

Security was also tight for the arrival of Mrs. Bush and Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

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“Rhythm, Passion and Speed,” promised the show’s producers, and those watching — an estimated 35,000 at the Olympic Stadium and two billion tuning in — got all of that.

The program opened with Yuri Chechi, one of Italy’s most famous gymnasts, swinging a mighty hammer onto a giant anvil that sparked tall flames. Rollerbladers in red body suits zoomed across the stage, two-foot flames shooting out the back of their heads.

Next came a tribute to the seven countries abutting the majestic Alps — including Austria, Germany and France. Dancers wearing green sheaths pranced near brightly painted fake cows pulled on rollers. It was a homage to mountain life and livestock, and to cheer both, the stadium audience was supplied with the cow bells.

In what executive producer Marco Bacilli described as an “iconic moment,” silver-clad dancers appeared with big, white bubbles stuck to their heads. Bacilli, who has staged concert shows for U2 and the Rolling Stones, said the balls signified snow, of which there is none in Turin.

Slide show   Turin celebrates arrival of Olympics See images from the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Games.

This northwest city, home to both Fiat and Savoy mansions, has exhibited a certain ambivalence to the Winter Games, largely because of an ever-changing pattern of traffic detours and street closures. The weather, hovering in the high 30s and low 40s this week, melted more than a foot and a half of recent snow and prompted officials in the mountain venues to churn out the man-made kind.

For the first time, eight women carried the Olympic flag: Italian actress Sophia Loren, Chilean writer Isabel Allende, American actress Susan Sarandon, Nobel Peace-prize winner Wangari Maathai of Kenya, and three Olympic medal winners. They were Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco, Manuela Di Centa of Italy, and Maria Mutola of Mozambique. The eighth was Cambodian human rights activist Somaly Mam.

Behind the scenes, 6,100 volunteers helped stage the event, for which they had practiced an estimated 10,000 hours. Cost of both the opening and closing ceremonies: $34 million.

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