World famous conductor Seiji Ozawa, however, hopes he can reach beyond the crowd in Nagano and bring harmony to the rest of the world when he leads a worldwide chorus of Beethoven's ''Ode to Joy'' for the finale of the pageant.

The performance will feature choruses from five cities -- Beijing, Berlin, Cape Town, New York and Sydney -- which will sing together via a satellite hookup.

A 2,000-member chorus will also join the performance at the stadium, while Ozawa will conduct an orchestra at the Nagano Prefectural Culture Hall.

''The significance lies in the fact that people from all over the world will sing the same song at the same time,'' said the renowned conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

''Most of the people (in the choruses) of the five continents will sing in German, but those in Beijing will sing in Chinese,'' he said. ''For those in front of the TV, 'la-la' will do. Music is the common language among all people in the world.''

Ozawa, who recently came back from a visit to South Africa, said he was told that because of apartheid, the South African chorus of 100 white and 200 black singers was unthinkable before the election of President Nelson Mandela.

The singing performance using satellite broadcasting technology will, in theory, produce a delay between the image and sound transmissions.

''Some people may think that it is reckless to perform (the piece) using the satellite, but it is important that we do this together,'' Ozawa said.

''I will lead (the performance) by keeping an attitude that it is okay even if the (timing of the choruses) is not perfect.''