Celine Dion made an emotional return to the stage on Friday at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
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Following Lady Gaga and a flurry of European singers, Dion’s eagerly anticipated performance closed the ceremony. As the torch was lit and floated into the sky, Dion, dressed in a glittering, bead-adorned dress, performed on the base of the Eiffel Tower, giving a powerful rendition of Edith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour.” The weather couldn’t slow down the charged performance, which featured Dion next to a piano awash with rain. The singer concluded on a touching note, showing visible emotion as it came to an end.
Variety broke the news earlier this week that Dion would be singing at the event, which marks the pop icon’s first time performing since her diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome in December 2022 forced her to step out of the spotlight.
In her new documentary, “I Am: Celine Dion,” the Canadian singer got personal about her everyday struggles due to Stiff Person Syndrome, as well as her hopes to one day get back to doing what she loves the most: performing.
“It’s not hard to do a show, you know. It’s hard to cancel a show,” she says in the film. “I’m working hard every day. But I have to admit, it’s been a struggle. I miss it so much. The people, I miss them. If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. I won’t stop.” Dion had also told Vogue France in April that her goal was to see the Eiffel Tower again.
In an interview with Hoda Kotb in June , Dion shared how Stiff Person Syndrome affects her singing voice, saying that it feels “like somebody’s strangling you.” Pressing inward on her throat with her fingers, Dion said “it’s like somebody’s pushing your larynx, pharynx, this way.”
Friday night’s ceremony took place outside of a stadium for the first time in history and showcased some of Paris’ iconic landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower. Besides Dion, the event brought together 3,500 actors, dancers and musical performers.
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Dion has performed at the Olympic Games before, kicking off the 1996 edition in Atlanta by singing “The Power of the Dream.” That ceremony was watched by a record 3.5 billion people.
The secret of her comeback was kept under wraps until her arrival in Paris on Monday where she was spotted coming in and out of her hotel, the Royal Monceau, attracting floods of fans.
While she signed autographs and posed for photos, including one with France’s first lady Brigitte Macron, Dion didn’t confirm that she was going to perform at the Opening Ceremony. According to Le Figaro newspaper, Olympics organizers have made artists involved sign a confidentiality agreement whose breach can cost up to €250,000 in some contracts.
The outdoor setting could present technical challenges but the organizers have limited risks of glitches by pre-recording the voices of all performers, including Dion’s, per Le Figaro. The immersive audio from the performances, meanwhile, will be produced through walls positioned along the Seine.
This marked Gaga’s first Olympics performance, while Dion kicked off the 1996 games in Atlanta by singing “The Power of the Dream.”
Dion also previously sang an Edith Piaf song, “L’Hymne à l’Amour,” in Paris in 2015, to pay tribute to victims of tragic terrorist attack at the Bataclan.
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