Celine Dion made a triumphant return on Friday with a very public performance: the grand finale of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games from the Eiffel Tower.
Nearly two years after revealing her diagnosis of Stiff-Person Syndrome, Dion sang “Hymne à l’amour” (“Hymn to Love”) by Edith Piaf as the finale of the approximately four-hour show. Her appearance had been the subject of speculation for weeks, but organizers and Dion’s representatives had refused to confirm whether she would perform.
On a page dedicated to Dior’s contributions to the opening ceremony, the media guide referred to “a global star, for a purely grand and magnificently brilliant finale.”
Dion had been absent from the stage since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced her to postpone her tour to 2022. That tour was ultimately canceled following her diagnosis.
The rare neurological disorder causes rigid muscles and painful muscle spasms, which affected Dion’s ability to walk and sing. In June, at the premiere of the documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” she told The Associated Press that returning required therapy, “physical, mental, emotional, and vocal.”
“That’s why it takes time. But absolutely why we are doing this, I am already a little bit back,” she said then.
Even before the documentary’s release, Dion had taken steps toward a comeback. In February, she made another surprise appearance at the Grammy Awards, where she presented the final award of the night to a standing ovation.
For her performance on Friday, Dion wore a pearl outfit designed by Dior. Speaking to French television, the design and costume director for the Paris organizing committee, Daphné Bürki, recalled Dion’s enthusiasm for the opportunity.
“When we called Celine Dion a year ago, she said yes immediately,” Bürki said.
Dion is not French; the francophone Canadian is from Quebec, but she has a strong connection to the country and the Olympics. Dion’s native language is French, and she has dominated the charts in France and other French-speaking countries. (She also won the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest with a song in French… representing Switzerland.) Early in her English-language career, even before “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic,” she was chosen to perform “The Power of The Dream,” the theme song for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Dion’s song choice also evoked a sporting connection: Piaf wrote it about her lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan. Cerdan died shortly after the song was composed, in a plane crash.
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