Celine Dion made a triumphant return Friday with a very public performance: closing the Opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games Since Eiffel Tower.
Nearly two years after revealing his diagnosis of stiff person syndromeCeline Dion sang Edith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour” to close the nearly four-hour show. Her appearance had been expected 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 grandiose, superbly scintillating finale.”
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Dion had been absent from the scene since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic forced the postponement of his tour until 2022. That tour was ultimately suspended following his diagnosis.
The rare neurological disorder causes muscle stiffness 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 her return to singing required “physical, mental, emotional and vocal” therapy.
“That’s why it takes time. But that’s absolutely why we’re doing this, because I’m already a little bit behind,” she said at the time.
Even before the documentary was released, Dion had already begun a comeback. In February, she made another surprise appearance at the Grammy Awards, where she presented the final award of the evening to a standing ovation.
For her performance on Friday, Dion wore Dior. Daphné Bürki, the creative and ceremonial costume director for the Paris organizing committee, spoke on French television about Dion’s enthusiasm for the opportunity.
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“When we called Celine Dion a year ago, she immediately said yes,” Bürki said.
Celine Dion is actually French Canadian (she is originally from Quebec), but she has a strong connection to France and the Olympics. Her native language is French and she has dominated the charts in France and other French-speaking countries.
She also won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with a French-language song, representing Switzerland. And early in her English-language career — even before “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic” — she was chosen to sing “The Power of The Dream,” the theme song for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The choice of Celine Dion’s song also suggests a connection to sport: Piaf wrote it about her lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan. Cerdan died shortly after writing the song, in a plane crash.
