- author, Ian Youngs
- Role, Culture Correspondent
Celine Dion returned to the stage for the first time since revealing a serious health condition, delivering a typically powerful performance at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.
Rumors swirled that the Canadian star would perform a duet with Lady Gaga, but instead she went solo to the Eiffel Tower to bring the four-hour event to a dramatic climax.
This was Dion’s first live performance in four years, and came a year and a half after she was diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).
Myotonic dystonia syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that causes muscle spasms and can be debilitating. It also affected her distinctive, husky voice.
Image source, Stock struggle
The 56-year-old singer, known as the “queen of power ballads”, is receiving therapy to “rebuild” her voice, she told the BBC in June, and help her sing again.
On Friday, her performance of Edith Piaf’s classic L’Hymne à l’Amour gave encouraging signs that the treatment was working.
She was accompanied by a pianist on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, under the giant illuminated Olympic rings.
“She is a Canadian icon and an incredible talent who has overcome so much to be here tonight,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
“Celine, it’s great to see you singing again,” he added.
“My hands were shaking and my eyes were crying as I listened and saw my beloved Celine Dion,” wrote Italian singer Laura Pausini.
Her appearance was eagerly anticipated, with crowds of fans waiting for her outside her hotel in the city in recent days.
Dion has a large fan base in France. Her 1995 album D’eux is the best-selling French-language album of all time.
Friday’s appearance was the second time Dion, known for hits including “My Heart Will Go On” and “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” has performed at the opening ceremony of the Olympics after Atlanta 1996.
Her comeback performance came six months after she made a surprise appearance to present an award at the Grammy Awards.
She also announced a new show in Las Vegas. “We’ve been working hard to put this show together, because I’m back,” she told the BBC in June.
It has already set the record for the most successful residency ever in Las Vegas.
Last month, she discussed her struggle with the syndrome in a film called “Me: Celine Dion,” which Amazon Prime Video said Thursday has become the most successful documentary of all time.