PARIS — PARIS (AP) — Celine Dion made a triumphant return Friday with a very public appearance, closing the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics from the Eiffel Tower.
Nearly two years after revealing her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome, Dion named Edith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour” (“Hymne to Love”) as the finale of the roughly four-hour spectacle. Her performance had been teased for weeks, but organizers and Dion’s representatives had refused to confirm whether she was performing.
On a page dedicated to Dior’s contributions to the opening ceremony, the media guide referred to “a global star, for a purely grandiose, exquisitely sparkling finale.”
Dion had been absent from the stage since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic postponed her tour to 2022. That tour was ultimately suspended following her diagnosis.
The rare neurological condition causes stiff muscles and painful muscle spasms, affecting 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, vocal.”
“So that’s why it’s taking a while. But definitely why we’re doing this, because I’m already back a little bit,” she said at the time.
Even before the documentary’s release, Dion had been taking steps toward 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 Friday’s performance, Dion’s pearl outfit was indeed designed by Dior. Daphné Bürki, director of design and costumes for ceremonies of the Paris Organizing Committee, recalled Dion’s enthusiasm for the opportunity during a speech on French television.
“When we called Celine Dion a year ago, she immediately said yes,” says Bürki.
Dion isn’t actually French – the French-Canadian is from Quebec – but she has strong ties to the country and the Olympic Games. Dion’s first language is French, and she dominates 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 asked to perform. ‘The Power of The Dream’, the theme song for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Dion’s song choice also evoked a sports connection: Piaf wrote it about her lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan. Cerdan died in a plane crash shortly after writing the song.
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Associated Press reporters Sylvie Corbet, Jerome Pugmire and Samuel Petrequin contributed.
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For more coverage of the Paris Olympics, visit https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games.
