Celine Dion is scheduled to perform at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday, July 26, but details of her performance remain under wraps. The singer’s appearance may be canceled until the last minute.
It is a most anticipated comeback, that of Celine Dion ! The Quebec singer will be singing at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, this Friday, July 26. The secret of the artist’s participation in the event will not have lasted until the end, the increasing rumors about her presence at the show orchestrated by Thomas Joly and her discreet, but noted, arrival in Paris on Tuesday, July 23 will have overcome the surprise effect. However, the revelation does not prevent fans from rejoicing at the return of the international star on stage after four years of absence. Especially since the Olympic committee jealously guards the details of the artist’s performance to itself.
Celine Dion is expected to take up much of the spotlight during the ceremony, alongside at least a dozen other artists including Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura, so much so that her presence is an event within the event. Many are those who hope to see the artist sing on stage, for the first time since March 8, 2020 and her last concert given in the United States. And this is what is planned according to The Parisian : the singer should perform The Hymn to Love by Edith Piaf. Will Celine Dion be satisfied with one song – but what a song! – or will she offer the audience a few more songs from her repertoire? That should depend on the singer’s health and especially her state of fitness before the start of the ceremony, because she still suffers from the stiff person syndrome that has caused her to move away from the stage in recent years.
Celine Dion’s performance uncertain until the last minute
While Celine Dion’s participation in the Olympic opening ceremony seems to be a sign of the singer’s better physical shape, the artist is facing serious health problems. Her illness, revealed in 2022, led to a new postponement, transformed into a cancellation, of her Courage World Tour – the show had been postponed a first time because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The singer of All by myself suffers from stiff person syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease that causes attacks of generalized spasms and affects, among other things, his vocal cords.
Céline Dion, closely monitored by a medical team in the United States, nevertheless underwent treatment and preparation worthy of those of an athlete to perform at the Paris Olympics according to RTL. And the artist was welcomed in a cotton bubble: a private jet trip between Las Vegas and Paris and a suite at the Royal Monceau. Everything was done so that Céline Dion could sing on stage this Friday, July 26, but the performance will only take place if the artist’s health allows it. A contraindication or a spasm crisis a few minutes before the ceremony could call into question the singer’s presence on stage.
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13:07 – A performance of only a few minutes
While Celine Dion will indeed be on stage at the Olympic opening ceremony this Friday evening, barring any last-minute contraindications, her performance should be limited to a few minutes. Aware of the singer’s state of health and her incompatibility with a show that was too long, the ceremony’s directors offered her “a short and eventful performance that would mark her return,” without being too trying. “It wasn’t a two-hour concert but a song that lasted a few minutes,” one of Celine Dion’s close friends told Parisian by actually specifying the contours of the international star’s performance.
12:00 – Could the “surprise” at the end of the opening ceremony be Celine Dion?
A performance by Celine Dion is indeed planned for the opening ceremony, but we don’t know when or under what circumstances it will take place. The presence of Celine Dion, which the organizers of the ceremony are so keen on, could be the highlight of the show. While several people who are in the know about the ceremony’s proceedings have promised a surprise at the end of the show, some have even slipped in RMC that “we will have to stay tuned until the end of the opening ceremony, even after the cauldron sequence”, this surprise could be the performance of the Quebec singer. But this sequence could be late, around 11 p.m.
A spectacular show is expected for the Olympics, but what role will Celine Dion play in the ceremony scheduled to last between 3:30 and 3:45? Will she kick off from the famous metro entrance at the tip of Île Saint-Louis or will she sing during the grand finale? RTL mentions a performance from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.
Several media outlets agree that Celine Dion will sing the famous title of La Môme, The Hymn to Lovewhich would resonate as a declaration of love to the stage for its long-awaited return. The journalist Thierry Moreau put forward another new idea: that of a duet between Celine Dion and Lady Gaga on another Piaf song, La vie en rose.
A solo by the Quebec singer is more likely, according to some RTL which indicates that a recorded version of Celine Dion’s performance is planned as a fallback solution in case of a last-minute problem. “The playback must be used, but it must always be used so that honesty is present. It’s not to hide the misery or anything, it’s to push the sliders” explained Victor Le Masne, musical director of the ceremony, on the radio.
Céline Dion, who was kept silent about her participation in the Olympic opening ceremony by a thick confidentiality contract, had nevertheless slipped in a few clues about her return here and there. “My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again,” she confided to Vogue France last April. An enigmatic statement that takes on its full meaning today.
The Quebec singer also made a gradual return to the media with the release of the documentary Je suis Céline Dion on Prime Video in June. She also gave interviews to a handful of media outlets to promote the film, which retraces her daily life and her fight against the disease. In the documentary, filmed a year and a half ago, Céline Dion leaves the door open to a possible return to the stage without giving a specific date. Her participation in the Paris Olympics could therefore mark the star’s return to the music scene, to the delight of her fans who will be there on Friday night.