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07/26/24 05:18:00
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07/26 17:17 CDT Celine Dion makes musical comeback at Paris Olympics with
Eiffel Tower serenade
Celine Dion makes musical comeback at Paris Olympics with Eiffel Tower serenade
By MALLIKA SEN
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) --- Celine Dion made a triumphant return Friday with a very public
performance: closing out the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony from the Eiffel
Tower.
Nearly two years after revealing her stiff person syndrome diagnosis, Dion
belted Edith Piaf's "Hymne l'amour" ("Hymn to Love") as the finale of the
roughly four-hour spectacle. Her appearance 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 world star, for a purely grandiose, superbly scintillating
finale."
Dion had been absent from the stage since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic
forced the postponement of her tour to 2022. That tour was eventually suspended
in the wake of her diagnosis.
The rare neurological disorder causes rigid muscles and painful muscle spasms,
which were 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, "physically, mentally, emotionally, vocally."
"So that's why it takes a while. But absolutely why we're doing this because
I'm 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 Friday's performance, Dion's pearl outfit was indeed designed by Dior.
Speaking on French television, the Paris organizing committee's director of
design and costume for ceremonies, Daphn Brki, recalled Dion's enthusiasm for
the opportunity.
"When we called Celine Dion one year ago she said yes straight away," Brki
said.
Dion is not actually French --- the French Canadian is from Quebec --- but she
has a strong connection to the country and the Olympics. Dion's first 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
French-language song ... representing Switzerland.) And early in her
English-language career --- even before "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic"
--- she was tapped to perform "The Power of The Dream," the theme song for the
1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Dion's song choice also evoked a sports connection: Piaf wrote it about her
lover, boxer Marcel Cerdan. Cerdan died soon after she wrote the song, in a
plane crash.
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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.
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