In her first public performance since 2020, international pop star Celine Dion returned to the spotlight by delivering a soul-stirring moment to a worldwide audience during the opening ceremony at the Summer Olympic Games. From the New York Times:
After canceling tour dates, in 2022 she announced that she was suffering from a rare neurological disorder known as stiff person syndrome, which causes muscle spasms, including constrictions of her vocal cords.
Her performance at the Olympics opening ceremony was a song from Edith Piaf, the petite, tangy-voiced, dramatic and quintessentially French chanson singer who was nicknamed “the Little Sparrow.”
The song, “Hymne à l’amour,” envisions a love that outlasts the end of the world, and it’s the kind of soaring, swelling, long-breathed anthem that Dion used to belt to the rafters.
Like sports, singing has a demanding physicality of its own. Dion faced a live, real-time test with a worldwide audience. And in a long, white glittering dress, she seized her moment. She relied on subtlety along with lung power. Yes, she nailed the landing.
What a triumph. If you can’t see and feel the emotion in Celine’s face and voice at the 2:52 mark, you are dead. If you’ve seen the recently released Amazon Prime documentary “I Am: Celine Dion,” which chronicles Celine’s journey with her affliction, you know how incredible this is. Click below to watch. I’m putting two versions here in case one gets removed from the internet by the powers that be.
WE ARE SPEECHLESS.
Celine Dion gives the performance of a lifetime at the #ParisOlympics. pic.twitter.com/EE2Yjuc9Sx
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 27, 2024
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