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Paris 2024: Celine Dion And Lady Gaga Give Historical Performances At The Opening Ceremony

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Updated Jul 27, 2024, 04:59am EDT

Celine Dion was seen arriving at the Royal Monceau hotel in Paris on Monday, where Lady Gaga was also staying. It was quickly confirmed that the two stars would be performing at the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.

This event marked Dion’s first live performance since the announcement of her diagnosis with stiff-person syndrome, and the release of the documentary, I Am: Celine Dion on Prime Video in June, in which the Canadian singer bravely shows her struggles with the disease. Tonight was Dion’s second participation in the Olympic Games, after she performed “The Power Of The Dream” in 1996 in Atlanta during the opening ceremony.

The rainy but phenomenal and emotional parade on the Seine was full of surprises and incredible moments, including a French Cancan performance from the dancers of the Moulin Rouge, and a Heavy Metal-Lyrical-Revolutionary performance by Gojira and Marina Viotti, with a special guest appearance from Marie-Antoinette herself. Or at least her head.

Details about performances, especially the ones of Dion and Lady Gaga, had been kept under wraps. However, during the day, we learnt that Dion could be singing the iconic French song “Hymne A L’amour” by Edith Piaf. As for Lady Gaga, her rendition of the colorful Zizi Jeanmaire song “Mon Truc En Plumes” for the opening had also been teased late in the morning.

For her dazzling opening performance, Lady Gaga slowly walked down the stairs of the Parisian metro, all dressed in black, with an enormous black cape adorned with pink feathers, surrounded by a dozen of dancers, all carrying huge fans made of pink feathers. The singer even took a moment to play a little bit of piano herself. Her outfit as well as the choreography were both a beautiful tribute to the original singer.

The singer took to Twitter to share how grateful she was and how she prepared for the event. She said, “To everyone in France, thank you so much for welcoming me to your country to sing in honor of you- it’s a gift I’ll never forget!”


Only a few seconds after the Olympic flame flew in the air in a hot-air balloon, quite literally making history, the first notes of the “Hymne A L’amour” resonated in Paris, and Dion appeared right under the Olympic rings displayed on the Eiffel Tower. In a white and sparkly dress, the star gave the most powerful performance, 4 years after she last appeared on stage, to close this awe-inspiring ceremony. The audience got extremely emotional and didn't hesitate to share it on Twitter and Instagram. NBC News' Today anchors Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie both got teary-eyed and were clearly in awe of Dion during her performance, as we can see in this video:

InstagramTODAY on Instagram: "Hoda and Savannah watch in awe as Céline Dion gave an emotional and triumphant performance from the Eiffel Tower at the #ParisOlympics opening ceremonies. 🧡"

As for the singer, she went back to her hotel after the ceremony, where she was greeted by many fans who wanted to congratulate her. Dion, moved to tears, took a moment to thank them, as we can see in this video shared by a fan account on Twitter:

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