A grab of a video released by the Olympic Broadcasting Services shows Canadian Singer Celine Dion performing on the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris. (POOL/Olympic Broadcasting Services/AFP) At the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Canadian singer Celine Dion, despite her battle with a rare neurological disorder, delivered a stunning performance of Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love" from the Eiffel Tower. Dion's performance coincided with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, a moment of high drama enhanced by France's top athletes, symbolising unity and the Olympic spirit.
"I'm honoured to have performed tonight, for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, and so full of joy to be back in one of my very favourite cities!," Dion wrote in an Instagram post. Canadian singer Celine Dion, who had been battling a rare illness, made a spectacular comeback by singing from the Eiffel Tower at the climax of the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony with a rousing version of the Hymn to Love by Edith Piaf. Showing pitch-perfect intonation and hitting the notes with ease, she serenaded a captive Paris as the cauldron lit by France's most decorated track athlete, Marie-Jose Perec, and three-time Olympic gold medal-winning judoka Teddy Riner soared into the Paris sky in a balloon.
Last month, she vowed she would fight her way back from the debilitating rare neurological condition that has kept her off stage. READ | 'Even if I have to crawl': Celine Dion talks SPS battle and stage comeback in touching interview Dion first disclosed in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disorder. According to CNN , the last time the 56-year-old singer performed live was in March 2020 in New Jersey.
"I'm honoured to have performed tonight for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony and so full of joy to be back in one of my very favourite cities!" Dion wrote in an Instagram post. She continued, "Most of all, I'm so happy to be celebrating these amazing athletes, with all their stories of sacrifice and determination, pain and perseverance. All of you have been so focused on your dream, and whether or not you take home a medal, I hope that being here means that it has come true for you! You should all be so proud, we know how hard you have worked to be the best of the best.
Stay focused, keep going; my heart is with you!" SEE THE FULL POST HERE: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ce ́line Dion (@celinedion) REVIEW | I Am: Celine Dion offers an unforgettably honest look at the star's life and health battle This marks the second time the My Heart Will Go On singer has graced the Olympics stage. Previously, at the 1996 Atlanta Games, Celine Dion performed The Power of the Dream , a song written specifically for the occasion by David Foster, Linda Thompson, and Babyface. Additional reporting by AFP.
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