ATLANTA — As Celine Dion gave a stunning performance during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic games on Friday, the Olympic’s official X account, formerly known as Twitter, posted a flashback of her singing at the Olympic games here in Atlanta in 1996.
Dion sang “The Power of the Dream” in the middle of the Olympic stadium, which is now Center Parc Stadium, the former Turner Field.
The song was the official anthem for the games.
The performance was backed up with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and a choir.
She later revealed in her autobiography, “My Story, My Dream” that she was dealing with chest pains during the performance.
Despite the issues she was having, she powered through the song, performing in front of about 100,000 people.
Fast forward to 2024, Dion, once again dealing with health issues, performed at the Paris Olympics, her first public performance since being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome.
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The rare neurological disorder causes rigid muscles and painful muscle spasms, which were affecting Dion’s ability to walk and sing.
At the feet of the Olympic rings about midway up the Eiffel Tower, Dion sang a stirring rendition of Édith Piaf’s famous song, “Hymne à L’amour,” or “The Hymn to Love.”
It was the finale of the roughly four-hour spectacle along the Seine River throughout the heart of Paris.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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