Céline Dion’s love affair with Paris is a love story in which we cannot help but become participants and fall for it wholeheartedly. Is the French capital not… the city of love? A Francophone by birth and a Parisian by adoption, the Canadian chose the inaugural ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to deliver her spectacular return to the stage after a years-long pause brought on by stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological condition that affects the muscles and had forced her to cancel her tour.
When the diva resurfaced that night, performing Hymne à l’amour by Édith Piaf from the first level of the Eiffel Tower, we knew it was a omen for what would come next: a spectacular residency in the city that stole her heart, and that has stolen ours as well. And Condé Nast Traveler has witnessed that her return is not a nostalgia trip, nor a goodbye. “I want to sing for you, sing for me, sing for life,” she said, moved, on the night of October 14, at the final stretch of her Paris residency, which ends tomorrow, but note, there is a second act: from May 8 to May 29, 2027 there will be a second leg with ten additional concerts. In total, there will be 26 concerts at Plenitude Arena.
The evening — during which tears sprang to her eyes, but to ours as well — began by dazzling us with Chanel and Matthieu Blazy, who designed for her a spectacular dress embroidered with thousands of crystals and beads, a tribute to the design Karl Lagerfeld created for her at the 1997 Oscars. Nearly three decades later, Dion proved… that she has nothing left to prove. The singer’s voice is a true spectacle in itself, but what’s more, she did not skimp on presence, technique, sensitivity, energy, and good vibes with all the attendees: she generously traversed several decades of hits, from Because You Loved Me to The Power of Love, including the indispensable My Heart Will Go On.
There were also a few surprises: an unexpected disco interlude with nods to Donna Summer and Eurythmics, an operatic foray with an aria from La Wally, and the appearance of a young violinist (take note of the name, Simon Royer, for he will be making waves) who, during one of the costume changes, seized the stage and the emotions of those of us who were present for a few minutes.
