Lady Gaga and Celine Dion have been confirmed as performing a duet at the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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Set to take place tomorrow (July 26), the collaboration will mark the first start of this year’s Olympic games, and will see the two of them come together to duet on the Édith Piaf classic ‘La Vie en Rose’.
The news was confirmed today (July 25) by French journalist, Thierry Moreau, who shared an update on X, and also said that Dion “will be dressed by Dior with a pink and black feather cape” for the performance.
Info du soir :
@celinedion et @ladygaga ont répété en duo « La vie en rose » d’Edith Piaf.
Céline Dion sera habillée par Dior avec une cape en plumes roses et noires…
— Thierry Moreau (@ThierryMoreauTM) July 24, 2024
Confirmation comes after days of speculation, which came to a head when the two singers were seen in Paris recently. Dion also shared a post online, showing that she was by the Louvre and expressing her love of the city. “Every time I return to Paris, I remember there’s so much beauty and joy still to experience in the world,” she wrote in the caption.
Later, President Macron also added fuel to the fire when it came to rumours of a collaboration, speaking to television channel France 2. “I will not reveal anything [about] what [opening ceremony director] Thomas Jolly and all his teams have prepared,” he said (via The Guardian). “There is also a surprise.”
There have also been rumours circling of Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa making an appearance at the opening ceremony.
Every time I return to Paris, I remember there’s so much beauty and joy still to experience in the world. I love Paris, and I’m so happy to be back!
Thank you to our wonderful friends at The Louvre!
Celine xx…
PC: Laura Gilli pic.twitter.com/Mg9LVs9X8q
— Celine Dion (@celinedion) July 24, 2024
The performance will mark Dion’s first time taking to the stage in over four years, following her being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome – a rare, chronic neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and intense spasms.
She last took to the stage in 2020 when she performed in New York, and she was expected to embark on a world tour last year, but was forced to axe all scheduled dates due to the condition.
According to RTL, those operating at the Olympics have made every effort to keep the singer relaxed ahead of her comeback.
For Lady Gaga, the reported collaboration with the singer comes amid a very busy 2024, as the singer is currently promoting her upcoming film, Joker: Folie à Deux.
For both, performing the song in French should be no issue. Lady Gaga’s mother is half-Italian and half-French, she has previously expressed how her confidence in speaking the language has grown with practice, and she also famously sang the song in the 2018 film A Star Is Born. For Dion, the singer was born in the French-speaking town of Charlemagne, Quebec.
This won’t be the first time that the ‘My Heart Will Go On’ singer has performed at an Olympics opening ceremony. Back in 1996, she performed ‘The Power Of The Dream’ at the opening ceremony of the Atlanta games – a song written specifically for the event.
Since being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, Dion has demonstrated what happens when she tries to sing, and shown fans how the condition has impacted her life. “When I try to breathe, my lungs are fine; it’s what is in front of my lungs that’s so rigid, because of Stiff Person Syndrome,” she said, before demonstrating what happens when she tries to sing.
She has also previously labelled the diagnosis as “one of the hardest experiences” of her life in a post on Instagram, adding that she was trying to “live as normal of a life as possible”. “Trying to overcome this autoimmune disorder has been one of the hardest experiences of my life, but I remain determined to one day get back onto the stage.”
Prior to her sighting in Paris and the premiere of her documentary, Dion’s last public appearance was at the 2024 Grammys, where she presented the Album of the Year award to Taylor Swift.
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