Canadian pop icon Céline Dion kicked off her long-awaited comeback show in Paris on Saturday, after a six-year hiatus due to health issues. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing BBC News.
The 58-year-old superstar was diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome in 2022, which forced her to pull back from touring. Dion, one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, has not performed a full show since a 2020 concert in New Jersey — the last before the Covid pandemic cut her tour short. In 2024, she performed just one song at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony.
Saturday marked the first of Dion's 26-show residency at the Paris La Défense Arena, Europe's largest covered concert arena.
"I made a promise," she told the Paris audience of about 30,000 people in her emotional return. "I made a promise to come back, to be back on stage. And here I am. Singing for you, and singing for me," she said. "I am everything I am because you loved me," she told the crowd.
She also broke down in tears after finishing a song, telling the audience: "I had promised myself not to cry. But I'm so happy to see you all. I missed you."
Dion will be performing in Paris throughout September and October and into the New Year.
The Mirror's Lucy Needham noted that the singer was 50 minutes late to start, and may have needed extra time to "compose herself" for the "emotionally charged return". "Eyes-brimming, the veteran singer gave herself little nods of approval after every line, before finally breaking down at the end of the track, seemingly overwhelmed at having made it through."
The Telegraph's Neil McCormick writes that the night was "a tense, tearful, joyous affair probably even more so for the singer than for her loyal audience". She started out slow, he says. "Her voice sounded fragile and exposed, but at least it was her distinctive voice, not some autotuned approximation." "At first, she was clearly struggling to hold herself together," he continues. "Her vocals wobbled dangerously, as if about to crack or collapse. But she was gaining confidence with every moment back on stage."
She broke down in tears as the audience roared in approval after the first song, and addressed the crowd in both French and English during the set. "This was a high-stakes, high-wire return, perhaps the riskiest comeback in the history of showbusiness," McCormick continues, referring to her health condition. But he concludes: "I honestly think I prefer this less superhuman Céline. Her voice is still great, but a bit more raw and real, with a rougher tone, less smoothness in the runs and more edge to her whoops and shrieks."
Sarah Leavitt, reporting from Paris for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), said the crowd "was left without words" by the stunning performance. She noted that she didn't want to cry, but "of course she cried right away." Dion also "endeared herself" to the crowd by saying during one song that she wanted to stop and start over.
Will Hodgkinson at the Times of London writes in his review, "miraculously, her art will go on," that the performance was "overwhelming". She "looked suitably humbled and tearful" as she emerged, he said, going on to praise the stage direction. "Truly, she was throwing the love at the crowd, who threw it right back at her. There was no holding back. It was quite overwhelming, actually," he writes. The performance was "complete with both costume, key change and air of tragic, important romance". "Céline Dion's strength lies in being a diva with the common touch while being as French as they get, even if she is Canadian. She fulfilled that role with all the verve you could hope for," writes Hodgkinson.