A message dedicated to Canadian singer Céline Dion was projected onto Paris's Olympic cauldron on the evening of Friday, September 11, quoting a line from "L'Hymne à l'amour," the Edith Piaf song Dion performed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to TF1info.
The tribute came a day before Dion was due to open a series of concerts, on Saturday evening, September 12, for fans travelling from around the world to see her at Plenitude Arena, near Paris, TF1info reported.
A tribute tied to the Paris Olympics
"L'Hymne à l'amour" was written and made famous by Edith Piaf, regarded as one of France's most influential singers. Piaf wrote the song in 1949, reportedly after the death of boxer Marcel Cerdan, and it remains one of her most recorded works, alongside "La Vie en rose." Dion performed the song from the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a performance that drew wide attention as one of her first major public appearances in years.
Dion's return to the stage
Céline Dion, who is from Quebec, Canada, is one of the best-selling recording artists in music history, known worldwide for songs such as "My Heart Will Go On," the theme from the film Titanic. In December 2022, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that had led her to step back from touring.
The Olympic cauldron's afterlife
The Paris 2024 Olympics, the first Games held in the French capital since 1924, ran from July 26 to August 11 that year. The cauldron created for the Games, built in the shape of a hot air balloon, has remained a public attraction in the French capital since the Olympics ended and continues to be illuminated for special occasions.
What's next
Dion's shows at Plenitude Arena mark the start of a run of concerts for fans arriving from around the world, according to TF1info.
