“We don’t change”, “All by Myself”, “Pour que tu m’aimes encore”… Overwhelmed by her return to the stage after six years of absence, Céline Dion performed a series of hits on Saturday evening to kick off her series of concerts near Paris, a rebirth after years marked by illness.
“There is one thing I can tell you in three words: I am fine. I learned to live with this fragility, by being around it, I tamed it and decided to make it the strength to live,” said the Quebec star to the 30,000 spectators gathered at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre (west of the capital), the largest indoor venue in Europe.
As a symbol, this nearly two and a half hour concert opened with the song “On ne change pas” and concluded with a “I love you” from the star to his fans.
With tears in her eyes, the 58-year-old diva had to stop singing momentarily during the first track. “It’s definitely tears of joy, I’m so excited to see you,” she told onlookers.
“I believed in it, I believed in it. And there you have it, the sun is there, the sun is in front of me. So, this evening, I want to sing for you, sing for me, sing about life,” she said.
Phoenix
The first pieces lacked accuracy at certain moments, the artist being overwhelmed by emotion. But, very quickly, she took the reins of the show, fists clenched in victory or arms outstretched like the wings of the phoenix to which her admirers compare her.
With a tight bun, she appeared alternately in a black strapless dress, a coat with pink feathers or a breastplate dress, as a sign of her combativeness.
Just like the outfits, she sang a series of songs, 27 in total. In French, with among others “Pour que tu m’aimes encore” and “J’irai où tu iras”, two classics from his album “D’eux” (1995), created with the complicity of Jean-Jacques Goldman, his favorite songwriter. And in English, with “My Heart Will Go On” (“Titanic”, 1997), “I’m Alive” (2002) or a poignant “All by Myself” (1996).
A song climbed like one climbs a mountain, until its high-pitched finale, to the ovation of the crowd. She also transformed herself into a singer to sing an opera aria by Bellini.
The star was accompanied by backup singers and an orchestra on a turntable, with her musical director Scott Price on piano. All in an imposing but sober setting, which drew attention to her.
Celebrities crowded into the room, such as the presenters Ophélie Meunier and Laury Thilleman, the dancer Guillaume Diop and the actor Vincent Dedienne, as well as the artist’s family. According to the newspaper Le Parisien, politicians Edouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal and Emmanuel Grégoire were there, as was Michelle Obama, wife of former American president Barack Obama.
“It was extraordinary, she lost nothing of her voice,” enthused Nathalie, 58, who came with her family from Poitiers. “She made me cry,” said her daughter Laurie.
Hundreds of euros
Since she left Las Vegas for France at the end of August, the singer with more than 260 million albums sold has been rehearsing for this reunion.
For two weeks, she also transformed the countdown into a sort of unprecedented first part: almost daily appearances, exchanges with admirers in front of her palace…
With this series of concerts, Céline Dion finds herself facing a major new challenge, after having overcome the death in 2016 of René Angélil, her impresario, father of her three sons.
After the cancellation of his last tour in March 2020 due to the pandemic, his desire to return to the stage was thwarted by stiff person syndrome. This incurable neurological disease has been poisoning his life for around twenty years, but it was not diagnosed until 2022.
At the mercy of a new violent episode of paralysis, the singer then delivered alarming news about her health, then slipped away to get treatment.
The surprise was therefore total when she reappeared, two years later, on the Eiffel Tower for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a rendition of Edith Piaf’s “Hymn to Love”.
The announcement in the spring of his new residency in Nanterre – 16 concerts by mid-October, 10 in May 2027 – produced by the American giant AEG Presents sent his fans into turmoil.
But getting a ticket was like an obstacle course, with prices reaching several hundred euros, considered prohibitive by some.
