![\"Text](\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Listen to this article<\/p>\n
Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n
For a while, it seemed possible that C\u00e9line Dion would never sing again. After being diagnosed with Stiff-person syndrome four years ago, a rare neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms, she cancelled all of her 2023 and 2024 world tour dates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But now, C\u00e9line is back. She released her new single, Dansons, last week and she sold out her upcoming five-week residency at Paris La D\u00e9fense Arena in minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Today on Commotion, host Elamin Abdelmahmoud checks in with culture critics Eug\u00e9nie L\u00e9pine-Blondeau<\/a> and Benjamin Locoge<\/a> as they break down C\u00e9line\u2019s return and give their thoughts on her comeback single.<\/p>\n We’ve included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.<\/a><\/p>\n WATCH | Today’s episode on YouTube:<\/p>\n Elamin: Eug\u00e9nie, I’ll ask you about this: why do you think C\u00e9line Dion is having the moment that she’s having? What is the thing that we’re turning to C\u00e9line for right now?<\/p>\n Eug\u00e9nie: I mean, she’s the greatest singer in the world. I think that’s basically that’s it. She’s got all those songs from the \u201990s that are trending now on TikTok, so there’s a new generation that knows at least some bits of her major songs. But, they’re also like our generation \u2014 millennials and [Generation X] \u2014 that used to listen to her songs. And I think when you’re a teenager or a young adult, you listen to other songs [and] you forget about the songs that you listened to while you were a child. But 1776995052 we’re in our 30s and 40s, and we just want to hear those songs again and feel all the emotions that she used to bring us. So I think we’re craving those huge emotions that only C\u00e9line Dion can bring us.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Elamin: There’s something deeply emotional that C\u00e9line Dion seems to be able to unlock that very few other artists can do. What’s your sense of why she’s so popular and so needed right now, Benjamin?\u00a0<\/p>\n Benjamin: She has always told the truth. She never tried to hide what she went through with the audience. When Ren\u00e9, her husband, got sick, she was the first one to tell [us], \u201cRen\u00e9’s got cancer. Maybe he’s going to die.\u201d And she asked the audience to understand. She asked the public in the Stade de France in 1999 to help her get through Ren\u00e9\u2019s cancer. And when Ren\u00e9 died, she just couldn’t hide it, and she went on stage to heal. People knew what she had just been through, and they love that she’s true. She doesn’t lie. She’s not like Beyonc\u00e9 or Lady Gaga, you can’t just talk to that kind of superstar. C\u00e9line, when she\u2019s in Paris, she\u2019s the one who stays every night to sign every autograph, to do every picture with the people who [waited] for five or six hours. Beyonc\u00e9 or Rihanna [never] do that kind of thing. [C\u00e9line] is very close to her audience. It’s always been the case for 35 years \u2014 maybe 40 \u2014 and that’s why she’s very popular and still is.<\/p>\n Elamin: We weren’t entirely sure that we’d see C\u00e9line again. It’s important to note [that] she’s not cured. This comeback is happening, but she’s still living with Stiff-person syndrome. Eug\u00e9nie, are you worried that she’s not gonna be able to make it through these 16 concerts over five weeks?<\/p>\n Eug\u00e9nie: I mean, I think we have to know that it’s probably a possibility that she has to cancel a show or two. I’m confident that [for] C\u00e9line Dion, the thing that she hates the most is to disappoint her fans, and I’m sure that she won’t put herself in a position where she will allow that to happen. So I know that she will do everything that she can to honor those dates. And let’s just hope for the best [for] now. And it’s three shows per week; she has some time to recover. So, yeah, let’s just pray for the best and that she’s doing well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elamin: Benjamin, is there any doubt in your mind that she’s going to be able to perform?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Benjamin: There’s no doubt at all. She’s been thinking of this residency for two years. The day they announced it, they knew that she would be able to do it. You can’t just go on this huge thing not be sure that she’s going to be able. So yes, she’s going to be here. She’s going to be top-form. She’s going to be able to sing the high notes, [otherwise] she wouldn’t have [said] yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n You can listen to the full discussion from today’s show on CBC Listen<\/a> or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.<\/a><\/p>\n Panel produced by Jessica Low.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-624546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}