{"id":894183,"date":"2026-09-13T12:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T12:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/894183\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T12:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T12:12:15","slug":"celine-dion-review-singers-first-live-show-in-years-marks-a-triumphant-emotional-return-celine-dion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/894183\/","title":{"rendered":"C\u00e9line Dion review \u2013 singer\u2019s first live show in years marks a triumphant, emotional return | C\u00e9line Dion"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2022, when C\u00e9line Dion shared that she had been diagnosed with a rare incurable neurological disorder called stiff person syndrome (SPS),<\/a> there was no guarantee that the 58-year-old would ever tour again. Her condition, which resulted in muscle spasms so strong that it left her with broken ribs<\/a>, had made it impossible to perform, and in a 2024 documentary, I Am: C\u00e9line Dion<\/a>, fans saw how the disease had constricted her once seemingly infallible voice. Through it all, though, Dion was resolute that she would one day return to the stage. \u201cIf I can\u2019t run, I\u2019ll walk. If I can\u2019t walk, I\u2019ll crawl,\u201d she said in the film. \u201cBut I won\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully at the opening night of her sold out five-week residency in Paris, her first full-length concerts in six years, no crawling is needed: C\u00e9line Dion<\/a> is back. She glides on to the stage in a black dress, an enormous diamond necklace clasped around her throat, and launches into On ne change pas. There are tears almost immediately: she struggles through the second verse, her voice cracking as she begins to cry. By the time the strum of Destin has kicked in, though, that emotion is replaced with sheer elation. \u201cI made a promise to be back on stage. Singing for you. Singing for me,\u201d she says. \u201cSinging for life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dion performs during her first concert of a series at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris on 12 September. Photograph: Thomas Samson\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

That she does. There is no cure for SPS, but the work Dion has put into managing her condition so she can perform again is astounding. Still, clearly some necessary allowances have been made. Some songs such as Because You Loved Me, The Power of Love and My Heart Will Go On have all been transposed down. It\u2019s understandable given the effect her condition has had on her voice, although, in the case of Because You Loved Me and It\u2019s All Coming Back To Me Now, it does somewhat dampen their melodramatic potency.<\/p>\n

That is not to say that Dion\u2019s voice is weakened: when she needs to, as she does on the driving Tout l\u2019or des hommes, she can still belt out a note. There\u2019s also some welcome texture to her vocal, too: recently released ballad Dansons sees her embracing her lower register, while Courage, recorded following the death of her late husband Ren\u00e9 Ang\u00e9lil, is genuinely affecting as Dion allows her voice to get fragile and raspy.<\/p>\n

For some, Dion\u2019s success \u2013 she has sold more than 200m records and is the third most successful female artist of all time \u2013 is inexplicable: to them, her music is the apotheosis of saccharin and anodyne adult contemporary. But for the 30,000-plus in the crowd tonight, that contempt is decidedly absent. After all, you don\u2019t attend a C\u00e9line Dion show expecting anything avant garde. You\u2019re there to hear Beauty and the Beast, an unexpected highlight.<\/p>\n

Dion wipes away tears. Photograph: Samir Hussein\/WireImage<\/p>\n

Still, Dion does have some surprises up her sleeve: the run of J\u2019irai o\u00f9 tu iras, Ne bouge pas and Dans un autre monde provides some rollicking respite from the balladry, Dion strutting up and down the stage while doing vocal acrobatics or fake boxing with backing singer. This is followed by an outlandishly camp disco section, complete with covers of Donna Summer\u2019s I Feel Love (oddly enough, Moroder\u2019s sequenced synths really are a great match), Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) and a chandelier that quickly morphs into a glitter ball. As Dion shimmies about, separating the covers with a souped-up electronic take on That\u2019s The Way It Is, a sly smile reveals that she, too, knows how ridiculous it all is.<\/p>\n

Most astonishing, though, is a rendition of Ebben? Ne andr\u00f2 lontana from Alfredo Catalani\u2019s opera La Wally: wearing a pink feathered coat and standing a protruding rock that has just emerged from below the stage, Dion pays homage to Maria Callas as fake snow falls from the ceiling on to the audience below. It is brilliant and ludicrous and purists will loathe it. Nevertheless, the kookiness all feels very C\u00e9line.<\/p>\n

The biggest response from the crowd, many of whom have likely been out practising at one of the many mass karaoke events<\/a> celebrating Dion\u2019s music throughout Paris this week, arrives during Pour que tu m\u2019aimes encore. The singing is so loud it almost drowns Dion out. It is All By Myself, however, that seems like the most significant for Dion. As the piano solo and slide guitar gives way, she glances upwards before unleashing herself on that final chorus. When she realises she hit the big notes, it\u2019s relief \u2013 then triumph \u2013 that spreads across her face. Given where she has come from, and her performance on stage tonight, it\u2019s a feeling that is clearly well deserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2022, when C\u00e9line Dion shared that she had been diagnosed with a rare incurable neurological disorder called…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-894183","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\/894183","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=894183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}