USA fields the biggest team followed by hosts France
Celine Dion made her return to the stage at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris in truly grand fashion.
The superstar singer closed the ceremony on Friday immediately after the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, with a performance from the first stage of the Eiffel Tower, singing a timeless classic: Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’amour.”
Dion was in excellent form as she belted out the soaring, clean notes, dressed in a stunning beaded white gown with tassels.
Immediately following the performance, Kelly Clarkson – who was serving as a commentator on the proceedings for NBC – was at first speechless and then called Dion “a vocal athlete.”
The live performance marks the superstar entertainer’s first concert performance since revealing that she is living with stiff person syndrome, “a rare, progressive syndrome that affects the nervous system, specifically the brain and spinal cord,” according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Dion, 56, announced in December 2022 that she was taking time off from professional commitments to focus on her health after revealing her diagnosis. At the time, she said the condition did not allow her “to sing the way I’m used to.”
The last time the “My Heart Will Go On” singer performed live was in March 2020, in New Jersey.
Lady Gaga kicked off the opening Olympics event with a performance along the Seine river of “Mon truc en plume,” by Zizi Jeanmaire, France’s leading lady of Music Hall performances in the 1950s.
Last month, Dion shared more details about how difficult her life has become with stiff person syndrome, which can cause involuntary spasms and muscle rigidity, while promoting her new documentary “I Am: Celine Dion” released on Amazon.
In an interview with NBC’s Hoda Kotb at the time, the singer said trying to sing with her condition feels “like somebody is strangling you.”
The teams
The USA has the largest number of athletes at the 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics in Paris, France at 592 followed by: France (hosts)573, Australia 460 ,Germany 428 , Japan 403 ,China 388 , Spain 383, Italy 371 .
In the great lakes region we have; Kenya 72 ,Ethiopian 34, Uganda 24 ,South Sudan 14 ,Rwanda 8 ,Tanzania 7 ,Burundi 7, DR Congo 6.
Other notables on the African continent; South Africa 149 , Nigeria 88 .
