Celine Dion’s showstopping ‘live’ performance at the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics was pre-recorded, it was claimed in France today.
Millions were moved to tears when the 56-year-old Canadian superstar sang Hymne à L’amour (Hymn to Love) in front of the Eiffel Tower.
It was the culmination of a lavish Opening Ceremony mainly held along the banks of the River Seine – one that President Emmanuel Macron said was the ’emotional highlight’ of the sporting extravaganza.
But on Friday, the highly respected Liberation newspaper quoted multiple music industry experts who said the July 26th performance was ‘without a shadow of a doubt’ pre-recorded.
Celine Dion performing on the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Millions were moved to tears when the 56-year-old Canadian superstar sang Hymne à L’amour (Hymn to Love) in front of the Eiffel Tower
A grab of a video shows Canadian Singer Celine Dion performing on the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
In turn, representatives for the Paris 2024 organisers refused to answer questions on the scandal, despite previously insisting that the performance was indeed a live one.
‘What we heard on TV was a corrected playback,’ composer and performer Etienne Guéreau told Liberation.
In comments that were republished across French media, a sound engineer who asked to remain anonymous said: ‘It was 100% playback, you can hear it from the first notes.’
Others said it was ‘without a shadow of a doubt’ pre-recorded, as was a performance by Ms Dion in rehearsals.
A YouTuber musician who uses the name Wings of Pegasus said the rehearsal and actual performance also sounded exactly the same – something that is technically impossible, as there will always be variations between any two versions of a live song.
The Olympics performance was meant to be a triumphant comeback for Ms Dion, who has been battling the incurable stiff-person syndrome.
Hymne à L’amour was chosen because it was originally sung by the late French music icon Edith Piaf.
Thousands of fans took to social media to praise Ms Dion, whose greatest hits include ‘My Heart Will Go On’, the theme from the Titanic movie.
The cauldron, with the Olympic flame lit, lifts off while attached to a balloon, during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Celine Dion performing on the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
One said: ‘Ok I’m proper emotional at Celine’s performance, just wow!’, while another gushed: ‘Queen Celine is back and she sounds fantastic’.
It was in 2022 that Ms Dion disclosed that she had been diagnosed with the neurological disorder stiff-person syndrome which causes muscles to stiffen and spasm.
She then made a vow to return to the stage ‘even if I have to crawl’, adding: ‘My goal is to see the Eiffel Tower again!’
Around 104,000 people paid for tickets to watch the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony live, with the best seats costing more than £2500.
Despite heavy rain, many sat through multiple acts, including a pre-recorded one by Lady Gaga, which was shown on multiple screens along the river, as well as around the world.
But Ms Dion’s performance was meant to be a live one, and it has just been released as such on various streaming platforms.
Ms Dion announced on Instagram on Thursday that the ‘live’ recording was available on sites such as YouTube and Spotify.
Fans take pictures of Canadian singer Celine Dion, outside Le Royal Monceau in Paris on July 27
The performance was the culmination of a lavish Opening Ceremony mainly held along the banks of the River Seine
The Olympic cauldron is lit during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics
‘God brings together those who love each other,’ Ms Dion wrote in a reference to the song’s lyrics.
These are Piaf’s words to the love of her life, French-Algerian boxer Marcel Cerdan, who died in a plane crash in October 1949.
French president Emmanuel Macron spoke about the Dion Olympics performance in an interview with Variety magazine this week, saying it caused the ‘biggest emotion’ of all at Paris 2024.