Tears on a Paris stage

Celine Dion opened her first full concert in six years at the Plenitude Arena near Paris, visibly crying in front of 30,000 fans.

“These are, of course, tears of joy. I'm so delighted to see you.”

She started in French

The 58-year-old singer opened with On ne change pas, her 1990s French-language ballad, and moved between French and English all night.

The illness that stopped her

Stiff Person Syndrome, an incurable autoimmune condition causing stiffness and violent cramps, forced her to cancel shows and left years of doubt about whether she would sing again.

A rockier path

Dion told the crowd she held on through the worst of it, framing the night as something she was doing for the audience and for herself.

“But I held on to a faint ray of light in the distance, deep in the mountains.”

Sequins and glitter

The largely female crowd came in sequined dresses, glittered cheeks and shirts printed with her face or her biggest hits.

Fans who flew in

They came from Sao Paulo, London and as far as Tahiti. Quebecer Elisabeth Landry, 38, lives near Dion's hometown of Charlemagne and had given up hope of seeing her perform.

“I was convinced we'd never see her again, especially not embarking on a run of concerts like this.”

Paris went all in

The city staged costume contests, giant karaoke parties and tribute cruises on the Seine. The train station serving the arena was temporarily renamed Celine.

The Olympic echo

The Olympic cauldron rose again over the Tuileries, a callback to her 2024 performance of Piaf's Hymn to Love from the Eiffel Tower, with a lyric projected across the balloon.

“I'd go and fetch the moon if you asked me to”

Tickets worth the price

Chloe and Katy Rydquist spent about £1,500 travelling from London. The residency runs 26 dates: 16 sold-out shows in September and October, then 10 more in May.

Hotel steps, 4am

Fans without tickets waited outside the Royal Monceau, where Dion has come out to greet them and sometimes sung and danced with them into the early hours.

Training like an athlete

Dion has described spasms so severe they broke her ribs and made her feel strangled. She got back by doing ballet, pilates and voice therapy several times a week.