Celine Dion returned to the stage in a rare appearance, participating in the Elie Saab fashion show Wednesday night in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
It is her second appearance on stage since she returned to perform last summer at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Celine Dion at the Elie Saab fashion show in Riyadh
For Dion, the show was not only a musical event but also a moment of personal victory, as she deals with stiff-person syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by progressive muscle stiffness and convulsions. Despite dealing with the condition, Dion swept the audience with an emotional performance, according to clips posted on the X platform.
Dion took the stage in a sparkly pink dress and opened her set with the iconic 1993 song The Power of Love. During the performance, she interacted with the models walking around her on the runway.
One of the standout moments of the show was her performance of the 2002 song I'm Alive. Dion invited the audience to get up on their feet and celebrate with her the song that became an anthem of feeling alive and coping, as she herself walked confidently on stage next to a Lebanese fashion designer.
In an interview on the red carpet before the performance, Dion said she was excited to sing at the event. "Being here for the first time is like a dream come true. It is a huge privilege for me to perform here. It is a very exciting experience," she said. Jennifer Lopez and Camila Cabello also performed at the event, and she was greeted by many stars who attended the fashion show.
In December 2022, the Canadian singer revealed that she was dealing with stiff-person syndrome, leading her to call off her upcoming tour, which was supposed to include a performance in Israel, and almost completely disappeared from the spotlight.
Her first public appearance since the diagnosis was in February when she unexpectedly participated in the Grammy Awards ceremony to a roaring standing ovation from the crowd and then participated in the flamboyant opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
In her first televised appearance since her diagnosis, Dion talked about how she was dealing with her rare condition, how it causes her to suffer prolonged muscle spasms that lead, among other things, to fractured ribs, as well as a feeling of suffocation. "At one point I had broken ribs, sometimes it can be very serious," she said.
The singer also shared that she experiences muscle spasms even in her throat. "It's as if someone is choking you, as if someone is pressing on your throat," she said. She explained that when she has such a convulsive attack, she is only able to speak in certain tones. "But it can also be in the stomach, the spine, the ribs," she said. She also described how the contractions affect her hands. "When they are contracted, it is impossible to open them," she said.
At first, Dion took a break from live performances, mainly because, according to her, the condition "causes difficulties in walking and does not allow me to use my vocal cords to sing as I normally do." But in recent months she has returned to the stage on numerous occasions.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: