While much of the show has been kept under wraps, French newspaper Le Parisien confirmed that Dion, Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura will be performing at the unprecedented opening ceremony, set to be in the river Seine. Nakamura will perform a Charles Aznavour classic – accompanied by the Republican Guard — and Dion and Lady Gaga’s duet will reportedly close the evening’s festivities. 

The French-Canadian Dion posted photos of herself at the Louvre on Wednesday saying she was “happy to be back”. Her appearance at the Paris opening ceremony would mark her first performance since she was forced to halt her tour after being diagnosed in December 2022 with Stiff Person Syndrome: a rare, chronic neurological disorder that causes muscle stiffness and sometimes intense spasms. 

She has also previously performed at an Olympic opening ceremony: singing “The Power of the Dream” at the Atlanta games in 1996, a song written and produced specially for the occasion.

Back in 2018, the singer supported Lady Gaga at her Las Vegas residency and was even spotted by fans lip-synching Lady Gaga's famous lyrics. "I swear to you, the number of women that I can count on one hand that are supportive in this industry, it's like, I would lose fingers, okay? You are amazing,” Lady Gaga spoke fondly of Dion. 

Thomas Jolly and the ceremony's musical director Victor Le Masne have also planned a clash of cultures and musical universes for the show with an encounter between the opera singer Marina Viotti and the French heavy-metal icon Gojira.

The Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony kicks off at 19:30 CEST with athletes representing 206 countries making their ceremonial entrance into the Games on boats floating down the river Seine.