NFL fans waited nearly an hour and a half for last night’s Sunday Night Football game to kick off. Ostensibly the delay was due to thunderstorms in Pittsburgh, but really, fans needed some time to make sense of what they’d seen just before the delay. That was a SNF promo narrated by none other than Céline Dion. What was a French Canadian woman with no professed affinity for football who makes very few public appearances these days doing shilling for the NFL? Your guess is as good as anyone’s. But we’ll take it, because the resultant clip is pretty amazing.
“I think my favorite thing about this game is its power to connect who we are to who we were,†Dion says over the opening piano chords of “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.†“To prove that our most powerful memories, our most enduring loves, can stay with us forever.†Of course, she’s talking about the Dallas Cowboys–Pittsburgh Steelers rivalry — stoked during some of the first Super Bowls, now only played out once every four years. “The love affair,†she continues, in a Super Bowl XXX sweater. “Well, maybe not love the way I usually sing about it, but still, work with me here!†Oh, we are. Dion really makes the whole schtick work, playing up the winking drama and earning every cent of her NFL paycheck. “Like so many old flames, it always feels right when they’re back together, don’t you think?†she asks. And we do, Céline — especially when it’s set to one of your power ballads.