On Friday, Paris will be treated to an epic display of physical prowess and unparalleled mental resilience. Sure, the 2024 Olympics are starting, but what I really mean is that Céline Dion and Lady Gaga may sing a duet during the Opening Ceremony. Incroyable! The ceremony will also involve an 85-boat procession down four miles of the Seine and culminate at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
When is the Opening Ceremony?
It starts at 1:30 ET on Friday and will be available to stream on NBC and Peacock.
Are Céline Dion and Lady Gaga really performing together?
Dion, who stepped away from singing when she was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome in 2022, is rumored to make her big return to the stage this Friday during the Olympics Opening Ceremony. According to rumor — and also our wildest dreams — she will deliver the gift of her voice once again alongside none other than Lady Gaga. Rumors that these two were performing at Friday’s Opening Ceremony reached a fever pitch on Wednesday when French reporter Thierry Moreau claimed they were linking up for a rendition Édith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose.” (He also claimed Dion will be wearing a pink-and-black feathered Dior cape …!)
What’s the evidence? Well, both divas are in Paris — Dion posted photos of herself wandering around the Louvre on X Wednesday, writing, “Every time I return to Paris, I remember there’s so much beauty and joy still to experience in the world.” Per Variety, she and Gaga are both staying at the Royal Monceau hotel near the Champs-Élysées, giving them easy access to the procession. Meanwhile, images circulating on X allege to show Gaga rehearsing on a boat, and, separately, on a little floating island on the Seine with a white piano. Plus, the Olympic Committee’s teaser video of a mysterious performer in a metallic hood could easily pass for scrapped footage from her Chromatica days …
When pressed on why the hell Céline Dion is wandering around Paris on the eve of the Olympics Opening Ceremony, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, pretended — very poorly — not to know anything. “Apparently she has arrived in Paris — it’s great!” he told reporters, with a huge grin on his face. “I would be immensely happy if she could be at this opening ceremony.” Formidable indeed, Monsieur Macron.
French Malian pop star Aya Nakamura is also rumored to be performing at the Opening Ceremony Friday — earlier this year, reports that she’d been asked to participate sparked racist outcry against the singer-songwriter. Dua Lipa has also been floated as a potential surprise performer.
Who are the U.S. flag bearers?
Fine, Céline Dion and Lady Gaga are not the only things potentially happening at the Olympics Opening Ceremony. There are a few celebrities officially locked in to participate — Snoop Dogg, who’s covering this year’s Games as NBC’s special correspondent, will also serve as torchbearer, carrying the Olympic flame through Saint-Denis to the Olympic Stadium alongside a handful of French celebrities, including Laetitia Casta and MC Solaar. LeBron James and Coco Gauff have also been tapped to carry the U.S. flag.
What else will happen?
This is the first time ever that an Olympics Opening Ceremony has happened outside a stadium, and the event’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, has promised quite the spectacle. He claims to have imagined the ordeal as a “giant ballet in 12 acts.” All the athletes will be dispatched down the Seine on boats, bypassing bridges filled with hundreds of dancers, who’ve been practicing elaborate choreography in secret. (The dancers briefly went on strike this week, threatening to derail the production, but reached an agreement with their employers on Wednesday.)
What’s this about train arson?
Around 4 a.m. Friday, an outbreak of coordinated arson attacks interrupted service on France’s high-speed train lines during one of the biggest travel days the country has seen in decades. Three Eurostar lines have been affected, with some scheduled trips diverted and a few canceled. It doesn’t seem like anyone was hurt, and it’s still unclear who set the fires, which started in cable-carrying pipes in three separate towns, each about 100 miles outside Paris.
French officials have suggested they were intended to put a kink in the Olympics festivities — those trains could also be carrying athletes into the city for the Opening Ceremony — but France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin assured reporters that all is going to plan. “All that is left is to hope for good weather,” he joked, presumably referring to the fact that rain could cause the Opening Ceremony’s environs to fill with poop. Barring that scenario, I have a feeling the day will be incredible.
This post has been updated.