It’s 8:30 p.m. in Paris, and Celine Dion is late.  There are plenty of people— close to 45,000 — and their combined energy is frenetic.

Since there is no opening act, a hopeful ‘CE-LINE’ chant sounds at the end of every upbeat song on the warm-up playlist.

Dion was scheduled to appear at 8 p.m., and fans are afraid to leave their seats. While some take the risk, bolting for the Plenitude Arena’s bar and bathrooms, most stay put. They’ve waited six years for the diva; they can spare another few minutes or hours.

Her strapless black gown and tight chignon draw the eye to the diamond, a Boucherón, allegedly worth $5 million. Dion is radiant and resilient.,

When she launches into a rendition of French classic “On ne change pas,” her voice seems meek. It could be nerves, or the effects of the rare neurological disorder. Then, the camera cuts to a close-up: she is crying.

“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry but I don’t keep my promises,” Dion told the crowd in French, translating English, fanning her face while the crowd broke into spontaneous song. ]

“Finally, it’s amazing we are all together. So here I am, singing for you, singing for me, singing for life.”

Dion herself had long been determined to make this moment materialize. In 2024, she said that “I’m going to go back onstage, even if I have to crawl, even if I have to talk with my hands. I will. “Not just because I have to, or because I need to, it’s because I want to. And I miss it.”

Dion’s discography contains so many anthemic, heart-wrenching meditations on love lost or gained, it’s easy to imagine she’s singing about a romantic partner. But tonight, her impassioned performances of “Because You Loved Me” and, later, “My Heart Will Go On,” feels for and about her fans — especially the French. As evidence, she addresses the crowd almost exclusively in her first language, finishing each song with a gentle, Québécois-accented “merci beaucoup.”

The brutalist structure behind Dion is not unlike King Philip II’s 12th-century fortress that braces the Louvre Palace. The Willo Perron-creative is a visual metaphor for Dion’s career — impressive, enduring — its encircling motion representing Dion’s “full circle” return to Paris. It gapes wider for the show’s second act, for which Dion reemerges in a gold-embellished black bodysuit and matching flared pants, preparing the crowd for a transition from Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” into “I’m Alive,” the 2002 smash with a billion YouTube views. It’s not the only disco hit of the night. The singer also takes on the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams.”

It is the only time she’s outshone, with her almost-adolescent violinist delivering a solo so rallying that the crowd bursts into spontaneous cheers.

When she approaches a newer entry in her catalog, folky-acoustic “The Chase” from 2019, she stops and starts over, apologizing to the crowd with “excuse-moi” for an undecipherable mistake. During “That’s the Way It Is,” Dion hits her strid

The brief intermissions are projected onscreen is Celine, along with cloaked disciples, trekking through the desert in high winds toward an unknown destination.

In act three, art comes to life. Reaching the stage, hoods down, the collective are revealed as a gospel choir, ready to replace Andrea Bocelli in Dion’s rendition of “The Prayer.”

For the act’s finale, an iceberg crests, and Dion ascends solo in a magnificent feather coat. Snow falls on the ground seats, and Dion delivers one of her most ambitious feats: Italian aria “La Wally.” It is a showcase of Dion’s technical expertise and singular talent.

Throughout her set, the singer seems effortless. There is no evidence of the painful cramps and rigidity symptomatic of ‘Stiff-Person Syndrome.” Watching her strut for two hours, or twist her body around ballet dancers in one of the show’s visuals, it’s hard to believe she was ever debilitated by illness.

Only when belting “All By Myself” in a corseted breastplate does she visibly puff with exertion. The transparency almost provides the audience some reprieve. Celine Dion is human, after all.

In her final moments, the singer imparts wisdom gained from her four-decade- career that, several years ago, seemed finished. She cites the power of self-belief, reminding the crowd of the capacity to overcome the most insurmountable obstacles.

In these trying times, it’s a message from which all 45,000 of us benefit.  After a series of graceful curtseys, Celine Dion the Diva stands upright.