JAN MOIR: Like a warrior queen in sequins, Celine's comeback was the biggest since Lazarus - only he wasn't wearing 5in heels!

Celine Dion blew into Paris like a hurricane, like a miracle, like a second coming in a silk Dior gown with a rope of Boucheron diamonds at her throat.She took to the stage of the Plenitude Arena just before 9pm on Saturday night, acknowledging the roars of the 35,000 audience before the tears started to fall. ‘I promised myself I would not cry,’ she said, dabbing her eyes then balling up her fists to control her surging emotions.Many in the first night crowd, which included Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King and Michelle Obama, felt the same way. On my little plastic seat in block 102, I must confess to having a silent weep, too.For this was more than just another concert by the French-Canadian superstar, who has sold more than 250 million records in a career that has made her one of the biggest musical acts in the world. It was a testament to the human spirit and the courage of one woman who refused to let her body betray her, fighting back against a physical and mental agony that would have floored many.A rare neurological disease called Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS) almost robbed Dion of her voice and – never mind the power of love – even the power to walk.At its worst, SPS caused spasms so severe that they broke her ribs and left her bedridden. At one point she was taking 90mg of Valium – a near fatal dose – just to cope with the pain. Celine Dion performed at the Plenitude Arena on Saturday night to an audience of 35,000, which included Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King and Michelle ObamaYet six years after she revealed the devastating condition, one which turned her body to stone and reduced the crystalline soar of her voice to a tragic croak, the queen of the power ballad is back on stage, singing her heart out in a 25-song concert that lasts for two and a half hours.It is astonishing.Dion’s recovery, some of it depicted in the 2024 documentary I Am: Celine Dion – seems to have been driven by sheer willpower alongside a relentless schedule of therapy, medications, Pilates classes and ballet training.‘The path was rockier than expected,’ she told her audience at the beginning of the show, then went on to deliver a performance that must surely rate as the biggest comeback since Lazarus. Only he didn’t do it in 5in heels accompanied by a nine-piece band, a quartet of singers, a gospel choir, four costume changes, a rippling cape of pink feathers and a snowfall drifting down from the rafters during one operatic interlude.Celine even attempted one of her most legendary vocal moments, the sustained F5 in the climax of her hit song, All By Myself.However, let’s be honest. There were some scratchy moments to get there and even Dion’s biggest fans must acknowledge that the 58-year-old’s voice is not quite what it once was – the effect of her illness, the ageing process and hormonal fluctuations all have taken a toll. The singer said she promised herself she would not cry, but tears started to fall as she dabbed her eyes and balled up her fists to control her surging emotionsAnd on Saturday night it seemed to me as if some of her monster ballads such as Because You Loved Me, The Power of Love and My Heart Will Go On were transposed down to a slightly lower key to cope with those changes.This was the first of Dion’s 26 Paris nights, a residency which has a staggered run until May 2027 and sees her play to 860,000 fans at Plenitude, the largest indoor arena in Europe.More than nine million people around the world applied for tickets, vying for hospitality packages (at £1,300) per ticket or the cheapest nosebleed seats starting at £76.Ticket sales alone will raise £62million in revenue, while the music tourism boost to the French economy is expected to be around £489million.Governmental tourist agency Choose Paris Region estimates that Dion’s shows will inject £200million into the local coffers, with fans splurging on transport, accommodation, meals and merchandise.And it is no exaggeration to say that Paris has gone Celine crazy. When she announced the dates in March, the Eiffel Tower was turned purple in her honour. President Macron was thrilled. ‘She is an immense artist,’ he said.This week, the Metro station nearest the arena has been renamed Celine for the duration of the shows, while nearby hotels have been booked out for months.The management at the Okko, were handing out boxes of Celine branded chocolates to guests. At the Citizen M, residents were invited to post their favourite Celine song on a mood board in the foyer. While at the local Hilton there was a selfie corner, complete with microphone and glitter curtains.Giant Celine billboards ring the city, while official Celine-themed karaoke evenings are attended by thousands. At the flagship Galeries Lafayette store on Boulevard Haussmann, a Celine pop up on the third floor is doing a roaring trade in sweatshirts, vinyl records, notebooks and bags.A Celine-in-Paris ‘silk-effect’ scarf is £39, while eight Pierre Herme macarons in a special Celine tin is £33. Here, you can have your photo taken on a Celine canvas director’s chair in a mock-up of her Plenitude dressing room and obviously – get out of the way – I do. It was a triumphant return to the stage for the singer who thought her performing days were over after her diagnosis with stiff person syndromeThe best-selling item on sale is a standard grey T-shirt overlaid with Celine graphics for – gasp – £107. Do you think this is good value for money, I ask an assistant. ‘It is if you are a Celine fan,’ is her diplomatic reply – and she is right. The pop up has been mobbed since the day it opened. The star herself flew into Paris on a private jet from her home in Las Vegas at the end of August, setting up camp at the Le Royal Monceau hotel on Avenue Hoche.Here, rooms start at around £1,000 a night, while the presidential suites – one can imagine nothing less for this diva of the divine – start at £20,000 per night.Celine also has two rooms reserved here just to store her travelling wardrobe, comprised of 100 different outfits and 200 pairs of shoes. Her entourage includes her three sons, dog Madison and assorted family members including her sister Claudette Dion.‘I just want to hear Celine singing from the heart,’ she briskly told television reporters at the weekend.In the days before the first concert, I join the fans gathered outside the hotel; a vigil often rewarded by chatty appearances from Celine herself in her couture tourdrobe; sometimes a crocodile skin jacket from Tom Ford, a shearling-trimmed dress from Loewe, a fabulous trench from Alaia. They sing songs together, she laughs and waves, everyone goes a little bit mad.An Italian couple called Marzia and Fabio are here, after cycling 560 miles from Lake Como in an 18-day journey. ‘We have been listening to her for a long time,’ says Fabio, as if this explains everything, including the saddle sores.A Celine-lookalike from Perth, Australia, declines to give her name but says she has come all this way because: ‘Dolly Parton, all the good ones, they are starting to go. I promised myself that if Celine every performed again, I would do whatever I could to get there.’Kristina is a history teacher from Brescia, Italy, who has brought along her own homemade poster, which I note features her cat, also called Celine. Why is she here? ‘Celine made me the person I am today. I am proud of me, and I am here to say thank you,’ she says.A beautician called Carla has spent a big chunk of her salary on a beautiful bouquet of white roses which she hopes to give to Celine later ‘because she gives me courage’.Patrice has more than 100 pieces of Celine merchandise, but his favourite is a personalised autograph he had printed on a T-shirt which he is wearing today. ‘I just love her,’ he says. ‘She has sustained me.’It is the same story, over and over again – some emotional chasm in a troubled life that Celine and her songs helped fill.Back at the show, there is a surprising moment of pure opera towards the end when Celine comes onstage in the pink feathered cape to sing Ebben/Ne Andro lontana from La Wally by Catalani – an aria made famous by her heroine, Maria Callas. It is sung in tribute, in pilgrimage, in hope and fear.I hardly dare breathe as she inches towards the terrifying high notes but, somehow, she pulls it off, finishing the song in tears and triumph and a kind of audacious glory. She did it.Celine Dion was once broken and when she lost her voice she died inside. Now she has sailed back into Paris like a warrior queen in Schiaparelli and sequins, different but not diminished. Near, far, wherever you are, we now know that her heart does go on.