2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony: Celine Dion delivers powerful performance as Olympic cauldron floats into the night sky

The singer kept the details of her 2022 diagnosis private until the 2024 release of her documentary I Am: Celine Dion. One scene in the film shows her suffering an episode of stiff-person syndrome, in which her body locks up and she's unable to move or speak.

Experts had previously explained to Yahoo Life that the autoimmune disease affects people differently. Stiffness and muscle spasms can be triggered by stress and last anywhere from minutes to hours.

While there is no cure for stiff-person syndrome, Dion told Vogue France in April that she's chosen to "train like an athlete" to better navigate her symptoms.

"Five days a week I undergo athletic, physical and vocal therapy. I work on my toes, my knees, my calves, my fingers, my singing, my voice," she said, and credited a medical team for helping her to be "the best I can be."

After taking time off because of challenges with her health, Celine Dion has made her triumphant return to performing.

She sang in French at the Eiffel Tower at the conclusion of the opening ceremony, just after the Olympic cauldron was lit.

"It’s just incredible what she’s overcome and to have that moment ... She’s a vocal athlete," Kelly Clarkson said after Dion's performance.

The Olympic cauldron has officially been lit — by Teddy Riner, a three-time Olympic judo champion and Marie-José Pérec , a three-time Olympic champion in track and field.

It'll burn for the remainder of the Games, until the closing ceremony on Aug. 11.

Charles Coste, a French cyclist and oldest living French Olympian at 100 years old, joined the passing of the torch.

He passed it off to the final two French athletes who lit the cauldron.

After days of speculation about whether Celine Dion would perform at the opening ceremony, the singer has not yet appeared.

She posted on Instagram near the start of the ceremony, saying in the post caption that she was "happy to be here" in Paris.

She was rumored to be rehearsing a duet with Lady Gaga, who performed toward the beginning of the ceremony, but those reports have not been not confirmed.

Though the parade of nations has been completed and French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games officially on, the opening ceremony is not over yet.

Tennis player Rafael Nadal is carrying the torch. He is Spanish, but because he won 14 French Open titles, he has been designated an "honorary French" athlete, according to one commentator. He boarded a boat with legendary athletes including Serena Williams, Carl Lewis and Nadia Com?neci that is now headed back down the Seine.

As the torch makes its journey toward the cauldron, a light show dances around the Eiffel Tower.

"They are doing something with the torch that I have never seen. ... I've never seen a torch on the run like this before," Savannah Guthrie said on NBC's broadcast.

Hoda Kotb has dreamt of meeting Tom Cruise — now it's happened in the City of Light. Like all good rom-com meet-cutes do, it happened in the rain.

The Today show co-anchor, who is in Paris to cover the Olympic Games, ran into the Top Gun: Maverick actor at the opening ceremony and snapped a quick pic for Instagram.

"In your dream were you wearing a poncho?" her Today With Hoda & Jenna co-host Jenna Bush Hager commented.

Savannah Guthrie commented, "Icons only."

Joel Embiid, representing Team USA in men's basketball, showed off his Olympic rings glasses in an interview during the opening ceremony.

When asked why he chose to wear them, he jokingly said, "I look good in everything."

"I just thought these looked pretty good, so I was gonna try ... I'm just chillin'," he added.

Embiid was born in Cameroon but became a U.S. citizen in 2022. He posted on X in October that he wanted to win a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics for his son, who was born in the U.S.

A'ja Wilson, who is on the women's basketball team, was also spotted wearing the shades on the Team USA boat.

Performances during the opening ceremony have included nearly every genre of music, including rap with a performance by Rim’K.

The 46-year-old Algerian-French rapper grew up in a suburb of Paris and was a member of French rap group 113.

FranceTV called him the “prince of the city" as a nod to his decades-long career.

But it was likely Snoop Dogg who enjoyed the performance most. The California rapper and NBC special correspondent was seen dancing to the song in the rain.

The 594 athletes representing 46 states made their way down the Seine in the rain during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Arkansas, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming were the only states to send no athletes, the Tennessean reported.

"Everybody's really killing that wet look tonight, just saying," Kelly Clarkson said.

Noah Lyles, a 26-year-old sprinter representing Team USA, showed off his manicure that spelled out the word "icon" in an interview during the opening ceremony.

He also posted a close-up of his nails on his Instagram Story.

He won the 100-meter race at the 2023 world championships, earning the honorary title of "world's fastest man."

Lyles won a bronze medal in the 200-meter race at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

This year, his goal is to break the world record set by Jamaican runner Usain Bolt in 2009.

“He was the fastest man ever to do it,” Lyles told CNN. “And soon, it’ll be me.”

It hasn't rained during an opening ceremony since 1952, when the Summer Olympics were held in Helsinki.

During the opening ceremony, statues of "some of the heroines of French history" emerged from pillars on the Seine.

The new statues include French director, screenwriter and film producer Alice Guy, as well as politician and French magistrate Simone Veil.

They "are going to be offered to the city after the ceremony, which is pretty special," Kelly Clarkson said on NBC.

For a brief animated portion of the opening ceremony, the minions from the Despicable Me franchise took over our screens.

They are perhaps the best-known property of Illumination Studios Paris, a French animation company. The studio's latest film, Despicable Me 4, premiered in theaters on July 3. In the 2015 spinoff movie Minions, the little yellow creatures served as henchmen to French military leader Napoleon.

In the animated short, the minions obtained the Mona Lisa and kept it inside a submarine. While practicing archery, they accidentally sprung leaks in the vessel, which fell apart and ejected them into the water.

Sparks went flying when the French-Malian singer made her entrance at the opening ceremony wearing a gold feather frock.

The 29-year-old is the most-listened-to French-speaking singer in the world, known for hit songs "Djadja" — which has been streamed more than a billion times, according to a New York Times report — and "Pookie." She also recently attended the 2024 Met Gala and has more than 20 million followers on social media.

More from the New York Times:

After a high-energy performance of the cancan, a masked person running across roofs and surfaces through the city carrying a torch briefly stole the show. The individual passed dancers in rags before they broke out in a performance of a song from Les Misérables, a musical that covers the history of France. The identity of the person wearing the mask has not yet been revealed.

Later, metal band Gojira delivered a performance with a heavy dose of pyrotechnics.

"We just went metal after Les Mis, after cancan," NBC opening ceremony host Kelly Clarkson said, enthused.

An opera singer took over, performing as a large ship passed through the Seine. "Sing!" Clarkson shouted.

It's all a part of a portion of the event titled "Liberté," which is one-third of the French Republic's motto, "Liberté, égalité, Fraternité."

Translated to English, it is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."

Designers designated to create their country's Olympic uniforms were ready to show up and out in the world's fashion capital. And while each put their best foot forward, there are a few that stand apart from the rest.

Those that have received high praise thus far include Team Mongolia by Michel & Amazonka, Team Haiti by Stella Jean, Team Jamaica by Puma and Team Czech Republic by Jan Société and Alpine Pro.

Ralph Lauren is outfitting Team USA for the ninth time, integrating classic tailoring with sporty silhouettes for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Check out more of the standout uniforms here.