Celine Dion breaks down in tears over lying to fans before sharing diagnosis
What did you miss?
In I Am: Celine Dion, Celine Dion wiped away tears as she discussed lying to fans before she felt ready to share her Stiff Person Syndrome diagnosis. She said: "The lie is too heavy now."
It was in 2022 that the My Heart Will Go On hitmaker publicly told the world she had Stiff Person Syndrome, a rare neurological condition that most commonly causes muscle stiffness and painful spasms which get worse over time.
Dion had completed the first 52 dates of the Courage World Tour in North America before the Covid pandemic hit. As she revealed her diagnosis in 2022, she rescheduled the European leg of her Courage World Tour but in May last year Dion cancelled all of her remaining tour dates for 2023 and 2024 as she continues to be treated.
In emotional scenes from I Am: Celine Dion, the singer shared her heartache at lying to her fans and that she had been suffering with symptoms for years before she finally was "ready" to tell the world about her rare neurological condition that was stopping her from being able to perform.
What, how and why?
She said in a tearful piece to camera: "When I had to cancel shows we have to tell the crowd and the people why. Lying, I can't lie anymore."
The singer admitted there were moments where she said she "cheated" as she blamed the microphone and moments where she had to stop the show because she couldn't continue to perform.
She added: "From a sinus infection to an ear infection to a whatever. Sometimes I would point my microphone to the audience and make them sing it. There’s moments where I cheated.
"I tapped on the microphone like it was the microphones fault. I did what my mum said, I didn't flinch. There are also moments where we had to stop the show. Quick change [she clicks her fingers] and I never came back." She concluded: "The lie is too heavy now."
She also explained in the movie: "It's not hard to do a show, it’s hard to cancel a show. If somebody sees me having a good time for a moment with my family and I was supposed to be on stage and they had a ticket that night they have the right to come to me and say hey."
Earlier in the documentary, Dion explained how she had managed to keep performing initially by "elevating" her medicine as she was determined that "the show must go on". Now at this telling point in I Am: Celine Dion, we see behind the scenes of Dion's 2022 announcement about her condition.
Read more
‘I miss music’: Celine Dion weeps as she shows what happens when she tries to sing (The Independent, 3 min read)
Promoting the documentary, Dion said it took her nearly two decades to understand her symptoms. She told Vogue France: "It might seem weird to say this, but I was happy when I was told what it was. I was finally going to be able to live with this illness and no longer suffer from it."
She added: "I hope this won't scare people off and will alert them instead. It took me 17 years to understand what was going on. I beg of you, don't wait that long!"
I Am: Celion Dion
I Am: Celine Dion currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The reviews have been incredibly positive, praising brave Dion for sharing her story in an intimate way with her fans.
Among the reviews, IndieWire's Ryan Lattanzio said: "A scene in which Dion has a body-stopping nervous spasm, curled into a ball on a table as her minders rush to her aid, is excruciating to watch.
"But you can sense that Dion purposefully wanted to include this moment to not only turn a light on her illness and perhaps destigmatise any disability threatening a person, creative or otherwise, but also to remind us of the flaws-and-all woman behind the voice that was always there anyway. She’s never been anyone but herself, and this movie allows that self to shine through in ways that feel rare for a documentary about an artist."
Variety's Peter Debruge wrote: "In “I Am,” she is Celine Dion. Turns out, she’s even stronger than we gave her credit for. But that’s not all. Relistening to her songs in the lead-up to the documentary, I picked up on something different from the many ways she found to express romantic love — something I would describe as gratitude.
"That same dimension of Celine Dion’s personality is reflected throughout the documentary, from the appreciation she shows her backup singers, band and staff to the way she addresses her fans."
New York Post's Johnny Oleksinski said: "Opening up is exactly what she does in the excellent “I Am: Celine Dion,” which hits Prime Video on June 25. By turns harrowing, humorous and hopeful, the Celine documentary does not hold back.
Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion is available worldwide on Prime Video on 25 June.
This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/celine-dion-cries-cancel-shows-123801316.html
