Thomas Jolly goes behind the scenes of his participation in the Olympics

Thomas Jolly, director of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, tells BFMTV behind the scenes of Celine Dion's participation.

“She told me, even in the middle of a storm, in the middle of a storm, she would have gone up” the Eiffel Tower. Thomas Jolly returns to the Red line that BFMTV devotes to Céline Dion, on her moving performance, the evening of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, on July 26.

“A moment of truth”, as the director describes it, who explains having chosen Céline Dion because she “sings true”.

“She is there, she sings true. If we want to have the emotion, the power of this text The Hymn to Love and this melody must be true. And she is the one who for me is perhaps the truest of all the artists I know.”

If the singer was enthusiastic about the concept from the start, there remained the thorny problem of her health. She suffers from stiff person syndrome, a very rare neurological disorder that causes muscle spasms. “We know that she loves the idea, that she is very happy with the concept and that she likes everything. But there is always the state of health,” remembers Thomas Jolly.

“I will sing up there”

“'We'll see if she can do it or not'… until the big day. On July 25, it's 2 a.m. It's nighttime just before the ceremony. And Céline Dion arrives at the Trocadéro. Everything is ready. It's the last thing we have to repeat. It's 2 a.m. and she arrives beaming, happy to be there.

Two configurations are planned for the opening ceremony, depending on Céline Dion's state of health. There is therefore “a stage on the Trocadéro with quick access to the backstage” or “on the Eiffel Tower”, specifies the director.

“She said to me: ‘Let things be clear: whether it’s windy, whether it’s snowing, whether it’s raining, I will sing up there’.”

He evokes his emotion when he hears her repeat. “I'm the first to witness this. I hear her singing in front of me, even though she hasn't sung for several years. I say to myself, it's unbelievable what's happening. She- even is very moved. All the staff have red eyes.”

But there are other constraints. You have to manage the harness that the singer is equipped with. “We had to find a trick to hide the safety harness. There was no question of going up so high and not being safe,” emphasizes Thomas Jolly.

“Two Iron Ladies”

On the big day, Céline Dion wears her outfit, a dress designed by Maria Grazia from Dior, and embroidered with pearls. “What is very pretty is that the pearls look like drops of water, there was a bit of that that evening,” smiles the director, at the evocation of the incessant rain that fell one day. most of the evening.

“It was as if the drops of water had turned into pearls and had flowed down her dress. With that tight bun, those very black eyes, it was very powerful.”

“This image of Celine Dion, singing The hymn to lovesinging again for the first time in a long time, on this Eiffel Tower that we call the Iron Lady, I say to myself, these are two iron ladies who are there. Who respond to each other. It is also a demonstration of resilience, courage, strength, fighting spirit.”