Eurovision says 'wait and see' on Celine Dion
"Father Christmas exists, and you'll have to wait and see," Eurovision director Martin Green told a press conference, when asked directly if Dion might show up.
At both of Friday's dress rehearsals for the final, as at Tuesday's semi-final, a video message from Dion was played, with the presenters announcing that she could not be with them in Basel, Switzerland for the world's biggest televised live music event.
But Eurovision 2025 co-executive producer Moritz Stadler said on Saturday that the show was still being adapted.
"There are constant changes. Our team has been working overnight until very late," he said. "We continue changing it for the grand final."
BBC television reported that Dion's private plane was in Basel, but did not know if she was on it.
And Swiss newspaper Blick said that selected staff with printed schedules for the final "can see that the recorded greeting from the rehearsals and the first Eurovision semi-final is no longer included".
"This indicates that the clip played during rehearsals has been replaced," the tabloid added.
Dion's health 'top priority'
Dion, 57, is now a global music icon. But she has never forgotten the role the song contest played in launching her on the international stage.
Dion was 20 and little-known outside her native French-speaking Quebec province in Canada when she won Eurovision in 1988, representing Switzerland with the song "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi".
Switzerland duly hosted Eurovision 1989, where Dion opened the TV extravaganza with her winning French-language song.
She then premiered the single "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" -- heralding her career switch into English, which set her on the path to global chart domination.
With Eurovision 2025 returning to Switzerland, organisers reached out to Dion.
However, the singer is now battling a debilitating health condition and rarely appears in public.
"We are still in contact with Celine Dion. As always, her health remains our top priority," a Eurovision 2025 spokeswoman told AFP on Friday.
'Music unites us'
Dion first disclosed in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, a painful autoimmune disorder which is progressive and for which there is no cure.
She was forced to cancel a string of shows scheduled for 2023 and 2024, saying she was not strong enough to tour.
But she gave a surprise, show-stopping performance from the Eiffel Tower at the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.
"I'd love nothing more than to be with you in Basel right now," Dion said in her video clip.
"Winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland in 1988 was a life-changing moment for me.
"Music unites us -- not only tonight, not only in this wonderful moment. It is our strength, our support, and our accompaniment in times of need."
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fashion Network
4 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Casablanca opens first Paris store, plans spaces in LA, London, and skiwear line
Casablanca has taken a step it describes as 'decisive' by opening its first brick-and-mortar store. The French label, launched in 2018 by French-Moroccan designer Charaf Tajer, has set up shop in Paris, where it has been showing since January 2019, and where it has managed to establish itself as one of the up-and-coming names in ready-to-wear. Casablanca's first store is located in the French capital's luxury shopping district, on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. Casablanca has opened its flagship almost at one end of the prestigious thoroughfare, at number 62, on the corner with rue d'Aguesseau. The premises extend over nearly 460 square metres on three levels, and were previously home to an art gallery. The interiors are the brainchild of designer Charaf Tajer and the label's creative director Steve Grimes, working in collaboration with London-based design agency Counterfeit Studio and Moroccan architecture studio Elements Lab. The décor reflects 'a fusion between the past and the future, between Parisian elegance, cinema references and a bold, forward-looking vision,' said Casablanca in a press release. Originally, Casablanca focused on menswear, and made a name for itself with uber-chic looks featuring vibrant prints and fine fabrics, borrowing both from the sporting world, notably tennis, and from retro glamour. Soon the label added women's ready-to-wear, broadening its assortment by introducing a range of accessories, including leather goods, footwear and sneakers, scarves, socks and hats. The label's Parisian store showcases all these categories, spread out across each level within Casablanca's various collections. The atmosphere inside the store is decidedly cheerful and warm, with an almost pop-art feel. The furnishings are characterised by rounded and geometric shapes and by Casablanca's signature sunny palette — red, green and Mediterranean blue. The décor combines different styles and materials, using various types of marble, metal, lacquered wood, walls in white wood and others with mouldings and arched niches, velvet, mosaic, and metal and glass tinted in multiple shades for the display cabinets. After Paris, Casablanca will open in July in Los Angeles, at 469 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills. The label, which has dropped several collaborations in recent years, with Bulgari, Caviar Kaspia, ST Dupont and Nordstrom among others, is distributed via its e-shop and 350 multibrand retailers worldwide. It has recently opened shop-in-shops at Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdale's in Dubai, and at KaDeWe in Berlin, and further shop-in-shops are on the cards in London, at Selfridges in September and Harrods in November. Casablanca also operates seasonal pop-up stores, like the space open for two months at Le Bon Marché in Paris, decked out like a beach club. This season, the label has established a presence also at the Mandarin Oriental in Bodrum (Turkey), and will open temporary stores at Tahiti Beach on the French Riviera in July, at the Fashion Clinic Comporta store in Cavalhal, Portugal, in August, and at the Atlantis The Royal hotel in Dubai, in partnership with the Ounass e-shop. Another project Casablanca is busy on is the autumn launch of a first skiwear capsule collection, produced in partnership with Swiss brand Faction Skis. It will be presented in November via pop-up spaces at Harrods in London and Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris, as well as in top Alpine resorts such as Verbier and Gstaad in Switzerland. Casablanca is backed by an investor and has moved its headquarters to London. In 2024, it generated a revenue of €45 million, and is expecting to reach €60 million for 2025, growing by more than 30%. Casablanca has been led since 2023 by Frederick Lukoff, and employs 140 people. The label has been posting double-digit annual growth on a regular basis. Sales for its e-shop have notably soared, recording a triple-digit rise this year. With this first Paris opening, Tajer is relishing Casablanca's success. 'When my parents arrived in France, my mother was working as a housekeeper, so me setting up a fashion house was the last thing that could be expected. Then, five or six years ago, I said: 'I want a corner in this street', and everyone told me it was impossible, because all the locations were taken by the top labels. Opening this store is a huge achievement for us: It feels like coming home.'
Fashion Network
10 hours ago
- Fashion Network
First-ever Hermès Birkin handbag to be auctioned in Paris in July
The first Birkin handbag, designed especially for Jane Birkin in 1984, will be auctioned in Paris on July 10, the last day of Haute Couture Week, announced auction house Sotheby's on Thursday. The large black leather tote, the original version of one of the world's most celebrated and expensive handbags, will be the 'signature item' in Sotheby's 'Fashion Icons' auction, as Sotheby's said in a press release. The handbag will be exhibited to the public at Sotheby's gallery in New York on June 6-12, ahead of its final presentation at the auction house's Parisian offices in the 8th arrondissement, on July 3-9. The 'historic handmade prototype,' engraved with the initials J.B., is distinctive for several peculiarities that make it a unique piece: its size, the closed metal rings, the non-detachable shoulder strap, and the incorporated nail clipper. Jane Birkin was undoubtedly a fashion icon, but she was keen on practicality above all. On a Paris to London flight, the British singer-actress, who died in 2023, complained with a fellow passenger of not being able to find a handbag that fit the needs of a young mother. The fellow passenger was none other than Jean-Louis Dumas, then boss of Hermès. A tote bag with a pouch for baby bottles was launched by Hermès in 1984, and was named Birkin. Forty years later, the Birkin leather handbag has become the French luxury house's most iconic product. It is manufactured in very small quantities to foster its exclusive image. Its prices can vary greatly, from a few thousand euro for the simplest models, to several hundred thousand euros for the most luxurious ones. In addition to the Birkin handbag, the auction will feature iconic items from runway shows by designers such as Christian Dior, John Galliano, Thierry Mugler and Alexander McQueen. The auction will start online from June 26, and will continue until the closing date of July 10.
Euronews
10 hours ago
- Euronews
Landmark French #MeToo trial for gaming giant Ubisoft comes to an end
The trial of three former top executives from French video game giant Ubisoft – the maker of games like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry - took place this week in Bobigny, France. Serge Hascoët, Thomas François and Guillaume Patrux appeared before the Bobigny criminal court on charges of psychological abuse, sexual harassment and attempted sexual assault. The prosecutor called for suspended prison sentences of up to three years and fines for all three, describing the accusations as 'extremely serious'. The public prosecutor's office requested an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a €45,000 fine against the company's former No. 2, Serge Hascoët; one year's imprisonment and a €10,000 fine against game designer Guillaume Patrux; and a suspended sentence of three years in prison as well as a €30,000 fine against the former vice-president of the editorial department, Thomas François. The verdict is expected on 2 July. The trial, seen as a landmark #MeToo moment in the male-dominated video game publishing industry, followed the publication of an in-depth investigation by Libération and Numerama in 2020. It highlighted working conditions plagued by harassment, humiliation and discriminatory comments, as well as the psychological, sexist and sexual harassment that had been going on at Ubisoft for around ten years. The testimonies that poured in painted a damning picture of what went on behind the walls of the Ubisoft studios. When François was questioned about a sexual assault that a former colleague had accused him of committing, and for which she had testified on the stand the previous day, he replied that he had 'no recollection.' The three defendants pleaded amnesia and their denial was roundly rebutted by the civil parties' lawyers. According to them, the trial was really about the 'extremely virile and childish culture' at Ubisoft, the French flagship of an 'industry built by men and for men.' The civil parties and the defence also deplored the fact that no proceedings have been brought against the legal entity Ubisoft, its CEO Yves Guillemot and Marie Derain, the head of human resources. 'This trial could have been exemplary,' according to Marc Rutschlé, union delegate at Solidaires Informatique. He told L'Humanité: 'It wasn't three isolated individuals who created this atmosphere of widespread harassment. Their impunity was organised. There are no defendants and many victims. The whole structural aspect has been evacuated.' Previously, Guillemot allegedly referred to some of the accusations as 'generational differences of opinion' and 'creative friction'. Lost for over 150 years, one of JMW Turner's earliest oil paintings is about to go on display at London's Sotheby's before being auctioned. Titled 'The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent's Rock, Bristol', it depicts a dramatic stormy scene engulfing Hot Wells House in Bristol, UK - as seen from the east bank of the River Avon, where the Clifton Suspension Bridge now sits. Painted by Turner when he was just 17 years old, it is now believed to be the artist's earliest exhibited oil painting, having been displayed at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1793. Its last public appearance was in 1858, at an exhibition in Tasmania, before disappearing into private collections for over a century and a half. Upon being rediscovered last year, Turner's signature was revealed during the restoration process. 'Its reemergence now allows viewers and scholars alike to appreciate the startling ambition of this great artist at such an early moment in his career, by which stage he is already demonstrating a level of confidence and competency in oil painting far beyond what was previously known,' a press release states. The painting will go on public display at Sotheby's in London from 28 June to 1 July 2025, ahead of being auctioned for an estimated value of £200,000-300,000 (approx. €237,544 to €356,316). The auction also coincides with the 250th anniversary of Turner's birth, as various exhibitions and events across the UK - including London's Tate, National Gallery and the Turner Contemporary - celebrate the artist's legacy. Considered one of the world's most influential 18th-century artists, Turner was a key figure within Romanticism and best known for his dramatic landscapes, ambient with bold colour and tumultuous skies. While 'The Rising Squall' had previously been referenced in obituaries, it was mistaken as a watercolour and therefore excluded from the first catalogue of Turner's exhibited oil paintings. Based on a drawing from the artist's earliest sketchbook and a watercolour, both of which are currently held at the Tate Britain, the artwork is believed to have been first acquired by, and possibly painted for, Reverend Robert Nixon - a friend and early supporter of Turner's. Before now, experts considered Turner's earliest exhibited oil painting to be the 'Fisherman at Sea', displayed at the Royal Academy in 1796.
