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Celine Dion has returned to the stage for the first time since revealing a serious health condition, delivering a typical powerhouse performance at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, BBC News reports.

The Canadian superstar had been rumoured to be singing a duet with Lady Gaga, but instead went solo on the Eiffel Tower to bring the four-hour event to a stirring climax.

It was Dion's first live performance in four years, and came a year and a half after she revealed a diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).

SPS is a rare neurological disorder that causes muscles to spasm and can be debilitating. It also affected her distinctive, forceful voice.

The 56-year-old, known as the "queen of power ballads", has been having therapy to "rebuild" her voice, she told the BBC in June.

On Friday, her delivery of Edith Piaf's classic L'Hymne à l'Amour gave encouraging signs that the treatment is working.

She was accompanied by a pianist on the first level of the Eiffel Tower, beneath giant illuminated Olympic rings.

Friday's appearance was the second time that Dion, known for hits including My Heart Will Go On and It's All Coming Back to Me Now, had participated in an Olympic opening ceremony, after Atlanta 1996.