Céline Dion announced on Monday that she will be doing a series of concerts at a Paris arena beginning in September.

Dion could have launched her concert comeback anywhere. Las Vegas would have been an obvious choice, given that she and her family live there and she has already done two incredibly successful, long-running residencies on the Strip in Vegas. New York City would have been another unsurprising choice. Even Montreal could have been the spot, given that she grew up in the area and is universally adored in her home province.

But she chose Paris of all places, and it makes perfect sense. Dion is known around the planet primarily for her English songs — hits like The Power of Love, It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, All by Myself and, of course, the Titanic theme song My Heart Will Go On. However, even when her English career was going wild, she never neglected her French-language music. In fact, in the ’90s when she was dominating the worldwide pop scene, Dion recorded and released two of her best francophone albums, Dion chante Plamondon and D’eux.

On Monday, Dion confirmed what had been an open secret for days: She is making her stage return after a lengthy absence, with a series of concerts at the........

© Montreal Gazette