À l'Olympia (Celine Dion album)

À l'Olympia (meaning At the Olympia) is the second live album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 21 November 1994 by Sony Music. It features primarily French-language songs, mainly from Dion chante Plamondon (1991), but also includes English-language hits: "The Power of Love", "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", "Love Can Move Mountains" and "Calling You". À l'Olympia was certified Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, denoting sales of over one million copies in Europe.

À l'Olympia
Live album by
Celine Dion
Released21 November 1994 (1994-11-21)
Recorded28–29 September 1994
VenueOlympia (Paris, France)
GenrePop
Length68:13
Label
ProducerClaude Lemay
Celine Dion chronology
The Colour of My Love
(1993)		 À l'Olympia
(1994)		 D'eux
(1995)
Singles from À l'Olympia
  1. "Calling You"
    Released: 19 December 1994

Content

J'attendais ce moment depuis longtemps, depuis 10 ans en fait... quand j'avais 16 ans j'étais venue chanter trois chansons en première partie sur cette scène; c'était mon rêve qui enfin est devenu réalité.

— Celine Dion, on performing at the Paris Olympia for the first time [1]

The album was recorded on 28 and 29 September 1994, during two sold-out concerts at the Paris Olympia. Among songs from singer's previous French album Dion chante Plamondon, Dion performed also "Calling You", (Academy Award-nominated song from Bagdad Café), "Quand on n'a que l'amour" (originally by Jacques Brel), and a medley of songs from the Starmania musical, including two songs unavailable on Dion previous releases: "Quand on arrive en ville" and "Naziland, ce soir on danse" (full English version of that song called "Tonight We Dance (Extravagance!)" was recorded by Dion and included on the Tycoon compilation in 1992).

Although À l'Olympia was unavailable in most important music markets (United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia), the B-sides of English singles released there in 1995 and 1996 included tracks from that album.

The video with this concert was never released.

"Quand on n'a que l'amour", "Elle" and "Medley Starmania" were included on Dion's 2005 French compilation On ne change pas.

Shows at the Olympia were a part of The Colour of My Love Tour.

Critical reception

AllMusic said that "the material sounds great live" and Dion's "voice as always a technical marvel".[2]

Commercial performance

The album has sold one million copies in Europe alone and was certified Platinum by the IFPI.[3] À l'Olympia has sold 200,000 copies in Canada[4] and was certified Platinum.[5] It was also certified Platinum in France.[6] The album peaked at number three in Quebec, number ten in France and number 31 in Canada, as Quebec sales did not factor into the Canadian Albums chart at that time.[7] On the Belgian Wallonia chart, which is available only since April 1995, À l'Olympia reached number 19.

Track listing
À l'Olympia track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Des mots qui sonnent"
4:15
2."Where Does My Heart Beat Now"
8:16
3."L'amour existe encore"
4:18
4."Je danse dans ma tête"
4:27
5."Calling You"Bob Telson6:41
6."Elle"
3:12
7."Medley Starmania"
  • "Quand on arrive en ville"
  • "Les uns contre les autres"
  • "Le monde est stone"
  • "Naziland, ce soir on danse"
6:33
8."Le blues du businessman"
  • Plamondon
  • Berger
7:04
9."Le fils de Superman"
  • Plamondon
  • Germain Gauthier
4:28
10."Love Can Move Mountains"Diane Warren5:25
11."Ziggy (un garçon pas comme les autres)"
  • Plamondon
  • Berger
3:19
12."The Power of Love"
6:08
13."Quand on n'a que l'amour"Jacques Brel4:07
Total length:68:13

Charts

Certifications and sales
Certifications and sales for À l'Olympia
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[18] Platinum 200,000[4]
France (SNEP)[6] Platinum 300,000*
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[19] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Release history for À l'Olympia
Region Date Label Format Catalog
France, Switzerland[20][6][21] 21 November 1994 Columbia
478161
Canada[22] 22 November 1994 80212

References
  1. À l'Olympia, Celine Dion.
  2. À l'Olympia review
  3. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 March 2004.
  4. Larry LeBlanc (21 January 1995). "Youletide Cheer for Canadian Retailers" (PDF). Billboard. p. 50. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  5. "Gold & platinum certification searchable database". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  6. "French album certifications – Celine Dion – À l'Olympia" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012.
  7. "Compilation des ventes d'albums par ordre alphabétique d'interprètes" (PDF) (in French). BAnQ. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  8. Sam Jaspers (2006). Ultratop 1995-2005. Book & Media Publishing. ISBN 90-5720-232-8.
  9. "Ultratop.be – Céline Dion – À l'Olympia" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  10. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2681". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  11. Nanda Lwin (1999). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
  12. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 24 December 1994. p. 9. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  13. "Top National Sellers: France" (PDF). Music & Media. 24 December 1994. p. 10. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  14. "Palmarès des ventes d'albums au Québec" (in French). BAnQ. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  15. "Rapports annueles 1995" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  16. "Rapports annueles 1995 - albums francophones" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  17. "Tops de l'année - Top Albums 1995" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  18. "Canadian album certifications – Celine Dion – À l'Olympia". Music Canada. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  19. "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2004". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  20. "Celine Dion - À l'Olympia". Amazon France. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  21. "Celine Dion - Releases - Sony Music Entertainment Switzerland GmbH". Sony Music. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  22. "Celine Dion: Music - À l'Olympia". celinedion.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
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