Celine Dion to be selected in 2024 NHL Draft, announces Montreal Canadiens’ pick

Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images

Being selected in the first round of the NHL Draft is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Being announced by one of the most talented singers of all time is a one in a million chance.

At the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday night (June 28), the Canadiens welcomed Celine Dion on stage — described by Montreal general manager Kent Hughes as “our number one fan” — to announce the night’s fifth overall draft pick.

Dion was accompanied on stage inside the Las Vegas Sphere by her 23-year-old son René-Charles Dion Angélil, who is also a singer and goes by the name RC Angélil. After a bilingual greeting alternating between French and English, Dion got to work. “With the fifth overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, the Montreal Canadiens are proud to select Ivan Demidov. »

Thanks to Dion’s tense pause before saying the 18-year-old Russian hockey player’s name, NHL commentators called it “the most dramatic draft announcement ever.” (Announcers also suggested that “Montreal says thanks to the Anaheim Ducks for not picking him,” after the California club expressed interest in choosing Demidov third overall.)

During his post-draft press conference. Reporters asked Demidov how it felt to see Dion announce his name. “It’s amazing. It’s like a book. Like a movie. It’s… me,” he laughs.

Reporters suggested he might be too young to know Dion’s music, but the Russian teenager assured them: “No, I know. I watched the Titanic.” Dion, of course, performed “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme song from James Cameron’s 1998 epic film Titanicwhich spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

Dion was born about 15 miles from Montreal in Charlemagne, Quebec, and has been a die-hard Canadiens fan for years. She also called Las Vegas home for years, holding two separate residencies at Caesars Palace for 16 non-consecutive years.

Her appearance at the NHL draft comes just days after Prime Video released the new documentary I Am: Celine Dion, which chronicles Dion’s health battle with stiff person syndrome, a rare autoimmune neurological disease .

Watch Dion’s NHL draft announcement and Demidov’s post-draft press conference below.