Celine Dion’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Performance Brings in Mixed Bag of Reactions

Celine Dion’s performance during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is bringing in a mixed bag of reviews. The 51-year-old songstress took the stage to sing her new hit “Imperfections,” and fans were vocal about the performance on social media.

While many were in love with the formal blue gown Dion wore, others wondered why the slow-tempo song was one of the first performances NBC decided to air during its parade coverage.

“Oh, the irony: Impeccable appearance but singing [about] imperfection. Prerecorded appearance but not appearing live in the parade. Singing sad song on Thanksgiving,” one Twitter user wrote.

Others were confused by the lyrics, wondering if Dion was singing about “infections.”

Dion’s song came hot on the heels of the cast of a Beetlejuice performance and a Temptations Broadway performance, both of which viewers at home pointed out that they were lip syncing.

The parade nearly didn’t even go on as planned; forecasted winds of up to 40 mph could have grounded the parade’s iconic, massive balloons, out of fear that they could cause injury to attendees. However, New York Police Department officers gave the parade the OK to fly the balloons — although they are at a lower height than usual.

Ahead of the annual event, Macy’s executive director of special events told Al Roker during the Today show that the balloons were cleared for takeoff, but that they’ll fly a bit lower than usual.

“We’re gonna start them off and we’re gonna fly,” the executive said. “They’ll be flying a little lower but we’ll see how it goes.”

New York Police Department officers monitored the weather all along the planned parade route before they made the call Thursday morning that the 16 large floats will end up airborne after all.

“These sergeants are well trained to read the anemometers to identify the height of where we can allow the balloons to go up,” explained NYPD Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison. “The balloons can actually go up to 55 feet in height, but if it comes to a situation where there is a public safety we will bring them down to 10 feet.”

The precautions are being taken with good reason, as a handful of incidents at the annual event have resulted in injury. In 1997, a Cat in the Hat float was caught up in a strong gust of wind and injured four attendees. A string of incidents also occurred involving the release of balloons at the end of the parade throughout the 1920s and ’30s before the practice was eventually stopped after 1932. And in 1971, the parade was canceled outright due to 40 mph winds. Likewise, last year’s parade was almost bogged down by similar weather.

Photo credit: NBC