Lady Gaga‘s performance at the Olympics opening ceremony was a bit of a surprise, since rumor had it she was going to sing with Celine Dion.  But what many viewers may not realize was that the entire performance was pre-recorded for safety reasons.

Maud Le Pladec, the Olympics choreographer, worked with Gaga for months to prepare her performance of “Mon Truc en Plumes”  — “My Thing with Feathers” — for Friday’s opening ceremony.  When the forecast called for rain, there was talk of canceling the performance, but since Gaga wanted to do it, Le Pladec tells Variety, they pre-recorded it in the late afternoon.

“We assessed that it was going to be too dangerous for performers, even with a few drops of rain … [t]he soil would have been slippery. She was wearing heels, very near the water, there were stairs … We had to be extremely cautious,” explains Le Pladec.

Variety reports that Gaga was on site during the opening ceremony and watched her number on screen from her dressing room.  She also stuck around to watch the games over the weekend, posting footage on Instagram of Simone Biles‘ balance beam routine on July 28 and writing, “She nailed it what an honor to be so close !!!!”

On her Instagram Story, she posted footage of another Biles routine and wrote, “Unimaginable strength and talent … will never forget today, I’m so grateful to be so close and witness these incredible women!”

Teddy Swims reposted Gaga’s post about Biles’ balance beam routine, which was performed to his hit “Lose Control.” “Wow,” he commented with heart-eyes emojis.

As for Celine, who performed Edith Piaf‘s “Hyme A L’Amour” on Friday, she wrote on Instagram, “Wow, what a night. Thanks to everyone at @paris2024, @olympics and @diorwho helped make this dream come true.”

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