7 replies to this topic

[Ronny83]

Citation

"MIRACLE," Celine Dion & Anne Geddes (Epic) New parents can be insufferable when they ooze love for the life they've created. Celine Dion can be likewise insufferable when she pretends to ooze love in her music. So when Dion records an album about love for children, well, you get the picture.

And speaking of pictures, the Canadian singer's "Miracle" is a multimedia package that features the art of photographer Anne Geddes, famous for her shots of nestling newborns. Her photos of babies (most of them also featuring Dion) are all over the CD insert, plus the deluxe edition of "Miracle" includes a 180-page coffee-table book of the photographer's works.

The saccharin could gag you.

To be fair, though, a parent's love for a child is typically overshadowed by a lover's love in popular music, and certainly moms and dads are entitled to their own songs. Those tunes just ought to be better than those on "Miracle."

The Dion disc is a glossy package befitting the Vegas star, the string-drenched tracks a fertile foundation for her blaring histrionics. "You're my angel from above/Only God creates such perfect love," the frenzied singer declares on the stage-setting syrupy title track that opens the release.

She teases on subsequent songs, affecting a subtle tone at first, yet inevitably bellowing away at the end of cuts like "If I Could," "In Some Small Way" and a cover of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." Yet Dion actually maintains her restraint on a ginger "Sleep Tight" driven by humble acoustic guitar and lulling percussion as well as on a rendition of "Brahams' Lullaby" that ultimately shifts into French, her native tongue.

She has a few other accessible moments that hardly offset the too-precious dreck that dominates "Miracle," but Dion is filling a need that other artists rarely accommodate. So new parents, if you must (and since you have few options), knock yourself out and let your hearts swell with joy at "Miracle."

Just please keep it to yourself.

Rating (five possible): 2

Source: http://www.beaufortg...p-9681764c.html

[Celine_Dion_Miracle_04]

thanks for the news

[Ronny83]

Citation

Dion and Geddes. It's a Miracle combination
14 November 2004 
By GARRY SHEERAN

Saccharine to the cynics, meat and drink to the masses, but the best of bubbly to Auckland photographer Anne Geddes, her husband, Kel, and Kiwi entrepreneur Murray Thom.


Not to mention French-Canadian singer Celine Dion, who combined with Geddes to produce what may be about to become this country's biggest international publishing phenomenon.

When an international pop singer as big as Dion decided to add her silken tones to the almost unbearably cute baby images which have become a Geddes trademark, commercial success was assured.

The only question was, how successful. The answer: very.

Miracle, the 180-page hardback book-CD-DVD combo of 100 Geddes images with a bagful of all-new Dion songs, hit the global market place with a thud last month.

The waves are starting to wash ashore here.

Auckland-based Thom, whose skills in promoting music have been finely tuned over more than two decades, made sure the wholesale market was well wrapped up by the time the last CD was pressed and the chunky, rose-coloured book was bound.

Miracle product - including stationery and calendars as well as the books and CDs - with a retail value of $95 million was sold to wholesalers in 15 countries in the first month alone.

The Miracle book has been published in six languages.

Thom then waded in with a few trademark retail-aimed promotions of his own - a Miracle appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show on October 14, followed by exposure on Larry King Live, CBS-TV's Sunday Morning programme and ABC-TV's Good Morning America Sunday to name but a few.

Twenty-four hours after release the Miracle CD was number one on amazon.com and the book number three on amazon.

The book climbed to Top 10 on the New York Times Bestsellers List and the album Top 10 on the Billboard Top 200 music chart in the US.

"We don't believe this has been done before," enthuses Thom.

By the end of the first week, over-the-counter sales of the book and CD-DVD package totalled 150,000 worldwide.

Last week Geddes held a party at the Rose Gardens in Parnell, Auckland, for the unsung stars of Miracle - some of the 40 or so babies who appear in photos in the book inexplicably asleep in the most unusual of places - and their mothers.

About 80% of the babies were Kiwi infants photographed in studios in Auckland and Las Vegas.

Tonight TVNZ gets into the act: its Sunday programme will run a story.

Miracle had its genesis during a 1998 tour to New Zealand by rock singer Billy Joel, who had just written a lullaby to his daughter. Thom and Kel Geddes had formed a joint venture to link music with images, and suggested they work with Joel. But Joel felt the song he had written was for his own daughter and would not fit easily with pictures of other babies, said Thom.

They then approached Dion, who warmed to the project when she gave birth to her own daughter, Rene Charles, and asked Geddes to photograph her.

"One thing moved to another from there," said Thom.

Miracle is Thom's second words-and-images production. Two years ago his Together project combined words, photographic images and a 10-CD collection that also made it onto the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Despite hitting high on the books and CD album charts around the world, Miracle has yet to make an impact here.

The book has a recommended retail price of around $100. But Christmas shoppers may do better price-wise if they look around. The recommended price in the States in $US60, but the amazon website has it for $US36, less than a month after release.

Source: http://www.stuff.co....5779a13,00.html

[VinnyT.]

I dont agree with this article 150k worldwide it' not so much!

[Bellamy]

VinnyT., le Nov 14 2004, 08:38 PM, dit :

I dont agree with this article 150k worldwide it' not so much!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

150k is not bad. I think he mean the book and CD-DVD package (not including CD only package) first week sales.  

[Ronny83]

Citation

With the winter holidays approaching, local bookstores are quickly filling their shelves with the right wordy tomes to satisfy those who'd love to curl up with a book on a crisp evening indoors.

Books are still a popular pastime, even in this day of virtual reality and the Internet's vast reaches.

Texarkana's two largest book retailers, Waldenbooks and Books-A-Million, are both showcasing many new titles and some traditional ones that always seem to find new life at this time of year.

At both stores, novels, cookbooks, picture books and children's books are among the popular types of gift items during the holidays. [...]

The picture book is a trusty treasure for holiday gift giving. This year, Canadian songstress Celine Dion and photographer Anne Geddes have "Miracle," a book featuring Dion's music and lyrics.

Source: http://www.texarkana.../business01.txt

[VinnyT.]

let's hope so!

[Ronny83]

Citation

Celine Dion, "Miracle" (Sony): "Miracle" comes with a book in which Celine Dion poses with other women's babies, and it feels a bit funny - but not in a ha-ha kind of way. That aside, one of pop music's most ambitious stars delivers one of the season's most ambitious projects, a limited-edition box set that seems tailor-made for the holidays.

"Miracle" includes a CD with Dion's typically over-the-top renderings of new songs, a condensed version of the 180-page book "Miracle: A Celebration of New Life" with those photos of Dion and babies shot by Anne Geddes, and a making-of DVD. If Dion's bulldozer voice suits you as lullaby material, then you'll love it.

Source: http://www.stltoday.... inside the box