Well, the extension of the current contract was something bound to happen sooner or later... Now, some may be happy about it, some may be not but please let us all be reasonable in the arguing about her stay in Las Vegas for the next 3 to 5 years...
There is something I would like to say about the "possible" extension of the contract. Some things that people who don't like it, are mad about it, wish her career will be over due it, etc... have to consider...
Let me first start to tell that I do have mixed feelings about it... It doesn't come as a surprise for me since it was basically written in the stars, it was due to happen soon or late... Do I condemn this outcome? No I don't... Do I celebrate it? Nope, neither I'll do that... So now that we cleared that I would like to give my opinion why this was the expected outcome and why it was seen from miles away...
Let me first summarise why this was bound to happen:
- Celine has given birth to twin boys and she needs some stability
- Celine's mom is getting older, so is Rene...
- Celine has reached a point in her live that she's at the absolute top. She's at the sky and the sky is the limit
- Rene-Charles is getting older and needs some stability too (education for example to name something)
- The reception of the new show was great, it's a show that is designed to run for ages if necessary and can be modified quite easily to have some "variation"
- Las Vegas is one of the few places that Celine calls "home". They have their own house there where they can reside.
- Back in 2002 Céline Dion created something that Las Vegas didn't saw before on that scale: People travelling across the world to see a world famous artist in a "intimate" setup with limit seats.
-...
But I nearly forget one of the most important parts in the whole thing... Las Vegas needs Celine...
Ok, let me explain a bit.
Celine tried to have another child by undergoing several IVF treatments. Celine loves children and loves to be a mother... The treatment succeeded and the twin boys were born. We all know that the thing she loves the most is being a mother... But on the other hand she loves to perform... Having babies and the will to perform is something that's not easy to combine but "fortunately" they have Las Vegas... While she stayed at the hotel for now they have a house near Las Vegas which they can call home. While travelling around the world and staying in the best hotels is fun it is something that can't beat coming home... Being at a place you can call home means less stress, a place you're comfortable in, a place to be yourself an do anything you like... The kids have their own room, they have a nice garden, they have a place (home) where they can grow up... Celine can be the best mom in the world, come home every night after performing, relax a bit in her own couch, maybe cook something in her own kitchen... It's totally different then when travelling... And with 2 small children it's a blessing that you can come "home" each night...
One can't deny that both Celine's mom and Rene himself are getting older... While they may have a good health some may say they have reached an age that constantly travelling around the world isn't to easy any more (even when flying private jets). They probably want some stability in their lives... Have a normal day, enjoy a relaxing day for once...
And yes, Rene-Charles is getting older too, he has reached an age where one need some stability, it's also important for his education. He will have his friends in the places they call "home". It's reassuring for a kid that they have a "home" to spend time at... For his well being it's good that they don't have a tour in the next 5 years...
One has to admit that Celine has reached the absolute top, she's sold more records then another (female) artist ever had, she travelled around the world with multiple sold out show, she had numerous hits, she won several awards, she... Well to summarize it: she made it pretty well in this world... There is nothing left, she doesn't need to travel around the world any more if she doesn't want to, hell, she doesn't need the money either... She made a decent fortune from her career, she has seen the most beautiful places, she had her time of fun... Before she maybe had some little goals to achieve, maybe perform in a country she had never been too, but now... Every piece of the puzzle as fallen together... Now, she has a nice family with 2 small boys that need her attention... And there is no better place then "home" (=the places she calls home) to do that...
The reception of the show by the public, media and even the fans was "great"... Actually I think it was even better then they hoped for... The show was designed like it could run for ages... It's neat, it's simple, it is all about the music... There is nearly no "show"... This means that they can rather easily modify the show, songs can be added, removed and this all in "no time"... They can keep the show refreshing year after year by simple modifications... Everyone loves it and so will they do in the future... Due the fact that less shows are planned in a year there is less stress involved ten with the AND shows... If she wants and decides to, the show can run for more then 5 years, even over a decade...
Like said before, Las Vegas is "home" for them... They have their own house in the vicinity so every single day they can go home... Celine and her family can have a pretty normal life while performing in Las Vegas... Enjoy life, enjoy the presence of her family, enjoy performing... She'll be happier in Las Vegas then travelling arround the globe... Mentally and physical she'll be in a better shape because she's probably much happier now that she can have a "normal" life for some years...
When Celine started AND back in 2002 something happened that Vegas had never seen before on such scale. Caesars entertainment build a concert venue specially designed for Celine where she would perform the next couple of years. While Las Vegas was always visited by big stars this was the first time that a star from such calibre would call Las Vegas home for several years. During this period Caesars, AEG Live, the city of Las Vegas and other casino groups saw that it actually worked... People that never would visit Las Vegas would travel to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion perform there... While one could say "yes, but if it works in Vegas it can work everywhere" that's a wrong statement. It works in Las Vegas because Las Vegas is a town that everyone knows off and where everyone from small kids to old folks have something to enjoy... Suddenly lot's of people had a reason to visit Las Vegas... While Las Vegas is tempting to visit on his own lot's of people wouldn't visit it if there wasn't something extra to it... And Celine was that little extra while Las Vegas was also that little extra to Celine... The public started to travel all arround the world to Vegas, to enjoy a show of Celine and to explore the city... It was the ideal combination in those days... Thanks to Celine Dion the city of Las Vegas climbed out a valley... It was popular again by everyone... Vegas got his glamour back from back in the old days, it was put back on the map again... And this brings me to the next part...
Some may say different, especially fans of Bette Midler, Cher, Elton John but Las Vegas needs Celine Dion... When Celine left Las Vegas she was replaced by 3 top acts... Names like Elton John, Cher and Bette Midler are big names... They are also top notch artists, they play in the same league as Celine... Top of their class... But it turned out different... While being good artists they hadn't the "power" that Celine had... People wouldn't travel on such large scale to see them perform... And then the worldwide crisis was knocking on the door... The shining glamour of Las Vegas disappeared yet again... Loads of people lost their jobs, homes, projects went bankrupt (remember the unfinished Fontaineblue hotel for example), some days Vegas became a ghost town... The yet so busy strip became deserted on the busiest times of the day (been there, saw it with my own eyes back in 2009, you could run but naked on the streets and nobody would notice, I even stayed in a big suite for less then 80 USD a night, normally sold for ten times that price just to give an example how desperate Las Vegas was in need of tourists)... It was a worldwide crisis and people decided not to spend money to travel to Las Vegas, even when living near the town... Even when the crisis was slowly going over (last year) people didn't found much need to travel to Las Vegas... Something had to change and that change would be Celine Dion... Give it some time but you'll see that Las Vegas will rise again, not only because the worldwide crisis is over but also because Celine is back in town and people have a reason again to visit Las Vegas... If you talk with the people who work and live in Las Vegas you'll notice that most of them are more then happy with her return because they are convinced that it will help Las Vegas a lot... Celine will not only bring tourists back to Las Vegas, she will also create extra jobs, some directly by her new show but loads of jobs indirectly... Some may ask why is Celine so special that she's able to do so and celebrities like Elton John, Bette Midler and Cher not? Well the answer is actually quite simple... Celine's music and person is appreciated by young and old... From the age of 10 to the age of 99, Celine has people from all ages that appreciate her and her music... She's an artist of all times... Youngsters may know her music from a cartoon like Beauty and the beast or the Hollywood movie Titanic... They may know her from MTV, they may know her from Radio, but they may also know her from the old days, when she won the Eurovision song contest with Ne partez pas sans moi... This is where other artists have a sort of a problem... Cher may be a great artist but she's known by people a bit older, youngster don't have any connection with Cher, the same with Bette Midler and even Elton John... Few artists on the world has such a large base of fans or people that appreciate the music like she does... Maybe the late Michael Jackson is on the artists that could have achieved the same as she but even groups like U2 wouldn't be able to do it... This makes Celine very special and extremely valuable for Las Vegas... Celine may not necessary need Las Vegas but Las Vegas certainly needs Celine... And for Celine it's the ideal opportunity to live the normal life she maybe always wanted to have...
Now to conclude this long and quite boring post
Something to think about... What do we, fans, like?
1) The best for Celine Dion thus having a steady life, less travel, a home to come home to every night, her to spend time with her family and live a normal life and yet still be able to do what she likes: singing?
2) The best for her fans thus having her to travel the globe year in, year out, spending lot's of time in hotels, planes, rushing from here to there, have little time for her family but pleasing you, the fans
I would say that option 1 is the best thing... She has a quite normal life and yet she's able to do what she likes... Maybe even better then while being on tour... She's a happy mom singing and yet be able to go home after every performance...
Being a fan or caring for someone means (IMHO) also that you, the fan, are able to think about her and not only about yourself... At least, that's my opinion...
So, that took a while to write... Congratulations if you didn't fall asleep while reading
Edited by Bralo20, 21 April 2011 - 02:04 PM.
grammar editing
3
imaswede78, on Apr 20 2011, 10:22 PM, said:
I'm sorry, but if it was me, I'd want to still make money, and I can't fault Celine or Rene that fact and we as fans are generally proud of her success' and the fact that she is a cash cow makes me proud. Would I like a new quality cd, maybe a tour, etc OF COURSE, but it's not always about the fans at the artists expense. We get to have her, and she gets to have her life. 
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