10th Anniversary Quilt was delivered!

[ashleylovesceline]

I saw it wasn't posted here, and thought some of you may want to know that Marisa and Jill delivered the quilt to Céline personally last night! She loved it!

[Celine's Wife]

Yeah..... Ms. Marisa.... thanks for that cell phone message.....

[Koolan]

I'm glad Celine received it before the new years. Thanks for the info.

[Clari]

Yay! That's great!

 

Congrats to Marisa & Jill!

[Kye]

that's awesome! so what exactly was her reaction??

[Celine's Wife]

I think like the first thing seh said was like "Oh hey that's Me!" or something funny, I'd have to go back and read the report again to know for sure

[Koolan]

Marisa, we'll waiting for your review Please post some pics if you can.

[Linda]

Great job girls

[LVPantsGirl]

Marisa, we'll waiting for your review      Please post some pics if you can.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hi! So sorry.... I'll let you guys have a really lengthy review as soon as I get home. We're still doin' stuff (and sharing the computer) here in Vegas so... it's a bit crazy but as soon as I get home I'll have some full blown reflection time.....

[Koolan]

Haha, no rush. tell Adi that Vic says Hi

[LVPantsGirl]

Haha, no rush.    tell Adi that Vic says Hi   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

She says "Hello my 'usband."

[GiftedCeline]

Awe, how sweet!! I'm so glad everything worked out Look forward to your review too

[Bellamy]

Marisa, Jill meet Celine:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/bellamycn/MarisaJillQuilt2.jpg

 

source: http://www.celinesmiles.com/

[Koolan]

Wow, that's a great pic of you guys. Celine looks stunning. Which one is Marisa and Jill? Thanks a lot guys!

[Salla]

Gorgeous picture girls!

 

And if I'm not totally mistaken, the one on the left is Marisa and the one on the right is Jill...

[winforlife]

Céline does look radiant. Marisa and Jill, I suppose it felt surreal being so close to her. Has it sunk in yet having met Céline and René?

[LVPantsGirl]

Ahhh my goodness everyone! I am SOOO sorry for again not being here. I'll give you the same reviews that I'm givin' to Clarissa's site. I'm writing them in "chapters" because they are really long and I wanted to include a lot of details for a couple of reasons...but mostly because I want you all to be able to "see" it happening in your mind.... like maybe feel like you were "there" too. I hope you don't mind, and if you don't like to read all those details, you can just go ahead and skim through and wait 'til something catches your eyes.

 

Uhm...yes, that is me on the left of Céline, and Jillian on the right. Oh... and... that's Céline Dion in the middle. LOL.

 

I don't think it really has sunk in that we were back there. Jill had a nice release of emotions right after we sat in our seats that same night.... she started cryin' before we went back stage... stopped when we were back there and then like started to sob in her seat. LOL. Don't worry she stopped eventually. Haha.

 

Me on the other hand... I've had such mixed emotions since we've returned... I have no idea when it will hit. I'm sitting here looking at that photo going "okay that's Céline Dion....leaning against me........ and me......... and Jillian....... wow."

 

Anyway here comes the review(s) that I have so far. I'll be writing reviews for the 30th, 31st and the 1st soon.

 

So sorry for the delay!!!!!!

 

Marisa.

[LVPantsGirl]

Hello everyone!

 

I'd like to warn you that this is going to be an incredibly long review!

 

Some of you may be aware of the 10th Wedding Anniversary quilt that my collaborator and friend Jillian McKenna and myself created with the help of many fans from around the world. There were many of you that, although you did not donate financially, gave us so much support emotionally and energy-wise. Jillian and I would like you to know that we're so very grateful for all of the support that you offered to us. Jill and I believe that positive energy has an immense effect on what happens in life, so without all of your prayers and all of your thoughs that you gave to us along the way, hoping that we'd be able to present the quilt to Céline and René with all of our love, we feel that none of this would have been possible, or even have happened at all! We truly felt your support along the entire way-- even during the very moment that we stepped into Céline's dressing room!

 

With that, I hope that you enjoy my review of my latest trip to Las Vegas!

 

Marisa

xx...

 

 

Tuesday, December 28th, 2004:

(The day and the show)

 

The entire day of the 28th was spent mainly toting around the quilt to show to everyone related to Céline's company. We had come to Las Vegas to leave this gift for Céline and René, hoping to present it to them personally, but before even arriving in Las Vegas, had been told that it was virtually impossible to arrange a meeting for such an event due to a few reasons. One being that New Years Eve week is the bussiest week of the year in Las Vegas. We had already spread the word of the quilt out into a few people in Céline's team and decided that even if it were highly unlikely that we'd be awarded the opportunity to present Céline and René with this gift, we wanted to try anyhow.

 

Jillian and myself had decided that even if we could not get Céline and René's personal reaction to share with the fans that participated in making the gift a reality, we were going to get as many people's opinions as we could. From Céline Dion Boutique employees to ushers at the colosseum... whoever we ran into we planned on showing the quilt to.

 

We began by showing the quilt to my friend in the Céline boutique. We'll call her "Robbie" in the case of future reference. Robbie has been an acquaintence/friend of mine since my very first trip to Las Vegas. We have had lunch together and I've shared a bunch of my stories with her about Céline, so I knew that the quilt was something that she would be interested in seeing. When we showed her the quilt, she gasped and looked at it. She was very impressed not only by the beauty of the fabrics, but by all of the photos and commented on how Jillian had done such a wonderful job on piecing it together. We didn't have much time because Robbie was at work and we didn't want to keep her. She wished us luck and made sure that we had options as to how to get it to Céline for sure. We assured her that we had quite a few legitimate possibilities.

 

The next people that we showed began as a joke. We were going to FAO Schwartz in the Forum Shops as Caesars to see if they carried the toys that we were going to get for René-Charles. IN the process, two employees there were cusious as to what we were holding. When we showed them, although they were young men in their early 20s they were really impressed and taken back by the quilt. They made comments about how they actually wanted one with pictures of themselves on it and then they told us that they really hoped we would get backstage. They commented about how it seemed as if we would and then made a few jokes and told us to come report back to them about whether or not we had been able to give the quilt to Céline and René. FAO Schwartz did not have the toys that we were looking for, so we were on our way.

 

The next person that we showed the quilt to was a very special usher at the colosseum named Dorothy. Dorothy is a very kind woman that is 80 years old. She is such a warm-hearted woman and is actually the only usher who has ever personally met with Céline. A friend of mine had told me to go up and speak to her and show her the quilt when I was in the area, so when I did, I wasn't surprised by her reaction. She was really baffled by it's beauty and looked almost confused. She asked us several questions as to how long it took to make it, how we did it, when we wanted to give it to Céline and René, if we had met them at all etceteras. We answered all of her questions and then Jillian asked for her to spread the word about the quilt around. She said that she would and told us a few people that she was friends with that are extremely high up in Céline's company and she said that she would be more than happy to tell them about it. We left with our hearts warmed by her sweetness and also by her anxiousness to help us in our quest.

 

We had met up with a couple of fans, Darryl and Adi and were going to put our bags in their room for the night until we headed to Jillian's family's house and Darryl and Adi oogled over the quilt. They were both very pleased with how it looked and were surprised. I think they agree that a photo doesn't do any justice to the quilt. It's so much more beautiful in person.

 

By the time that it came around to it, and after we ate, it was time to go and get ready for the show that night. A dear dancer friend of mine, we'll call her "Angel," (because I am bound to make several references to her in this review and she truly, truly is an angel) had made arrangements for Jillian and I to see the show from the lightbox. I hadn't been sure as to how I was going to see the show even once in the beginning of planning for this trip, and that is when she arranged for us to be sitting at the light box. We were told to meet up with her at 8 o clock sharp so we wanted to make sure that we were ready and raring to go.

 

When we headed down a bit early, to meet up with Angel, we had decided to bring the quilt. We wanted to show it to her in person, as she had known about it for quite some time. So while we were waiting for her, we noticed yet another person on Céline's team, gambling. We were very excited to see this man, who we'll call "Gambler," and we decided that this person was someone that we couldn't pass up the opportunity of showing the quilt to him. We politely went up to him and interrupted him to ask if we could show him the quilt that we had created for Céline and René's 10th wdding annviersary, noting that there were several other fans who had taken part in making it a possibility. As Gambler looked over the quilt, he noticed several details that we deliberately placed on the quilt; one of them being that there were 5 frog patches on the quilt for luck. As he continued to admire the quilt, another friend of mine that is on Céline's team, who we'll call "Turbo," called my cell phone. Because I was scatter-brained and amazed by what was happening, I answered my phone while Jillian spoke to Gambler. I told Turbo what was going on and he was slightly shocked and laughed about it in amusement. Just as soon as I explained what happened, Angel, came out just as she said she would, to escort us to our seats. So much was going on, but Gambler told Jillian that he would talk to some people on Céline's team to see if it were going to be possible to arrange for a meeting to present she and René with the quilt. He told us to meet him there after the show. At this point I had already hung up with Turbo not really saying anything to him that made sense, I am sure, and we headed off with Angel.

 

As we walked to the colosseum's "special" entrance for the dancers, it was raining. But we didn't much mind. We entered the "backstage" entrance and signed in, and before I could even sign my own name, my cell phone rang again. It was Turbo. He told me that he was in the colosseum and that he was looking for us in the lobby by the champagne. At that point Angel told us that we were going to have to go down before we went up to the light box, so because I was so flustered, I told Turbo this as well, explaining that we were not even having to go in the normal doors of the colosseum to get to our seats for the evening. He then thought that he knew where we were sitting. Angel and Jillian laughed as I responded to his question "where are you sitting?" with "We're going down and then up."

 

We headed down the stairs and received our sticker passes for the evening and then headed along some orange walls and into an elevator. It was dark but we entered and then we walked and approached the light man, Yves "Lapin" Aucoign. He spoke to Angel in French and then looked at Jillian and myself and said "Salut!" Jillian said "Hi," and then I said "Hello!" and Yves grinned with a surprised look on his face and said "Oh! Hello!" As "Angel" walked along to see if she could get us a really nice view from the light box, which was above even second mezanine, I stopped to talk to Yves. I had met him before and wanted to see if he remembered. When I said "You might not remember me but my best friend and I interrupted you while you were getting a salad. She had a gift that she wanted to get to Céline..." he said "Oh yes, I do remember you! WOW! That was all the way back in October! How are you doing? It's been a while." I said that I was doing well and his friend and the assistant in the lightbox said "Jeez man, that's incredible that you can remember it was in October." I agreed and Yves said "It's amazing that she remembers as well." I said "How can I forget." He grinned and then I apologized to Angel about taking a little bit longer and she said something along the lines of "It's no problem. I know that you have to say hello to people!" We found some seats slightly to (if you're on the stage) the left of the stage at an area that had an open space where there was no glass. We sat down and then I received a phone call from Turbo again. He was lost.

 

"Where are you?" he said. "I'm up here at the top and I don't see you anywhere!" I asked if he was in the light box and he said "No... where!? Where is it?" And I explained to him that it was where they controlled the lights from. He asked if it was higher than the top seats and I said that yes, it was, and he said he knew where we were and he'd be up later. He had an errand to run quickly.

 

Let me tell you that sitting up above second mezanine was just incredible! Not only could you see all of the fans but you could see every detail of the stage as well. You could see the pattern that the lights set on the stage to give it a sort of new "carpet" or "ground" texture. You could even see the formations that the dancers form when they are in a certain dance sequence. For instance, from the light box you can tell that during "Seduces Me," at the end of the number when all of the men are surronding her chair just before blowing off of the stage like leaves, they are in a formation that very nearly resembles a heart. You can also see that in "Love Can Move Mountains" when they are dancing on the steps they are in a triangle formation. You lose track of that or what shapes they might be in when you're sitting so close to Céline. Sure you do care about the dancers and you are still amazed at what they're doing but sitting up high gives you a new appreciation for what they do, all of the work that they put into the show and more. It's really incredible. While second mezanine is a bit below the light box, I definately recommend that when you are in Las Vegas, try to be one of the cheapest tickets possible. You'll be blown away in a different way than you'll be blown away by say, first row. But having sat there as well (Coming later) I can assure you that it is just as mind-boggling to sit that near and that far from/to Céline.

 

We watched the show and noticed Céline doing a few cute things. We were able to see close ups of her face on television monitors that were displayed a few places throughout the light box. It was really just an amazing experience...but it was hard not to scream and yell the way that we could when we were down on the floor.

 

The instrumentals for "Seduces Me" had just begun and I felt someone looking at me from behind and I saw a dark shadow out of the corner of my eye. When I turned around it was Turbo! I tapped Jillian so that she would notice who it was and she got very excited. At that point it was a battle of mind. Do we watch Céline or do we talk to Turbo. He seemed to have a hard time knowing what to do as well. He works with Céline daily, but I have no idea how often he has seen the show. But he was watching her perform "Seduces Me" as well. About the end of the number, just as she began her speech he said that he would see us later but for now he was going to go. We said our goodbyes, gave kisses and hugs and then continued watching the show.

 

Angel had said that she would come up and get us afterwards (it's easy to get lost backstage in the colosseum) so we waited.... and waited.... and waited. We were the last people up there besides (and I don't recall if they were there but I assume that they were) Yves and his assistant. When Angel finally came up she apologized and Jillian and I agreed that it was no problem. We were thrilled seeing everything that went on afterwards. We were some of the last people "in" the colosseum. We watched as ushers helped the last fans out and then as the people from inside the soundbox etceteras came out into the isles and started conversing. So we had no problem at all waiting for Angel.

 

As she walked us down and we were about to exit the orange backstage hallways she made a comment about "and you've been backstage before, so you don't need to see it again, right?" Immediately mine and Jill's response was "NO!" She was so surprised that I hadn't been backstage before. She said "You're kidding! You've seen the show all these times and you've never been backstage." "No," I said, "Really, I haven't. I've wanted to be but...." she interrupted me and asked "Why not then!" and I said "I haven't been able to ask. I'm a chicken when it comes to actually asking for things from you guys. I just can't do it!" "Well come on then," she said. And we were off on our backstage tour.

 

 

Tuesday, December 28th, 2004:

(Backstage Tour).

 

We turned around and the first place that Angel took us to was the wardrobe room. We got to see the people at work there placing the costumes where they belong. I saw someone's gold shoes on a table. All of the thread colors are amazing! Jill and I made a joke about how that would have been convenient while working on the quilt. Hehe.

 

The next place that she took us, was past some of the office cubicles. Patrick Angélil was at his desk and on the phone so we passed by quietly. I didn't even notice. As we walked past some more office cubicles there was cake for another special and helpful staff member's birthday and they were having a little party.

 

As we walked down we saw where the dancers' mirrors and street clothes are and we crossed through their bathrooms and then back out into the orange hallways again.

 

Next on the list of things to see was the work out room. We went through some black metal doors and entered into the upstairs part of a black room. It smelled like clay mixed with something slightly sweet and a little bit like sweat and while it may sound odd, I really liked it's scent. We walked in and there was a carpet on the floor area and it was nice carpet...definate hotel-ish carpet. We walked along the upper area of the work out room, looking over where Oprah flew and looked at the ballet bars. and then we headed up a black metal spiral staircase. We were now behind the LED screen and the stage.

 

As we walked behind the stage we saw where the dancer's changing stations are and their mirrors where they do their quick make-up touch ups and such. They keep little things like family photos next to their mirrors...it's sweet. Angel was really very funny to watch as she explained how things are backstage during a show and how hectically they have to get changed from head to toe and then are expected to be on stage, smiling in two seconds!

 

We saw the dress that the one woman flies in during "My Heart Will Go On," and we saw the instruments that fly onto the stage during "I've Got the World On A String." We entered from stage left and were told that we were free to go on the stage!

 

Jillian and I loaded onto the "hard" stage from the "cushy" backstage flooring and noticed the slant immediately. I had expected it to feel that way but Jillian had not and she made a comment about how slanted the stage was. I looked around and felt very strange to stand there. I didn't move very far from center stage...I didn't go up the steps at all, but I looked out into the audience. I wanted to see what Céline saw every night. It was then that "Angel" offered for us to take a few pictures. So we did.

 

After that I asked where "the chair" for "Seduces Me" was. She took us to it and uncovered a bit of it, so we got to touch it (though it sounds silly it was really rather fun to touch--just to say that we did) and then told us a funny story about how she once got to sit in it WITH all of the men slinking around her. I was immensely jealous!

 

We then went down some stairs and I didn't realize where we were until she told us that we were where the musicians are. Jillian and I can now tell you that we saw the shackals! LOL. Just kidding. But we got to see that and indeed, Céline isn't lying when she says that she gave them water. They have more than that! For when one instrument isn't being used or for when they are just hanging out backstage before a performance there are plenty of water bottles and snacks available for them to eat and drink at any time. It's the good life under the feet of Céline Dion, apparently!

 

We went down a little further and were in an area where they have the props such as the stairs that Céline stands on during the performance of "I Drove All Night," and the tree.

 

We then were shown the area where the dancers hang out between rehearsals and eat and stuff. There is a TV and a computer and lots of places to sit. Sometimes people take naps and such.

 

After that I asked where the yoga and pilates room was and we got to see that. It was interesting. It is the same room that Céline and a bunch of the dancers and Mia Michaels and Oprah were dancing to "I Wish." That was the yoga and pilates room!

 

After that we were headed out and as we walked away, "Angel" pointed down the hall that lead to where Céline's private dressing room was. It was nice to look down there but it really didn't look all that special. It just had heavy duty locks on the doors.

 

 

Tuesday, December 28th, 2004:

(Afterwards)

 

We left backstage extremely happy about everything that had happened. Darryl was waiting for us where we had gone in and reported that Adi had been exhausted and went to bed. We explained that we had received a backstage tour and my friend, Angel extended the offer to Darryl and Adi as well. Darryl then gave Angel a gift that he had for her. She greatly appreciated it and her eyes popped out of her head, just about. She was ordered to share her gift (Belgian chocolates) with her team-mates. Hehe.

 

We waited a while longer for Gambler to come out, as he had asked us to, and the longer that we waited, the more I had to use the bathroom. I excused myself and when I got back, Gambler had just walked up to Jillian. He was in a hurry and she actually had to stop him. He frantically said that he had talked to some people about arranging a meeting for us to present Céline and René with the quilt and said that the person he had spoken to seemed to have already known about it. He asked if we had written a letter and Jillian said that yes, I had. I walked up just as they were finishing the conversation. He had told us to meet him the next day and he'd tell us if there was anything new that had happened. He then was on his way.

 

We went to bed that night hopeful and exhillerated that something wonderful would happen the next day. We had a lot of work ahead of us!!!!!

[LVPantsGirl]

Tuesday, December 28th, 2004:

Night Time Reflections.

 

Jill and I went to bed exhausted with thoughts in our mind. We had been working on this project for seven months and were finally realizing that it was going to be over soon. We were feeling quite the array of emotions!!!!! Part of us felt the excitement of what might come of this while the other part tugged at us realizing that what he had ultimately hoped would happen may not happen at all. Another string inside our hearts was exhausted and ready for this to be the end of the project while the one right next to it was realizing that after this it was gone and done. There was a lot of positive excitement, but a lot of stress in arranging everything. Jillian and I sat down and wrote down our thoughts in a written conversation to one another because all of the emotions inside of us had caused us to have a bit of friction and we knew that we needed to solve this before we headed to bed. End the night on a good note and begin the next day positively charged. And that's just what we did.

 

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004:

Daytime Preparations.

 

When we woke up we were already raring to go! We hopped out of bed and we all (Darryl, Adi, Jillian and I) took turns getting in the shower and such. By noon we were all dressed and a bit hungry and we two pair had our own agendas. Darryl and Adi were off to the Céline Boutique and to have a walk out on the town at a few of the other hotels while Jillian and I were headed to the stand-by line. We had a lot of work to do on the book.

 

Someone that works in the Box Office, we'll call him "Uncle," had come up to Jillian and I, and was setting up the barriers for the lines when he told us to watch our spot in line. He said that there had been an actual fight between fans once, about who had the first place in line. We told him about our quilt project and the book and he seemed impressed and wished us luck with everything. He thought that we were crazy for waiting in line that long but was very nice about it.

 

I really wanted fruit so Darryl and Adi went to have their lunch and then gather some fruit for me from a café (very nice of them). I stood in line while Jillian ran across to the Cypress Street Marketplace to get a little something to eat as well. When we returned she found me on the floor working on the book and decided she wanted to help. She began tracing some people's scanned notes as I began carefully placing people's photos in the upper left hand corner of their pages etceteras.

 

We worked on this for quite a while and then were intrigued when we heard a couple of people having a difficult time with the Box Office. They seemed to not understand what they were doing and seemed a bit confused as to where to wait for, or get their tickets. It turned out that they were from Belgium and spoke French so I helped them as much as I could, stumbling with my French and my nerves. We helped them a bit and then shortly after that a man and his wife joined us in the stand by line. They wanted tickets but didn't want to wait in line all day so we made a deal with them and we held their place in line for them.

 

Gambler had told us to meet him at 4 PM so at 3:45 Jillian started getting really antsy. She didn't want to miss him and Darryl and Adi hadn't returned from their romp to hold our places for us temporarily. We had been speaking with a very nice woman who was waiting for VIP tickets and she said that she would not mind watching our place in line until Darryl and Adi came. I had just called Darryl and he was in the hotel already, but Jill couldn't wait any longer, and because I had missed Gambler before, I wanted to make sure that I was there as well. We then left for our meeting.

 

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004:

The Longest Afternoon EVER!

 

Time kept passing by as we waited for Gambler and we saw a few people on Céline's team walk on by. Mégo passed by and Jillian and I stopped him. Jill really wanted to meet him, as it was one of her goals on this trip! She introduced herself and shook his hand and he said that it was nice to meet her and then when he came to me he outstretched his hand and I said "Marisa..." with a sort of embarassed grin on my face. I continued by saying "....Pants girl," rolling my eyes and bobbing my head as I grinned. He then smiled and put his hand on my arm lightly and playfully tapping it as he said "Oh yes.... I've seen you before!" I just nodded and said that it was good to see him again and he said "you too" and just as that was happening, Gambler had hurriedly passed behind him. I didn't even notice!!!!!

 

When I looked at Jillian she was extremely happy after Mégo had gone out of the doors and I didn't know what was going on. She was bobbing up and down and while I know that Mégo is an extremely cool person to meet, I didn't think that could be her reaction when he'd just gone out the door. She looked at me and said that Gambler had just walked by and that he had motioned to her that he'd be right back. I didn't believe her. She said that he had passed right behind Mégo when I was talking to him and I thought that she was pulling my leg because I hadn't really had the chance to talk to him about the quilt much because of all of the circumstances. But she was serious, I quickly learned.

 

About 20 minutes to a half an hour had gone by and Gambler had not come out. A dancer friend that we'll call "Rocky" saw us and came over to us. He was glad that we had brought the quilt and we let him know what was going on and told him that we were waiting for Gambler. He had a hot dog but he was determined to help us and he said that he would go down and remind him that we were there. I told Rocky not to worry about it but he insisted.

 

A few minutes later, Rocky returned (still not one bite out of his yummy hot dog) to tell us that Gambler was apparently in a meeting but that if he ran into him he would be sure to let him know that we were still up there waiting for him. We thanked him and told him not to go out of his way but he insisted that it was not a problem. He wanted to help.

 

Time, time and more time and still nothing. Adi had come over, being a messenger for Darryl, asking us questions. The people who we had made a deal with in line had gotten a bit confused but we fixed it all and it worked out. They still had their place in line behind (now) Darryl and Adi who were holding our spots so that we could still possibly see the show. There was more than that going on. We had to decide and relay to Darryl what seats we wanted and if those were not possible what else we would be willing to do, down to the very last options. The bottom of the barrel. In the mean time we were working a bit on the book while jumping every time that the door we were waiting at would open, hoping that it was Gambler.

 

Finally at about 5:45 PM Gambler came through the doors. He had a light green and tannish coloured bag that was big and had a Christmas tree on the front of is and apologized profesuly for being so late. He explained that he was already running very late for his business meeting and that is why it took so long for him to get up there. He then told us that the bag was from the dear usher, Dorothy, who had realized we were carrying the quilt around on only a hanger, and wanted us to have an easier (and prettier) way to carry it and (hopefully) present it to Céline. Gambler then proceeded to explain to us that although he was working on getting us the meeting, they still were not sure about what was going to happen. He said that there was a lot going on that night and that it was really difficult but that he was still trying and then told us that he would speak to a contact that we'd written to about the quilt to see if it was going to happen and that he would either be back to speak with us before 7 or after 7:30 because there was a sound check going on and he'd be unavailable. He was then on his way.

 

During that time Jillian and I worked a bit more on the book and some thank you notes for some people that had helped us along the way. Whatever the outcome came to be, we wanted to thank everyone on Céline's team that had put any effort at all into making anything happen. They were all so nice.

 

Jillian also decided that she wanted to go to the room for something that I can't remember. We agreed that we didn't want to wear what we were to present the quilt to Céline, but we really didn't have any other choice. We had to wait there so that we wouldn't miss the opportunity if it came. Jillian ran quickly to the room to get what she wanted, and I asked her to bring me a change of pants (I didn't want to wear jeans), my make up to touch up with, and my hat. In the mean time, Rocky came back up after a rehearsal, all sweaty, just to give us a hug and to wish us luck one last time. When Jillian returned I quickly ran and changed my pants and did a touch up on my make up.

 

Shorlty after that, just before 8 o' clock, Turbo called to see if we were going to meet him that night again. I said that yes we would love to see him again and he again said that he'd be down in about 15 minutes. We thought that we would be fine so we said okay and waited for him as well as Gambler.

 

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004:

Fate Plays His Hand.

 

Finally at 8 o'clock Gambler came in through the doors we were waiting at. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" He said, having pushed the door open hard enough so that he could walk in looking at the cieling with the palms of his hands pressed together in an almost prayer-like mode. He then quickly looked at us, put his middle and pointer finger together and pointed at us, lunging forward a bit onto his left leg, and said "YOU'RE IN!"

 

Jillian and I stood up immediately after he had walked in the doors and when he said "You're in" I had backed up a step towards where I had been sitting against the wall and I covered my mouth as I said "Oh my god!" Jillian looked at me and said "Oh my God" with a laugh and then looked at "Gambler" and said "thank you soooo much!" I just looked at him and kept saying "No way! You're kidding. You have to be kidding!"

 

I have to admit that I kind of didn't think that this was going to happen. I wasn't defeated by the thought that it probably wasn't going to happen but I wasn't at all expecting for our Gambler to come out and tell us we were in for the night. We had been told it was going to be impossible even by Gambler himself in the beginning and yet here we were, because we decided to keep trying together and we were going to go backstage to present Céline with her quilt.

 

As soon as I realized that he was not joking with us, I asked if René was going to be there as well. He said that he was unable to be there because he was tending to business and my disappointment showed itself automatically.

 

I then apologized for the fact that I'd been scatter-brained and not put-together when we'd run into him. Our paths had not crossed and possibly for a reason, but I still wanted to let him know that I was sorry that we'd not had the opportunity to exlain to him what this project was all about and how much work and thought went into it. "Don't worry," he said "I'll be in the room with you when you tell Céline, so I'm going to hear it too. You'll get time...we have ten minutes to go and then you'll have two minutes with Céline." Jillian and I said, in unison "two minutes?" We both must have sounded disappointed, but I was not in the least. Gambler apologized saying that he wished that he could get us more time but we were going to be the third meet and greet before the show and it's usually, as most of us know, only two meet and greets prior to and then after the show, making it four total. I then looked at Gambler as he had apologized and explained that I was not at all disappointed, but rather excited. "Two minutes is more than I expected!" I said smiling.

 

He stood there for a minute looking at us looking at him and you could tell that there was something going on in his mind. Something that seemed like he knew he should be explaining something or doing something more. Jillian had already tried to hug him but he inisited that she wait until after. He then looked at us and looked towards his current favorite slot machine and said "I have eight minutes to go and play my game." He looked at us playfully, with his eyes wide, face slightly to the side and leaning slightly forward. "Yeah... go play!" I said excitedly. Jillian added 'We promise we won't interrupt you this time." I followed with "Go get your bonuses!" He smiled at me and leaned a bit towards me: "You think I'm gonna' win?" "You bet!!!!!" I said.

 

He then thumped his back foot on the floor twice as he said "Then I'll play!" He was off to play his game for his 8 minutes. Finally Jillian and I hugged and tried to figure out what we were going to say to Céline. I called Darryl and Adi to tell them and the first thing that I said was "We're in!" He thought that I had meant all four of us but because we had been squeezed in and because we'd not been offered to bring our two friends that we'd mentioned a few times, we didn't want to push our luck and ask for more. Darryl and Adi remained very loyal to us (and very very helpful) as they stayed in line for us when we went backstage.

 

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004:

The Moment We'd Been Waiting For.

 

Only 6 minutes into the 8 minutes that he had to play his game, Gambler came back towards where we were and hand motioned us to come with him. "Come on babies," he said so endearingly. "You grab one side of the bag and I'll grab the other," I said to Jill. And as I grabbed my handle, the knot slipped out of the hole. I quickly grabbed onto the side of the bag and we followed Gambler quickly.

 

As we were signing in, the woman at the check in desk remembered us from the night before and grinned at us making a remark about how she'd seen us before. We smiled and laughed and just as Gambler asked for my name, my phone rang again. It was Turbo. As I had said before, every time that Gambler was around and something big had happened, my phone would ring and I, stupidly, would answer it. So this time when I was spelling my name to him and it rang, his eyebrow raised and he gave me a grin wondering if I was going to answer that. I grinned sheepishly back at him just before I glanced down at the caller ID to see who it was and I shut off the ringer so that it would not continue to ring during that call. He grinned and just before we headed downstairs, I mentioned that I wanted to fix the bag.

 

Jillian said to me "Marisa.... it really doesn't matter. Céline's really not gonna' care about a broken handle on a bag." I looked at her and said playfully but also seriously "Ok well I do." Gambler looked at us and grinned and giggled and then said that if we wanted to we could fix it there but we'd also have time down backstage because we'd still have to wait a bit of time. I grabbed the side of my bag again and as we walked down the stairs I asked Jillian "are your knees shaking as much as mine are right now?"

 

Jillian was so out of it that she just responded "huh? Yeah." And I said "Oh man it's like t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t!" making the noise that I felt my knees were making. As Gambler opened the door to where we receive backstage passes, he laughed a hearty laugh at what I was saying. He kept calling us endearing things like "babies" and "sweeties" and "honeys." He was a real sweetheart and was genuinely happy to be doing this for us.

 

When we were being given our sticker passes, looking back on it, I noticed something very interesting. Although Gambler had not 'known' us very long, he had obvously observed some things about us...it was evident in the way that he put our passes on us. Call me crazy but I really do think that this shows his observations skills.

 

As he took Jillian's pass off of the backing, he looked at her and smiled and gently smacked it onto her right thigh. It was sort of crooked and in a more diamond situation and was not placed perfectly at all. It suits Jillian's easy-going, take-it-as-it-comes personality very well. She could care less how her backstage pass was presented to her leg, as long as she had one and it meant she was meeting Céline. When he took mine off of the backing he walked up to me and smiled, once again but asked me first, where I wanted it. "Same place is fine," I said grinning. As he placed mine on my right thigh, he put it as straight as he could and then smoothed it out with his one hand. He didn't at all smack it on. He must have noted that I was the perfectionist of us two. It was sweet.

 

He then motioned to us to follow him, again saying "Follow me babies." It made me grin every time he said this with his voice, his smile and his excitement for us.

 

We walked straight down the hall and stood in a little nook in front of where we were going to be. He then told us that we'd have some time, so I reached down and began fixing the bag. Jillian then made a coment similar to "Oh My God, Marisa! It really doesn't matter! She's not going to care!" I smiled as I was fixing the handle and I said '"Personally I don't really care if she notices or not. I care....... and I'm pretty sure that if she would notice something like that." We said a few more things but I can't remember what. I think we mainly discussed how we'd be the third meet and greet of the night and that we'd have two minutes. It would be fast.

 

I had taken my hat off while Gambler was playing his slot machine because I had decided that it was disrespectful to be there in such wonderful people's company with a hat on my head. He looked at me and asked where my hat was while we were down backstage and I explained where and the reasoning behind it. He smiled and said "OK." and then a woman who was wearing a purple sleeveless shirt and some jeans, who we'll call "Lavender," was on her cell phone and told Gambler that he was okay to go. Gambler said "Okay good, because I have some things to do backstage.... I'll be back later sweeties..."

 

With that he was gone and shortly after that the woman in the purple shirt was off of her cell phone. "Which one of you is Marisa" she said. I raised my pointer finger and grinned shyly as Jillian pointed at me. "Ahh ok! Did one of you call me? I'm not sure which one of you it was because you said both of your names, but...." Again I rasied my finger as Jillian pointed and said "that's her." She extended her hand and said "Hi, I'm 'Lavender.' I'm sorry that I didn't return your call. Things have been really busy here. You know last night was our first night back and everything." I said that I understood and that it was no problem and such and the conversation was down to a lull again.

 

AND MY PHONE RANG! It was my best friend Kelly. I answered it because there was nothing going on. I told Kelly that I couldn't talk and that I was backstage and that we were going to get to give Céline the quilt. "Call me when you're in there!" she said. The volume on my phone was very loud so I am sure that all who were around me could hear it. "I can't sweetie! I really wish that I could but we're going to have like only 2 minutes if even that...I'm so sorry. I would, I really would but I can't." She asked me a few more times "please, please?" I felt so bad, but I couldn't. "I'll call you afterwards, ok? I have to go... it's rude for me to be on the phone ok? I love you!!!!!" I hung up the phone and said "I'm gonna' turn my ringer off" aloud but quietly. And I did.

 

Shortly after that, a big white male walked through the door to our left. Jill asked me who he was and I said his name. We'll call this man "Charming." When I said his name he looked at me slightly confused (as Lavender was doing as well) and he said "I'm sorry. Do I know you?" I explained that he might not remember but I'd met him once at the Walk of Fame Ceremony in Hollywood and he playfully asked "What'd I do? Push you over?" We had a bit of small talk and he apologized for not remembering and I assured him that it was fine. We made some jokes about what was in our bag and such and laughed a bit.

 

A few minutes later another one of Céline's bodyguards, who we'll call "Mickey" came out of the doors. "Hey!" I said excitedly. Again I got a confused look from Lavender, Charming, and also from "Mickey" himself. "I'm sorry... do I know you?" I was not really embarassed because I can't really expect these people to remember who I am, but I was a bit nervous seeing as I was backstage and had a couple people giving me confused looks. "Yeah... I've met you before but you probably don't remember........ is Turbo here?"

 

Lavender's face looked even more confused as she made a comment about how I certainly knew a lot of people's names around here, and Charming's face now had a smile on it. "You know Turbo?" Mickey asked in shock. "Yyyyyyyea." I said the exact same way that I had said it the first time that I met him. Suddenly his face lit up. "Ohhhhhh! I know who you girls are! Wow! How have you been? It's been a while... March I think, right?" I smiled in relief and Lavender still looked confused or maybe even a bit concerned. "Yeah... it was March. I'm doin' excellent!"

 

Because Mickey was on his way out he didn't stay long and the conversation ended by saying "Happy New Year." Lavender and he shared a couple sentences and then he was gone. Just after that, ANOTHER bodyguard of Céline's, who we'll call "Achilles", came out. He had obviously heard some of what was going on because when he came out he shared a few sentences with Lavender and then said "I don't think that we've met. Have we?" He stood right across from me. "No, actually. You're one of the only ones I haven't met." "Why not?" He asked me. "Well I would have talked to you the night that I met Mickey but right as I went up to him you got a cell phone call and walked away. I didn't want to interrupt you." He smiled and nodded. He went back to his dialogue with Lavender, which was rather funny to observe, actually, and then a couple minutes later I heard a familiar voice.

 

It was Angel!!!!! I peeked around the corner and Jillian did as well and when she saw us she said 'Hey girls! You made it! I'm so happy for you!" Just before going in the doors to get dressed and ready to go. Right after that Rocky saw us and said hey too and waved as he quickly walked in the doors. Lavender then looked at me and then made yet another comment about how she hadn't known that I knew and remembered so many people on their team. I smiled and said "yeah..." and Jillian interjected "How can you not? You're all so kind.... you're unforgettable."

 

Just then the door that Mickey had left out of opened. It was Turbo. He walked in and was looking at the orange wall for about a quarter of a second and then he saw Jillian and I and he stood up very straight, raised his chin and looked at us almost seriously. It was about 2 seconds of silence as I grinned at him, trying not to crack up. This played in so ironically with how many people I was familiar with.

 

"I just leave you a voicemail on your phone!!!!!" he said smiling. "I know! I'm sorry. I had to turn my phone off. Every time that something important is happening you call or someone else does and poor Gamblerl... I must look so rude!" Turbo had such a big grin on his face. "How you get back here?" He said in his big italian accent, laughing. "Gambler brought us" I said with a big grin. We had some small talk about some things and how his day was and Lavendar went inside the dressing room, and then came back out a few minutes later.

 

Lavender then asked "Do you have a fan club or something?" I said that I didn't but explained that I was trying to arrange a fan convention. Lavendar literally said aloud "oh my gawd" under her breath. I think that she was in shock. I explained that I had wanted to unite 4100 of her biggest fans and have some events, that I'd been in contact with Feeling in Toronto and that I was waiting for their response, which they said they'd give me at the end of the year. Achilles then made a joke "They just didn't tell you what year, did they?" "Exactly!" I said with a smile, laughing. "I think it is time to call them!" A few minutes went by and neither Lavender nor Achilles were in the hallway with us. Just Turbo, Jillian and myself.

 

Lavender took another trip into the dressing room and then Achilles came out of it and he told us that we were not even going to get our two minutes with Céline because she had gone over time with another group and that we would be lucky if we even had 15 seconds. He then reached for the quilt in the bag and said "I'm going to take this, alright?"

 

At that point Jill kind of spazzed out a little bit. She started telling him about 50 miles per hour, that it was "the-only-reason-that-we-are-back-here-and-all-we-wanted-to-do-was-show-it-to-her-so-we would-hold-it-over-our-heads-if-that's-what-we-have-to-do-you-know....." She was about to cry too, and at one point, when Lavender and Achilles had been inside the dressing room, Turbo had given us advice to really try to be calm. So I looked at Jill and I took her arms lightly above her elbows and I looked her in her eyes and said that it was going to be okay and stuff. She calmed down and said "ok" and when I looked back at Achilles his eyebrows were raised and he still had a hold of the handles. He asked me "Soooo, can I take it?" Jill took a deep breath as I said "yes." So he stood straight up again and headed into the dressing room.

 

Right after he entered, Lavender came back out and she looked exactly where the quilt had been. her eyes opened wide and she said, slightly panicked "WHERE'S THE QUILT?" I said that Achilles had taken it and so she frantically unlocked the door to the dressing room and went back in. The door closed behind her and she came back out two seconds later. "He went this way, didn't he?"...and the door closed behind her once again. "No, he was in there!" So she again, frantically unlocked the dressing room door and went in. Two seconds later, Gambler opened the door and one of the dancers' family walked out. Lavender then was to the side of Gambler and they both looked at us after the family had already completely exited the door and for a moment Jill and I just stood there. "You can come in now," Gambler said.

 

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004:

And Now The Feature Presentation!

 

We entered the heavy black door into one of the rooms of her dressing room under the colosseum and as we walked in I was looking at my feet. We went from the gray lenolium tiled floor of the hallways, and into the winter-white, almost pale gray carpeted area. The carpet in there looked almost like you would want to lay on it or pet it daily...it looked like it would feel like suede.

 

To the right when I walked in was a dresser looking thing that was tall but thin. To the right of me but ahead of me were some frosted glass doors that lead into what looked like a hallway. Directly in front of me, but on the opposite end of a long, dark wooden table was a door that also had frosted glass but was opened completely. It lead into a very well lit room.

 

At first Jillian was standing to my left and we were looking around the room. It was then that we saw Achilles had walked through some of the closed frosted doors. He had the quilt in the bag and the first thing out of my mouth was "Oh thank God!" He gave it to Gambler who told Jillian and I that he had set up the chairs hoping that we could put the top of the quilt on the counter space underneath a piece of artwork behind us, drave it over so that the middle portion was along the back of the chairs and then the bottom portion was along the bottom of the chairs. He had obviously had a lot of time to think about this. Jillian agreed that it was a good idea to do this and she went to the opposite side of the room.

 

I looked around the room and I saw people that I knew and one that I didn't. So when I saw her and didn't know who she was, I asked her name and Gambler introduced her as he passed behind her and paused to say her name and her position. I feel bad that my memory fails me. I can't remember her name. Gambler then continued behind the rest of the people and then over to the open frosted door. There was a few seconds of down time as we arranged the quilt and then a little bit afterwards.

 

Jillian and I quickly laid out the quilt and I adjusted it trying to make it look as straight as possible etceteras. I looked around the room and there were two "A New Day..." programs on the table. One was at the head of the table and the other was to the side of it. They were placed very straight and orderly. There had been candles lit in the room because when we were in the hall it looked dim in there. I think we were actually in her private dining room but I'm not 100% sure. I'll have to watch Oprah again. Haha.

 

Also on the table were some red cranberry ball looking things on sticks. I liked them and thought that they were very neat. It made me smile seeing a red accent down there. All of her favorite colors. Red, black and white!

 

Behind me stood Turbo watching everything that was going on. To his right (going in an oval shape) were the woman whose name I cannot remember, and Achilles behind her. To their right was Lavender and another female who I'm pretty sure was Lavender's mother. To their right was Charming and to his right between he and Jillian, was Gambler, who eventually left the room to get Céline and then there was Jillian and myself.

 

Gambler left the room as soon as he asked us if we were ready, and I heard a voice that was very familiar coming nearer. It was Céline and she was speaking English, I believe but I cannot remember what she was saying. I think that she was confused as to what was going on. This was not the typical room to have a meet and greet in, so I think that maybe they had really kept this a surprise for her. It was only a few minutes until she had to be on stage so I think she was really rather off guard.

 

As she entered the room she was talking over her shoulder to Gambler, and when she turned her head around and entered the room to see the quilt and a lot of people in the room she stepped back a half of a step, covered her mouth and said "Oh my God" rather silently. She slowly took her hands down and slowly moved forward looking at the faces around the room. She locked eyes on Turbo and then looked at me. At that point I said "Happy Anniversary!" to her. Jillian and I had agreed that we would say it together as soon as she walked into the room, but Jillian forgot, so as soon as I said it, all that came out of her mouth was "haaaaa." Céline locked her eyes to mine for a second with a very surprised look on her face, but no smile, and her eyes widened. She turned to Jillian and shook her hand with the same expression still on her face and then stuttered a bit and said "H-hello. It's nice to meet you." and as she turned towards me she looked down at the quilt in shock. She reached across it, as did I and then looked me in the eye and shook my hand. I said my name and she said "It's nice to meet you."

 

She then stood up straight rather than leaning over it and saw a photograph on the right ride of the quilt and said "Okay... that's me." And at that point Jillian made a funny remark on accident. She had been trying to explain to Céline the range of dates in the photos. "The photographs go from..." she looked at me questioningly "what is it? 1988?" "1984" I corrected her with a nod. "Yeah" Jill said.... and then she continued "there's a really old one on here, somewhere!" At that point I looked at Jillian with my eyebrows raised and my eyes open wide and my mouth hanging a bit open trying not to crack up. Céline quickly tilted her head up and looked at me to see my expression and then she flung her head back towards Jillian jokingly and said "OLD!?" And she she looked at me and raised an eyebrow and did her sort of elvis lip and said "What do you mean OLD girlfriend?" I just looked at her and rolled my eyes and made a "pfff" sound with my mouth and she giggled at it as she felt the fabrics of the quilt. Everyone in the room had a laugh at that point as well because right after Céline had made her comment, Jillian started playfully studdering "well not .... not oooold.... but..." It was cute.

 

The next photograph that she mentioned was a computer graphic of her, René-Charles and René as babies. She gasped as she looked at it and then leaned across it and pointed at the baby photograph of her self. She looked at it for a minute and said "this is....." and paused and looked at me in my eyes before she continued by saying "me" in an almost questioning tone of voice. She waited for me to make a remark before moving to the picture right next to it in the 'frame.' "And this is...." she said as she looked up at me once again, pausing and putting her hand on her chest "my son." I acknowledged her, looking in her eyes again. She then looked down at the baby photograph of René and she said "and thi......." and she paused and took a breath in and paused for a second. Then she started pointing at it, almost poking at it in the air as she looked at me again and started studdering. "And thi... this is my Re... my 'usb.... this is my husband!!!!!" she said in disbelief. I smiled at her and giggled as I said that yeah it was him and she leaned back a minute before looking at me again and she said "This took WORK!". I grinned at her and said "Yyyyea!" and she stood up straight and noticed a photograph of she and René dancing at her 30th birthday party and she laughed and covered her mouth giggling and said "oh my god!" and then stood back a step or two more. She looked at the entire thing for a moment and then put her fists on her hips and said "I wanna' lay on it."

 

And with that she stretched her arm out across the chairs, curled her legs up like she were laying in bed, rested her head on her arm and closed her eyes while she took a deep breath in smiling and then sighed. Then she slowly sat up and said "I wanna' picture. You girls want a picture? Let's take a picture.... c'mon let's go for it!"

 

Jillian and I were both in shock so we didn't really move. We were both barely touching the edged of the backs of the chairs when she insisted that we get closer. So I leaned in and when I did, my elbow fell in between where the chairs were and I almost fell down on top of the quilt and onto the floor! I was so embarassed. As soon as I straightened myself up is when the first photograph was taken (at 8:26:49 PM).

 

Céline decided that she wanted another one because we were not ready, so she encouraged us to get closer. "C'mon girlfriend... get closer... it's not good this way." So I looked at the chair space open next to her and asked "can I sit on i.... I mean, can I sit with you?" She looked at me and smiled and said "of course... c'mon." And she patted the chair next to her. I sat on the very edge and she told me to get even closer, so I scooched in a little more and she leaned her body against mine and rested her head to mine. I realized that I wanted my glasses off, so I moved my head to take them off and then our heads were no longer touching, and we took the photo. That was at 8:27:12.

 

Almost immediately following that she stood up very quickly and said that she had to go. I told her that there was a book coming with it from a lot of other fans and she looked over her shoulder and apologized for having to go. "I'm sorry.... I have to look at the rest of the pictures a little later-- after the show because I have to be on stage in I think like 34 seconds!" We laughed as she said this.

 

She went to shake Jillian's hand again, but Jillian didn't see her hand, so she asked for a hug and Céline replied "Oh, of course!" and gave her a hug. As she hugged Jillian, she went on the bottom, undearneath Jillian's arms and she had her palms closed ina fist with her thumbs sticking out. She rested her chin on her shoulder and had a grin on her face and her eyes closed. She then stood back again and raised her eyebrow as if I'd better ask for one as well so I smiled and I asked "could I have one too?" And she smiled and said "ooof courssse sweetie! We're all equal!" And with that she started heading around the table. I looked at the quilt and said it would be "quicker this way" so she came and took one corner of the quilt as I took the other and we flipped it over the chair. She then saw the backing fabric of chenille and gasped about it. She ran her hand across it as she came up to me and she hugged me tightly. This time I went on the bottom and she went over the top of my arms and had her palms flat on my back endearingly. She pressed her cheek to mine and so I kissed her cheek and said "mwah" as I did it. At that point I realized that I'd given her a kiss without even asking, so I felt bad and opened my eyes. But she copied me and said quietly "ohhh, so sweet!" she she kissed my cheek the same way and did the same "mwah" sound that I had done. She then grabbed above my elbow joint and held my biceps and she smiled at me, looking me right in the eye. She said "Thank you" with a smile on her face and then I said to her "Happy Anniversary..... I hope you like it." She looked at me, rolled her eyes and made the same pff sound I had made to the "old" comment and we both giggled about it. And then it was over.

 

She then turned around and left and then Gambler told us that the programs on the table were for us. Lavender was then told to take us back up and we went in a hurry. We still didn't know if we had tickets to see the show.

 

When we found Darryl we found out that we had 5th row tickets in orchestra 2 so we rushed to our seats.

 

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004:

The Show.

 

We were a bit off to the side for this show but it was still great. We were in VIP Orch 2 in the fifth row and on the isle. So we were excited.

 

When we sat down in our seats Jillian began to almost sob. She had held it together really well while meeting Céline and I was so surprised that she didn't lose it until we got in our seats. She realized that there wasn't an autograph in the program and was a little bummed by that. But once I reminded her that we had two pictures she was okay. LOL.

 

When the glass broke on the LED screen, Jillian and I grabbed hands and as she sang "A New Day Has Come" tears even came to my eyes. I was really thanful that it had worked out so wonderfully.

 

In no particular order:

 

"The Power of Love" was incredible... it was different seeing the show from that angle. We could see a lot more of the dancers coming in before they were "in." Hehe.

 

"Because You Loved Me" and "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" were really good. She didn't run around on the stage as much, chasing the characters around or get as dramatic as she usually does which was really kind of nice because it gave a sort of mew dimension to the song. A new personality. More of a "shock' that the person is gone in "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" rather than a fear or extreme sadness that they were gone. I really liked it that night.

 

"I'm Alive" was really a great number. I don't know if it was just that it was a great performance though because Jillian and I were both in pretty awesome moods. We wanted to dance really bad to that one but no one was standing, so we didn't either. But you can bet we were singing those lyrics loud and clear. That's so how we felt. She looked at us a couple times during that song.

 

"Seduces Me" was as always good and jaw-droppping.

 

"To Love You More" was fun to watch for my dancer friends and to know when exactly to spot them. It also gave a new spin to the show knowing what it's like backstage and how it all works or is supposed to.

 

During "I Wish" she didn't do her normal ping-y soft shoe. She did more of a free-style soft shoe which was really great to see. She did a kick-butt job on it and just really blew me away with how she seems to really be getting into her own groove with the choreographed stuff as a little aide to her. Also when she was running from the people that chase her off the stage it was funny because she was screaming "security.... there's some crazy people cha..... don't you see? Wha---what are ya' doin'?"

 

"Love Can Move Mountains" was a great one that night. They were video taping for something though because there were people in the isle and only one dancer ran down our isle and usually it's supposed to be more than just one, I believe. But it was really fun. Céline pointed and winked at us a couple times.

 

"If I Could" was beautiful. She dedicated it to the people in Asia. Someone had made a comment that night, while she paused and said "I'd like to dedicate this song, if I may...........to......." and a man blurted out "ME!". She started cracking up and said "so cute. Thanks." And then she continued and said "No but seriously......" and then dedicated it to the people in Asia.

 

During "I Drove All Night," at one point in the song, she actually had sang "woke you form your sleep/ to make love to you" and then ripped out her pony tail and whipped her hair around and then asked the audience "is that alright." It really gave it a va-va-voom moment. LOL.

 

"Fever" was really a fun number. She's back to doing the "br" sound... and she screeched "gimme down" as they lifted her off the piano. She also blessed her self giggling ater they did that and everything. it was really rather cute.

 

At the end of "Ammore Annuscanuto" she did this amazing almost indian-sounding hum that blew me away and gave me the chills.

 

"I Surrender" was belted out fantastically. She screamed at the end of her long note, which was not held as long as usual that night and was in fact, shortened quite a bit for one reason or another.

 

At the end of the show, skipping over "My Heart Will Go On," because everyone knows how that one goes, she sang "Happy X-Mas (War is Over)." Her dancers actually came onto the stage with little candles lit, singing with her. It was a nice little ending to the show and I'm so glad I got to hear and see it twice.

 

Wednesday, December 29th, 2004:

Goodbye's the Saddest Word.

 

Jillian's plane was leaving at about 6 AM on the 30th so we had made a decision that we just were not going to sleep and instead we were going to stay up all night. We got a call from Turbo at about 2 AM and decided to go and talk to him for a while and when we did he told us how what we did was very unusual--to go back stage 2 times in 2 days was just something that does not usually happens and especially to meet Céline.

 

We spent the rest of the time talking to him about just life in general and our vacations and everything and then he got very, very tired (with reason) and we said our goodbyes and took some pictures with him before Jillian had to leave. It was cool.

 

By that time it was about 3:30 in the morning and so we got Jillian's stuff and headed down to see her off with a Taxi.

[GiftedCeline]

Great pic of you girls with Celine, I'm so happy for you