Céline in the Chicago Sun Times

[Ronny83]

From celinedion.com:

 

Celine in the Chicago Sun Times

March 19, 2005

 

The Chicago Sun Times will feature an interview with Celine and René tomorrow in an article about Las Vegas' 100th birthday. Check it out in the Arts section!

Here is the complete article:

 

'A New Day': Vegas gamble pays off for Celine Dion

 

March 20, 2005

 

BY MIRIAM DI NUNZIO Staff Reporter

 

Sometimes you just gotta give credit where credit is due. Credit singer Celine Dion with making one of the smartest business decisions in years by any major recording artist. For upward of $100 million, she inked a deal in 2000 with Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to perform in concert exclusively at the desert resort/casino for three years beginning in 2003. More than a million concertgoers later, Dion has just extended her run for an additional year (through March 2006), for an undisclosed sum. As the French-Canadian pop superstar might say, "C'est magnifique!"

 

Dion has indeed emerged on top of the world despite the onslaught of critics who scoffed at the unprecedented top-ticket price of $225 for her "A New Day" concert extravaganza. She stood resolute against endless stories that claimed she demanded a helicopter at her beck and call for the 20-minute commute to and from Caesars ("not even close to the truth"). She now laughs at the amount of time she had to devote to quashing stories that construction of her home -- often alluded to in the press as the biggest and most ostentatious in the tony suburban enclave of Lake Las Vegas -- brought her neighbors to the edge of rioting ("not true ... the home in question was not even mine").

 

And for ably weathering all the media storms, Dion can smile. On March 25, "A New Day" will celebrate its two-year anniversary at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. For all her detractors, there are millions of supporters -- the fans who flock to the desert to catch Dion in a multimillion-dollar spectacle, with its cast of 48 singer-dancers and nine musicians in a 4,000-seat theater that boasts the world's largest Jumbotron. Though massive in scope, the theater nonetheless was designed with intimacy in mind and to be the perfect showcase for the star.

 

"The worst seat in the house is 120 feet from the stage," explains Rene Angelil, the man who has been Dion's manager since she was 14, and who married his protege 11 years ago. They have one child, son Rene Charles, 4.

 

The perfect theater is the massive, semi-circular Colosseum, with its red velvet decor and perfect humidity levels. Yep, the theater is designed so that the stage maintains a soggy humidity level of 55 percent at all times, while theatergoers can relax in cool air-conditioned comfort for the 90-minute production.

 

"The desert is the worst place to perform if you are an artist," the 37-year-old Dion says. "Our stage is the only one of its kind in the world because of the constant humidity level. The same is true for my dressing room."

 

It's also true for her home. And about that home, Dion is just amazed at the amount of press -- bad press -- she got when she and Angelil moved to town.

 

"It was ridiculous," she says. "The media showed pictures of the biggest, most lavish house in Lake Las Vegas and said 'this is the house Celine Dion will be living in.' It's not even our house. We have a very small, one-story house -- three bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen and living room. That's it. We wanted a home here, not a museum or a palace.

 

"I don't go out. I don't go to restaurants. I don't go to parties all over town," Dion says matter-of-factly. "It's difficult to live here. You need strict discipline. But I've been very disciplined all my life. I don't party, don't smoke. I love my home.

 

"What's important to me in my life is here. My work takes place at Caesars Palace. That is not my life. I'm a singer, that's what I do. It's not who I am. At the end of the night, I do not come home to awards on the walls."

 

So where does she keep all the Grammys and hundreds of other accolades she's amassed in her 20-year career? "They are in our offices in Montreal," says the pop superstar who's sold more than 175 million albums worldwide. "The awards are part of my business, not my life.

 

"Our first priority is to have stability of life," Dion says. "If we are stable in our life, then our son is safe, secure and happy. He has his bedroom, his playroom. He knows where the milk is in the refrigerator. We fingerpaint together. We sing together. We make cupcakes together. We want our son to have as normal a life as possible, which is why we live the way we do here."

 

"Celine brought something incredible to Las Vegas entertainment when she brought her show here," Angelil interjects. "This is really the first time since Elvis Presley [in the 1970s] that a major singing star has a long-running show here." And before you can even ask, the savvy Angelil insists yes, she sings live every night.

 

"I wouldn't do it any other way," Dion adds. "You have to remember this theater is the perfect environment for a singer. It's easier to do five shows in a row here in these surroundings than to do three shows on the road. Traveling like that, which I did for so many years, is incredibly hard on the voice. This is the best show of my career. I cannot dream for anything more exciting and more fulfilling."

 

She won't concede it, but it Dion may have started a whole new trend in the desert -- Elton John has a hugely successful show at the Colosseum, "filling in" the weeks when Dion is off. And Barry Manilow has just premiered his nightly concert extravaganza across town at the Las Vegas Hilton.

 

"When I started here, I told myself 'I'm not gonna expect anything. That only leaves you open to disappointment. It's how I've been all my life. As artists, we have to accept that this is a very different town [in which] to see a concert. People come here for four days, they eat too much, drink too many free drinks, they get sick from all that, they are jet-lagged sometimes so they just sit in the seat and sleep. As an entertainer, you have to be prepared for everything when it comes to the audience here. When you tour, people come there specifically that night to see you. They bought their tickets months and months ago. Here, they walk up to the box office an hour before the show. It's a very different kind of audience."

 

 

"A New Day" runs Thursdays through Sundays, and select Wednesdays, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Tickets range from $87.50 to $225. Call (877) 4-CELINE; www.celinedion.com.

[Mozinha]

Fantastic interview

 

I feel proud to be her fan :aacool:

[Bellamy]

this is an interesting article. Celine sounds very business professional like Rene in it.

[Linda]

Great

[1Celine12]

I also feel proud to be her fan. I love it that her and RC fingerpaint. That shows what a true mother Céline is. I'm glad they didn't have a huge house built. I like it that RC is safe and secure. Céline is the model for all mothers everywhere, right?

[ploup]

Thanks for the article

[VinnyT.]

So where does she keep all the Grammys and hundreds of other accolades she's amassed in her 20-year career? "They are in our offices in Montreal," says the pop superstar who's sold more than 175 million albums worldwide. "The awards are part of my business, not my life.

Holy words, holy words!

[celine_rules]

Why is the worst seat in the house 120 feet from the stage? Is that at the back of the place?

[AlberDR2]

I like it too when she talked about her new house in Las Vegas, great answer..

[Koolan]

Celine sounds very fluent and professional there She can surely hold her ground against all the critics. Kudos to our Celine I wonder what's going to be different for the show on the 25th.

[tativale]

So where does she keep all the Grammys and hundreds of other accolades she's amassed in her 20-year career? "They are in our offices in Montreal," says the pop superstar who's sold more than 175 million albums worldwide. "The awards are part of my business, not my life.

Holy words, holy words!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I like that part too!

 

Great interview! I'm so proud to be her fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited March 21, 2005 at 12:47 AM by tativale