OMFG The Forum mentioned in the New York Times!

[Céline's Blues]

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December 17, 2007

Celine Dion, She Went On and On

By MELENA RYZIK LAS VEGAS — For the final performance of “A New Day,” Celine Dion’s show at Caesars Palace here last weekend, M J Wylie, 49, a health-care consultant from Denver, decided to go formal. She wore a floor-length black gown and a sparkly white shawl; around her neck was a silver pendant in the shape of the show’s first logo, an elongated figure of a woman. Inside her $3,400 Judith Leiber clutch, bought at the gift shop adjacent to the theater and also bedazzled with the logo, were several autographed photos of Ms. Dion with Ms. Wylie. It was an undeniably elegant ensemble; the only problem, Ms. Wylie said, was that her dress hid her commemorative “New Day” tattoo.

 

It was her 62nd time at the show.

 

On Saturday night about 4,000 fans bid farewell to “A New Day,” which has been running in the custom-built Colosseum theater at Caesars since March 25, 2003. Over 717 performances, nearly three million people have seen the show, an elaborate hybrid of a concert and a Cirque du Soleil-style spectacle with a cast of 50 dancers and musicians.

 

“I’m trying to elongate the evening,” Ms. Dion said in the two-hour final show, during which she went through seven costume changes and several speeches about her career and family. Despite early negative reviews and her desire to stay home with her young son, Ms. Dion said she was glad she stuck it out. “It’s quite hard to believe that we’ve come to an end,” she said to the crowd. “I think you understand our emotions tonight.” Almost every number was punctuated by ovations; Ms. Dion said she was “extremely in shock that, night after night, week after week, year after year, you came, you were here.”

 

Ms. Wylie said, “It’s been my escape for the last five years.” She likened her fervor to a drug addiction — except, she said, “it’s legal, it’s wholesome.” But it’s also pricey: She estimated she had easily spent $15,000 to $20,000 on her Dion habit. Over the years fans like her, flocking to Las Vegas from all corners of the globe, have helped pull in $400 million in sales, the show’s producers said.

 

And between the hundreds of dancers, musicians, makeup artists, costumers, prop masters, and other technicians and staff members the production employs, and the gift shop hawking everything from branded golf balls to “Always Belong” perfume, a kind of Celine Dion cottage industry has sprung up around Caesars. On Saturday night the store did a brisk business in baseball hats, T-shirts, shot glasses and books — though, since it was the last night of the show, much was 50 percent off.

 

Gary Selesner, the president of Caesars Palace, credited Ms. Dion with revitalizing the fortunes of the hotel itself.

 

When Ms. Dion first came up with the idea of a residency in Las Vegas around 2000, that kind of success was far from assured, as she recounted in a behind-the-scenes documentary on the show’s DVD (released on Tuesday and already selling out). For starters there was nowhere to house her; Caesars built a 4,100-seat theater for her at a cost of $95 million. Inspired by a performance of Cirque du Soleil’s “O,” Ms. Dion hired its director, Franco Dragone. He brought in many signature high-tech and surrealist elements, like an enormous LED screen backdrop (cue the flying doves and celestial imagery), floating lampposts and trapezes. The choreography, by the pop mainstay Mia Michaels (“So You Think You Can Dance?”), was acrobatic. A white-clad dancer-mime was on the edge of nearly every scene.

 

But at the center of the production was Ms. Dion, the French-Canadian Grammy-winning, platinum-selling artist whose ballads, like “My Heart Will Go On” will be familiar to anyone who has ever been in a karaoke bar. Her nearly $100 million Las Vegas contract was considered one of the most lucrative — and risky — in the touring industry, but despite three-figure tickets, the show routinely sold out. The success helped spur a revival in artist residencies, a trend that last flourished during the Rat Pack era. Elton John is already performing at Caesars. In February Bette Midler will move into Ms. Dion’s theater, and Ms. Dion will begin a worldwide tour for her new album, “Taking Chances.”

 

In an interview outside the gift shop, Luc Plamondon, a Paris-based songwriter who has worked with Ms. Dion, said that many in the music industry initially questioned her decision to do a residency. “Nobody understood,” he said. “It was like she was sacrificing her career to do a revue in Vegas. But it was a great choice because instead of always fighting to be a pop singer” — in other words, fighting to have the latest big hit — “she put aside her pop career and she made a transition to a kind of diva career.”

 

Moments later, Mr. Plamondon was swarmed by people seeking autographs and photos.

 

The ferocity of Ms. Dion’s fan base (at least one person came to see the show more than 100 times, and a mother and son from Quebec admitted to having a Dion shrine in their home) may be surprising in this fractured, musical age.

 

“She sings about what every woman wants — love,” said Dana DiMatteo, from Orlando, Fla., who was taken to the show as an anniversary present. Mr. husband, Tony, said, “She’d be great if she weren’t so schmaltzy and cheesy.” (His musical taste runs more toward System of a Down.)

 

But Ms. Dion’s audience, which congregates online at celinedionforum.com, was not only after romance. Estevam Peric, 28, a financial analyst from São Paolo, Brazil, has amassed a collection of 450 Celine recordings of various kinds and had seen “A New Day” 25 times. Why? “For me, Celine is like an angel,” he said. “The energy and the strength that she brings is unbelievable.”

 

At the show fans posed for photos with a wax figurine of Ms. Dion. Their devotion was matched only by the performers’. By consensus Las Vegas’s tightly knit show-business community considered Ms. Dion’s show a good one to work on; many dancers and staff members stayed on for the full five-year run, a rarity in the industry, especially considering the grueling set-up. (The stage is raked at a punishing 5.7-degree angle, and injuries are common. Ms. Dion’s advice to Ms. Midler: “Tell them to fix the stage.”)

 

The longevity made the final performance bittersweet. “I didn’t sleep at all last night — I don’t think many of us did,” Trevelynn Henuset, the staff chiropractor for the duration of the run, said on Saturday. A few hours before curtain, the cast held an open mic to share their feelings, and their tears. “This is probably one of the greatest shows ever assembled in the world, as far as I’m concerned,” added Dr. Henuset, a well-known figure among Vegas dancers.

 

For Ms. Dion, a dedicated entertainer who performed — through tears — on the day her father died, the final show was a testament to her resolve over a process that sometimes felt, she said, “like the Titanic was going to sink again.”

 

In a post-show news conference in the theater, she said: “Tonight I was emotionally invaded. It was very important for me to pace myself, and try not to cry.” Showered by red rose petals from the ceiling, and joined by her husband and manager, René Angélil, and her 7-year-old son, René-Charles — whose appearance drew constant awws — she remained composed at the final curtain call. A standing ovation lasted nearly 10 minutes.

 

For fans who could not make it to Vegas to see the final spectacle, there is some solace: 200 movie theaters across the country will screen the show today (fathomevents.com has details). Of course, for mega-fans like Ms. Wylie and Mr. Peric, the show will go on; between them they already have tickets to Ms. Dion’s tour from Amsterdam to Denver.

 

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/arts/mus...amp;_r=1&hp

 

__________________________________________

 

With all the new traffic that this will cause we will need a whole castle of New Servers!!!!!!!!! Surely Vic and Bellamy are dead now on the plane out of shock!!!!!!! Edward will take over the forum. And he will be then the main shaman connecting and managing all the donations and traffic.

[fab]

OMFG that's amazing the power of love is working for us...thank u new york times

[speedy]

Thanx for post it!!! :w00t:

 

 

I knew that we had some power

[ashleylovesceline]

We're totally famous.

[Koolan]

I've just returned home from Vegas and to see this gave me a big smile on my face.

[mike_z]

hey do you think all this press wil,l boost the album's sales?

[denise]

This is great news.

[peo]

Wow We're getting famous.

[Xpresso]

hey do you think all this press wil,l boost the album's sales?

It sure won't hurt!!! Some people might actually find out that she has a new album out while reading an article on her final concert...

[Costa Santos]

That's great. We've got the power...

[VintageCeline]

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

 

The power of the fans! x

[Attendais]

I'm sad you haven't known that before...

[Giancarlo_vadala]

We are the best, the most famous!!!

[Cesdra]

wohooo, never thought "I'd" be in the NY times.....LOL Celine so rocks. All for one and one for all!!!

[remykyes]

That article just made my day!!! GO CELINE FORUM!!!!

[Fanny!]

Amazing!

[pepillo90]

Woha!!! Amazing!!!

 

Right now we're 14.925 members!!! Maybe today we'll reach the 15.000!!!

[Edwin]

Koolan and Bellamy: You should be very proud of what you have built in this forum. Thank you to you two for your hard work and dedication in bringing Celine fans together.

[sangstar]

i have to add congrats as well, amazing accomplishment, truely deserve it.

on a side note, any chances of céline being impressed and dropping by on this to say hello? lol

[PrincesseJen]

Koolan and Bellamy: You should be very proud of what you have built in this forum. Thank you to you two for your hard work and dedication in bringing Celine fans together.

 

 

That was beautiful.

[RLAAMJR.]

Cool!!!!

 

The Power of Love!

The Power of the Dream!

A World To Believe In!

It's All Coming Back To Me Now

 

Because We Love Celine!

[dj4celine]

Wheeeee!!! We are famous!!

 

CCF rocks!!

 

Very proud to be a small part of the biggest Celine fan forum in the world!!

 

 

With all the new traffic that this will cause we will need a whole castle of New Servers!!!!!!!!! Surely Vic and Bellamy are dead now on the plane out of shock!!!!!!! Edward will take over the forum. And he will be then the main shaman connecting and managing all the donations and traffic.

 

Edited December 17, 2007 at 04:09 PM by dj4celine

[kathyc25]

That`s SO cool!!!

[peo]

i have to add congrats as well, amazing accomplishment, truely deserve it.

on a side note, any chances of céline being impressed and dropping by on this to say hello? lol

 

That would be soo awesome.

[SlovakClark]

OMG

 

i am so proud of to be Celine fan

[JP]

OMG!!! That's soooo coool!!

[miracle_girl]

I Think its great for the people who have created and bought together celine fans from all over the world!

they have done an amazing job!!

i have to say since ive been a member i cant seem to keep away!! theres news being posted here like 24/7!!

[Nikosn17]

DANG GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT !

[CelineTheBest5]

This forum is the best, Vic and Bellamy congratulations to you!!! We are famous lol

[Lisi_Dion]

yeahhh this forum ROCKZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!