Celine fan in newspaper - Oprah show!

[sazzlepop123]

I hope it's ok to start a new topic for this. Please move if you want!

 

As some of the forum members may know already 14 of us girls were given the opportunity to come to the Oprah show on 3rd February.

 

JD gave a radio interview just after she arrived back in Australia from being in Chicago and explained how we managed to get tickets to go to the Oprah show. News spread, and the local newspaper of her hometown Mirboo North contacted her and asked her for an interview!

 

Today the newspaper came out and we were so excited!! I wanted to share it with all of you! It shows how dreams really do come true if you persevere and really believe.

 

The newspaper used this photo in colour - it really stands out!

 

 

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/4151/21078282402693147694393.jpg

 

 

http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/new...spx?storypage=0

 

 

Stars in her eyes

BY EBONNIE LORD 22 Feb, 2010 11:26 AM IT'S hard to believe posting a video on YouTube could lead to an encounter with singing sensation Celine Dion and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey.But for Mirboo North resident JD, a simple video created by her and 13 friends about their love for the singing star led to just that.

 

In the space of a week Ms Calafiore's fan group was invited to the show, flew to America and was treated to a pre-screening of Dion's new movie.

 

``The girls had a brilliant idea to send in a video to Oprah, which can be seen on YouTube,'' Ms Calafiore said.

 

``It told of how much we admire Celine and that all 14 of us had never been in the same room at the same time.''

 

A short time later a producer from the show contacted the group by Skype and invited them to a recording of the 3 February show with Dion, providing they could come to Chicago.

 

``We were all frantic from that point on trying to organise passports, visas, airfares and accommodation, we found out on the Saturday and by Monday morning we were flying halfway across the world to see our friends and to see the queen of daytime television and our idol and the reason we became friends,'' she said.

 

Along with being at the show, Ms Calafiore and her friends were treated to an advanced screening of Dion's new tour documentary movie `Celine: Through the Eyes of the World'.

 

``Needless to say we all loved the movie, we laughed and cried the whole way through,'' Ms Calafiore said.

 

She said she could clearly picture the moment before she was about to meet her idol.

 

``Out came a big black SUV and two windows rolled down and we saw Celine and her husband and manager Rene, we started singing a song to her from the final show of the tour, she was touched, she even sang and laughed along with us,'' she said.

 

Ms Calafiore has been a Dion fan since the age of five.

 

``Some kids loved The Wiggles, others Hi-5 but for me it was Celine,'' Ms Calafiore said.

 

``The first time I saw her live in concert was in Melbourne in April 2008 during her year long `Taking Chances' tour, she totally surpassed my expectations and reaffirmed to me the reason why I was a fan.''

 

Ms Calafiore said several years ago she discovered an online fan group and quickly made friends with like-minded admirers.

 

``Through the forum, I started to become friends on Facebook with a number of other fans from the US, Canada, England and Australia,'' she said.

 

``A group of 14 of us became really close friends, we spoke and do still speak every day whether it's on the phone, SMS, MSN or webcam.

 

``One of the girls in our group has seen Celine Dion in concert over 50 times.''

 

The group plans to attend Dion's new Las Vegas show in March next year.

 

 

 

 

[Krys]

cool! nice write up.

[iloveceline22]

Ahhh!!! Congrats JD! I remember meeting you in LA!!! So happy for you!!! So happy for all of you!

 

i was watching the oprah show for the 3rd time with my friends, I'm like " Look, Look, you see them, their from the forum!!" lolll I think its awesome to kinda know all of you...

[manolo19]

Great ! I'm happy for you

[CelineLover4Life]

Awesome! That's great!

[davidjag79]

Awesome thanks for sharing! I hope to meet Celine one day it is my dream!

 

 

J'adore Celine!!

[jmm29]

yay dendens!!!!

[celinedream]

Great! thanks 4 sharing. JD I want your autograph

[ghazal]

thanx 4 sharing this with us

[CelineDionFan710]

nice nice! love it

[andreaB]

Nice one! Sounds like you had a fantastic time.

[Acacia]

Thanks for sharing! It's great to see you girls and Céline get media attention.

[idolfan05]

nice article. Isn't one of the 14 girls named Brittany? What is the YouTube video called?

[littlejulieee]

JD... I looved it!!! Amazing job! I wish we could press rewind and go back to that day...

 

Did you get extra copies of the newspaper?? Or can you still get them?? I'd loooooooove love love to have a copy if so. ( i guess i should probably just message you in the thread.. haha.. sorry ) Anyway - great job and congrats... you local, star, you!!

 

LOVE YOU!!

 

 

[Jacqui]

Congrats JD! That's really cool!

[Only1Road]

Congrats! You are so lucky! Sounds like you had an awesome time!

[celinefan5]

Very cool What is the video called?

[littlejulieee]

video:

[Ted]

Thanks for sharing!

[Celininha17]

Nice ... she's now a super star in town!!! Congrats

[CelineLover4Life]

Thanks for sharing! Love it!

[sazzlepop123]

Thanks for all your support !!

 

Just found out that the story was featured in another paper here so will post the link when it is up!

[idolfan05]

wonderful video! Added it 2 my faves!

[whineupemily]

How fun.

[ladylindsey]

awww yay JD!

[Terre]

Wow, that's so cool! The article is really nice. Thanks for sharing!

[Chellbie]

YAY my denny den dens

 

just wanted to add to this thread that my local newspaper also did an article. here is the link that will be available only today.

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20100228/...1?p=5&tc=pg

i will try to scan it and most them later because we got 2 additional huge pictures in the paper.. Here is the article... It kinda goes into a couple other things but the main focus is CELINE

Minor correction.. OPRAH did NOT fly us out there, that was an assumtion the writer incorrectly made.

 

These were the pictures included

 

 

There's only one thing that has ever left Chelsey Allen speechless when it comes to the topic of Celine Dion.

 

The singer herself.

 

The date was Jan. 23, 2009, and Allen, a University of South Carolina Upstate senior from Spartanburg, was backstage at American Airlines Arena in Miami. Allen had just won a contest her mother entered her in, which meant she got to meet the woman whose music has moved and inspired her since she was 8 years old.

 

"Oh, my gosh, it was incredible," Allen said. "My mom was with me and I couldn't speak. I just started crying and my mom started crying because she got to see my biggest dream come true, and Celine turned to me and grabbed my hand and said, 'Don't cry. It's OK.' She really takes the time to make each person feel that they're special. It was amazing."

 

A lot has happened since that night 13 months ago, and so much has changed -- except one thing: Allen's unwavering love for Dion.

 

And while some may call it excessive, Allen says it's all about following one's heart.

 

"You have to have something to be passionate about," she said.

 

Allen's heart has taken her on a journey that's led to some incredible friendships around the globe, landed her on Oprah Winfrey's daytime talk show earlier this month ... and racked her up some serious frequent flier miles.

 

Chasing a dream

It all started 14 years ago when Allen, now 22, discovered one of her mother's cassette tapes: Dion's "Let's Talk About Love."

 

"I just put the tape in and started listening to it," Allen said, "and her voice became comfort for me. And it just stuck with me all these years."

 

Her first Dion concert was in Las Vegas in 2005 -- Allen's senior year at Boiling Springs High.

 

"The first time I heard her live, tears just came out," Allen said. "She's absolutely incredible. She puts so much passion into every single song and show that she does, you can tell she's exhausted by the end of the show."

 

Eventually Allen found herself on a Web site devoted to "all things Celine" (www.celinedionforum.com), where Allen began communicating with a group of 13 other women -- most in their early 20s -- from Charlotte, N.C., to Australia, all with one common love.

 

Some of the women began meeting at various shows during Dion's 2009 "Taking Chances" World Tour, including Allen, a pyschology major at USC Upstate who missed several classes to follow Celine -- including professor Susan Ruppel's research methodology class.

 

"She was willing to accept whatever penalty she was going to get, which is a bit of a die-hard attitude," said Ruppel, who added that Allen was "incredibly up front" about her plans at the beginning of that semester. "But she came through (with assignments) when she needed to come through."

 

Allen's mother, meanwhile, has been fully supportive of her daughter's unique endeavors.

 

"Chelsey has done more in the last two years of her life than I have in all 50 of mine!" Kim Allen wrote in an e-mail. "Who wouldn't want to travel to follow your dreams and make new friends along the way? She has so many experiences, and goes so much, I can't tell if she is going to work, school or Colorado unless I see her dragging her suitcase behind her! I am as proud of her being so fearless in her pursuits as I am of her accomplishments of her own."

 

In one 10-day span during last year's tour, Allen attended shows in Nashville, Tenn., Atlanta, Raleigh, N.C., and the one in Miami, where Allen presented Dion with a drawing of the singer kissing her 9-year-old son -- sketched from a photo Allen saw on the Internet. One month later, Allen was off to Denver, then flew back home and -- in the same week -- drove 24 hours to Omaha, Neb., where 10 of the women met for the tour's finale.

 

It was now more than a group; it was a Celine sorority. Their slogan: "14 Hearts, 14 Dreams, 1 Passion."

 

Next stop -- Oprah

Allen created an impressive 10-minute DVD chronicling the women's growing friendship, which she sent to the producers of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

 

"We wanted to show how strong our friendship really is," Allen said.

 

One night, a producer called Allen, and, after a conference call with Allen and her new friends via Skype three days later, the show flew all 14 women to Chicago for a Feb. 3 taping of the show that featured Dion as a special guest.

 

The show aired Feb. 10, and while Allen's group didn't get to meet Dion on stage, they did meet her afterward.

 

Allen and her friends were given 14 of the 20 seats reserved for Dion fans, "so it was a privilege," Allen said.

 

Star in the making?

It wasn't, however, the first time Allen was in front of the bright lights of television. In December, during her fourth trip to New York last year, Allen made a return appearance as an audience member on the "Live! With Regis and Kelly" show. During the show, Allen was one of 20 audience members who were brought backstage for a super-quick audition as the on-stage dancer for the Trivia a Go-Go segment.

 

Allen was selected, and was so good, in fact, that while she was shaking her booty in heels, Kelly Ripa's husband and co-host Mark Consuelos -- who was filling in for an ill Regis Philbin -- turned to his wife with a big smile and said, "I've got to say, I like this new game."

 

"She has remarkable poise in a lot of situations," said Ruppel, the USC Upstate professor.

 

Still, Allen hopes her legacy goes beyond her many talents that include dancing, art and following Dion.

 

Allen appears to be as well-grounded as she is affable, and her heart seems to match her charisma.

 

Besides being a full-time student and Dion shadow, Allen also works two jobs -- at Hopereach Foundation, a Woodruff-based nonprofit where she conducts one-on-one sessions of applied behavior analysis therapy with autistic children, and at Cannon's Campground United Methodist Church as assistant director of youth and children.

 

She's also still dating her high school sweetheart, 2004 Boiling Springs graduate Matt Norris, who is in Air Force training.

 

In her "spare" time, Allen gets together with the "Celine 14" members, including a woman from Charlotte for whom Allen will serve as bridesmaid at her friend's wedding next year. A New Year's gathering is planned for the group later this year in Australia, and in March 2011, the women are headed to Las Vegas for the premiere week of Dion's next three-year gig.

 

"A lot of people call it an obsession, but it's not an obsession -- it's a passion," Allen said. "The (2009) tour, besides meeting her, besides having my wildest dreams come true, it taught me what it's like to be passionate about and believe in something, because if people don't risk then they won't end up succeeding as well as they could have. Driving 24 hours, sending the video to Oprah -- all of that is taking a risk, and we had nothing to lose and thank goodness some incredible experiences came out of just the few risks that we took."

Edited February 28, 2010 at 08:41 PM by Chellbie

[idolfan05]

wow! All 14 of you are passionate. God Bless You all!

[peo]

Don't know if this was posted before, but here's an article talking about Celine Dion inspiring people. It's Chelsey Allen from the forum giving Celine Dion her drawing.

 

Again, sorry if this was posted before...

 

http://www.goupstate.com/article/20100228/...for-life-singer

[CelineLover4Life]

Thanks.