Céline Dion: Summer Tour 2016 - Official Topic

[CelineDionFreak]

I got some info on setlist changes for the Quebec run! I'd love to share it. I'm using a spoiler so I don't ruin it for anyone attending that would like to find out on their own. What I'm not clear on is if these were rehearsed or merely discussed. I asked but haven't gotten a response yet

 

 

 

1. "À la plus haute branche" by Daniel Picard may be included (don't know if it will replace a song or just be added)

2. The acoustic medley is the main part being played around with, and that Cherche encore may be included.

3. WDMHBN may be included (again don't know if it's an addition or replacing another song)

4. There won't be a water feature for this run which was previously rumored.

 

Can't wait for August 5th!

My thoughts: I'm excited for ALPHB if it makes it because I remember liking it during the voting. Never would've expected to hear about Cherche encore, but I think it would fit well in the acoustic medley. WDMHBN doesn't excite me as it is just another playback song. Assuming the water feature would be for MHWGO, I'm glad it won't be included because I love her interaction with the fans during this song, and it would probably take away that aspect. Overall, I'm not too excited or let down by these alleged changes, but I'm sure Scott and her musicians will make this run of shows spectacular as they have in Europe!

 

Try to use spoilers if you want to comment on this!

 

 

 

OH MON DIEU... Cherche encore may be included?! I'm gonna die if she does that song!!! I am in love with it, always have been. It would be so amazing!!!

 

[scielle]

So she's doing a presser after?

And there's a red carpet broadcast before?

 

All Celine, all the time!

 

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[scielle]

Haven't seen this posted yet (if I missed it, apologies for the repetition). Nice interview.

 

http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/celine-dion-candid-and-confident-revels-in-her-return-to-centre-stage-in-quebec?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

Céline Dion, candid and confident, revels in her return to centre stage in Quebec/ BRENDAN KELLY, MONTREAL GAZETTE

 

Céline Dion has no filter. And this really is a good thing.

 

I’ve spent years interviewing pop stars and movie stars and the most frustrating part of the job is the fact that they are often so heavily scripted. They stay on message – the message invariably being how great their new album/movie is – and the result is a bland set of quotes that provide little insight into what makes them tick.

 

But Dion simply speaks her mind and that’s so refreshing. I remember sitting at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace in February, during the tribute to Dion’s late husband René Angélil, and Dion gave an emotional speech about her life with Angélil that was anything but a carefully scripted presentation. She talked of how, in the last year of his life, she would sit with her ailing husband and watch old episodes of The Price Is Right. It was touching precisely because it clearly wasn’t the product of a team of speechwriters.

 

And it was indeed a remarkably candid Dion who spent a half-hour on the phone the other day, talking about everything from how she and her family have dealt with the death of the family patriarch to her excitement about returning to Quebec.

 

Dion is set to headline 10 concerts at the Bell Centre, beginning this Sunday, her first concerts here in Montreal in seven years. She’s also doing another five shows at the Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City and two concerts in Trois-Rivières.

 

In recent years, she has focused almost all of her concert activity in Las Vegas, where she holds down a residency at Caesars Palace. She will be back on stage in Vegas in late September.

 

She was calling from the home in Beloeil she’s rented for her stay ici, which naturally prompted my first question – Why stay in a far-flung suburb on the banks of the Richelieu River more than 30 kilometres from Montreal rather than, say, an Old Montreal condo around the corner from the Bell Centre?

 

“We live in nature,” Dion said. “I want my kids to play in nature because I live in Vegas and when summer starts, which is almost all year long, sunblock is not enough. The heat is making you say – ‘I’m not hungry, I don’t want to eat anymore.’ The heat is so hard. And they’re boys. How many puzzles can you do? How many finger paintings can you do? So we rented this house which is in nature and they’re chasing frogs, they go fishing, they climb trees. They’re really having a great time.

 

“This is the country and this is the kind of blood I have in my veins. I grew up with big trees, a garden. You’d pick tomatoes and eat them without washing them. I’m a mommy and I want my kids to have a good time. I don’t rent a house for me. I rent a house for my kids. The most important job of my life is to be a mom.”

 

Her three sons are traveling with her – René-Charles, 15, and her five-year-old twin boys, Nelson and Eddy. They were also with her earlier in the summer when the Quebec pop star headlined nine shows at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris for 110,000 fans and two gigs in Antwerp, Belgium in front of 30,000 people. The shows in Europe generated $30 million at the box office.

 

Dion has been covering the old Queen song The Show Must Go On in her Vegas show and that could also be her motto. Following Angélil’s death Jan. 14 from throat cancer, she cancelled the rest of her shows that month at Caesars but, ever the trooper, she was back on the Colosseum stage in late February belting out the hits. In fact, it is turning out to be a mighty busy year for Dion. On her summer “vacation” from the Caesars run, she was booked to headline the shows in Belgium, France and Quebec, and is also poised to launch a new French-language album, Encore un soir, which will be available Aug. 26. The plan is to release an English album in 2017 and she was excited to reveal that Pink has written a song for that collection.

 

But it’s also been a tough year emotionally for Dion and her family.

 

“My kids give me stability and strength,” Dion said. “There’s only two ways to go with this. I can say every day – ‘Oh my kids don’t have a dad, I don’t have a husband, I lost my manager’ and ask life the question all the time: ‘Why?’ And feel sad. Is my glass half empty or half full? I lost the man of my life. My kids lost their dad. I lost my manager. I lost my best friend. But he gave me confidence and now I feel complete and I have the strength to show my kids that – ‘Your dad is gone but he’s in your heart.’

 

“I found the strength to help them to live with their dad differently. It’s not an easy thing. But it’s part of life. But it was way harder for me to see my husband suffer the way that he did. Now we know that he doesn’t suffer anymore.”

 

She makes a point of sitting down with her kids and talking about the loss. She feels it’s important to be open and upfront about it. And Angélil remains an inspiration for them.

 

“I feel fulfilled because I was with the best man,” Dion said. “He gave me so much knowledge. And he gave me three magnificent children and I look at them and I see him every day. I know I was his favourite singer and that’s why I still want to sing. Because I know that he hears me. My kids are functioning well because I’m well. This is how it works. We talk about him every day. We look at pictures of him.”

 

The other thing that keeps her going is the work. She’s always been one of the hardest-working women in showbiz and she’s ploughed back into her career with a vengeance since Angélil’s death. Naturally enough, she’s starting to take an even bigger role in the artistic decisions surrounding her albums and concerts.

 

By all accounts, she has been more involved artistically for several years, in contrast to the early years when Angélil was making almost all of the major calls. But that involvement has ramped up big time in recent months. Aldo Giampaolo, who now manages Dion’s career, told me a couple of months back that he guides Dion but he also seeks her input.

 

“I’m more part of it now and this is a part that I love,” Dion said. “I trusted René and his team so much that I didn’t bother being part of meetings (in the past).”

 

Now she’s in those meetings and she says, with a laugh, “I think they’re regretting it right now. Every time, I’m at the table, they can’t even talk. I have so many thoughts and ideas. Sometimes they’re crazy. But I speak my mind. Some stuff is good. Some is not.”

 

I wonder aloud if she might pursue different types of music now that she has a bigger say in her repertoire and maybe deviate a little from the power-ballad fare that’s dominated her discography for the past 25 years.

 

“Sometimes I think I’d like to do a show called ‘Unknown’ where I do all the songs of mine that people don’t know,” Dion said. “You put out an album and there are two hits and you never sing the songs that were never played (on the radio). I also want to do an unplugged show. I want to have three musicians and I want to be in a place where they play classical music, where the room itself is an instrument. And I just want to do the songs acoustically. Then I want to sing all the songs I love by other artists. I won’t sing any of my songs. I’ll sing a song from AC/DC. From Sia to Bruno Mars to Lady Gaga to Miley Cyrus. And I won’t sing My Heart Will Go On or Because You Loved Me.”

 

AC/DC, I ask, somewhat taken aback.

 

“Yeah, Thunderstruck. I love it. It’s not a great song, it’s a fabulous song. I’d sing all the people I love, from The Who to Creedence (Clearwater Revival) to the Doobie Brothers. I have a lot of ideas. But I don’t think Aldo wants me to go sing Creedence and the Doobie Brothers right now. But I’m looking out a window right now and (I’m looking at) a little pond, my kids playing and chasing frogs, and I see probably 15 different kinds of trees. I could have my band and we could sit on apple boxes and sing acoustic songs, with a little fire and marshmallows, and we could sing ‘till the end of the night, till the fireflies come out.’ ”

[CelineDionFreak]

Haven't seen this posted yet (if I missed it, apologies for the repetition). Nice interview.

 

http://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/celine-dion-candid-and-confident-revels-in-her-return-to-centre-stage-in-quebec?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

Céline Dion, candid and confident, revels in her return to centre stage in Quebec/ BRENDAN KELLY, MONTREAL GAZETTE

 

Céline Dion has no filter. And this really is a good thing.

 

I’ve spent years interviewing pop stars and movie stars and the most frustrating part of the job is the fact that they are often so heavily scripted. They stay on message – the message invariably being how great their new album/movie is – and the result is a bland set of quotes that provide little insight into what makes them tick.

 

But Dion simply speaks her mind and that’s so refreshing. I remember sitting at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace in February, during the tribute to Dion’s late husband René Angélil, and Dion gave an emotional speech about her life with Angélil that was anything but a carefully scripted presentation. She talked of how, in the last year of his life, she would sit with her ailing husband and watch old episodes of The Price Is Right. It was touching precisely because it clearly wasn’t the product of a team of speechwriters.

 

And it was indeed a remarkably candid Dion who spent a half-hour on the phone the other day, talking about everything from how she and her family have dealt with the death of the family patriarch to her excitement about returning to Quebec.

 

Dion is set to headline 10 concerts at the Bell Centre, beginning this Sunday, her first concerts here in Montreal in seven years. She’s also doing another five shows at the Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City and two concerts in Trois-Rivières.

 

In recent years, she has focused almost all of her concert activity in Las Vegas, where she holds down a residency at Caesars Palace. She will be back on stage in Vegas in late September.

 

She was calling from the home in Beloeil she’s rented for her stay ici, which naturally prompted my first question – Why stay in a far-flung suburb on the banks of the Richelieu River more than 30 kilometres from Montreal rather than, say, an Old Montreal condo around the corner from the Bell Centre?

 

“We live in nature,” Dion said. “I want my kids to play in nature because I live in Vegas and when summer starts, which is almost all year long, sunblock is not enough. The heat is making you say – ‘I’m not hungry, I don’t want to eat anymore.’ The heat is so hard. And they’re boys. How many puzzles can you do? How many finger paintings can you do? So we rented this house which is in nature and they’re chasing frogs, they go fishing, they climb trees. They’re really having a great time.

 

“This is the country and this is the kind of blood I have in my veins. I grew up with big trees, a garden. You’d pick tomatoes and eat them without washing them. I’m a mommy and I want my kids to have a good time. I don’t rent a house for me. I rent a house for my kids. The most important job of my life is to be a mom.”

 

Her three sons are traveling with her – René-Charles, 15, and her five-year-old twin boys, Nelson and Eddy. They were also with her earlier in the summer when the Quebec pop star headlined nine shows at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris for 110,000 fans and two gigs in Antwerp, Belgium in front of 30,000 people. The shows in Europe generated $30 million at the box office.

 

Dion has been covering the old Queen song The Show Must Go On in her Vegas show and that could also be her motto. Following Angélil’s death Jan. 14 from throat cancer, she cancelled the rest of her shows that month at Caesars but, ever the trooper, she was back on the Colosseum stage in late February belting out the hits. In fact, it is turning out to be a mighty busy year for Dion. On her summer “vacation” from the Caesars run, she was booked to headline the shows in Belgium, France and Quebec, and is also poised to launch a new French-language album, Encore un soir, which will be available Aug. 26. The plan is to release an English album in 2017 and she was excited to reveal that Pink has written a song for that collection.

 

But it’s also been a tough year emotionally for Dion and her family.

 

“My kids give me stability and strength,” Dion said. “There’s only two ways to go with this. I can say every day – ‘Oh my kids don’t have a dad, I don’t have a husband, I lost my manager’ and ask life the question all the time: ‘Why?’ And feel sad. Is my glass half empty or half full? I lost the man of my life. My kids lost their dad. I lost my manager. I lost my best friend. But he gave me confidence and now I feel complete and I have the strength to show my kids that – ‘Your dad is gone but he’s in your heart.’

 

“I found the strength to help them to live with their dad differently. It’s not an easy thing. But it’s part of life. But it was way harder for me to see my husband suffer the way that he did. Now we know that he doesn’t suffer anymore.”

 

She makes a point of sitting down with her kids and talking about the loss. She feels it’s important to be open and upfront about it. And Angélil remains an inspiration for them.

 

“I feel fulfilled because I was with the best man,” Dion said. “He gave me so much knowledge. And he gave me three magnificent children and I look at them and I see him every day. I know I was his favourite singer and that’s why I still want to sing. Because I know that he hears me. My kids are functioning well because I’m well. This is how it works. We talk about him every day. We look at pictures of him.”

 

The other thing that keeps her going is the work. She’s always been one of the hardest-working women in showbiz and she’s ploughed back into her career with a vengeance since Angélil’s death. Naturally enough, she’s starting to take an even bigger role in the artistic decisions surrounding her albums and concerts.

 

By all accounts, she has been more involved artistically for several years, in contrast to the early years when Angélil was making almost all of the major calls. But that involvement has ramped up big time in recent months. Aldo Giampaolo, who now manages Dion’s career, told me a couple of months back that he guides Dion but he also seeks her input.

 

“I’m more part of it now and this is a part that I love,” Dion said. “I trusted René and his team so much that I didn’t bother being part of meetings (in the past).”

 

Now she’s in those meetings and she says, with a laugh, “I think they’re regretting it right now. Every time, I’m at the table, they can’t even talk. I have so many thoughts and ideas. Sometimes they’re crazy. But I speak my mind. Some stuff is good. Some is not.”

 

I wonder aloud if she might pursue different types of music now that she has a bigger say in her repertoire and maybe deviate a little from the power-ballad fare that’s dominated her discography for the past 25 years.

 

"Sometimes I think I’d like to do a show called ‘Unknown’ where I do all the songs of mine that people don’t know,” Dion said. “You put out an album and there are two hits and you never sing the songs that were never played (on the radio). I also want to do an unplugged show. I want to have three musicians and I want to be in a place where they play classical music, where the room itself is an instrument. And I just want to do the songs acoustically. Then I want to sing all the songs I love by other artists. I won’t sing any of my songs. I’ll sing a song from AC/DC. From Sia to Bruno Mars to Lady Gaga to Miley Cyrus. And I won’t sing My Heart Will Go On or Because You Loved Me.”

 

AC/DC, I ask, somewhat taken aback.

 

“Yeah, Thunderstruck. I love it. It’s not a great song, it’s a fabulous song. I’d sing all the people I love, from The Who to Creedence (Clearwater Revival) to the Doobie Brothers. I have a lot of ideas. But I don’t think Aldo wants me to go sing Creedence and the Doobie Brothers right now. But I’m looking out a window right now and (I’m looking at) a little pond, my kids playing and chasing frogs, and I see probably 15 different kinds of trees. I could have my band and we could sit on apple boxes and sing acoustic songs, with a little fire and marshmallows, and we could sing ‘till the end of the night, till the fireflies come out.’ ”

I would love if she did an unknown sort of concert, that's what we've all been wanting for all these years, an unplugged concert, the "anti-tour" of sorts

[chocolatechip15]

I still have one ticket available for Sunday night's show (two were sold). I have it priced at $ 75 on StubHub, but am willing to go lower (these tix were $ 199 + fees originally). It's for a floor seat (Row OO, Seat 10) . . . anyone going alone and want to upgrade their seat?

[DionFanAlways]

Haven't seen this posted yet (if I missed it, apologies for the repetition). Nice interview.

 

http://montrealgazet..._medium=twitter

 

Céline Dion, candid and confident, revels in her return to centre stage in Quebec/ BRENDAN KELLY, MONTREAL GAZETTE

 

Céline Dion has no filter. And this really is a good thing.

“We live in nature,” Dion said. “I want my kids to play in nature because I live in Vegas and when summer starts, which is almost all year long, sunblock is not enough. The heat is making you say – ‘I’m not hungry, I don’t want to eat anymore.’ The heat is so hard. And they’re boys. How many puzzles can you do? How many finger paintings can you do? So we rented this house which is in nature and they’re chasing frogs, they go fishing, they climb trees. They’re really having a great time.

 

“I’m more part of it now and this is a part that I love,” Dion said. “I trusted René and his team so much that I didn’t bother being part of meetings (in the past).”

 

Now she’s in those meetings and she says, with a laugh, “I think they’re regretting it right now. Every time, I’m at the table, they can’t even talk. I have so many thoughts and ideas. Sometimes they’re crazy. But I speak my mind. Some stuff is good. Some is not.”

 

I wonder aloud if she might pursue different types of music now that she has a bigger say in her repertoire and maybe deviate a little from the power-ballad fare that’s dominated her discography for the past 25 years.

 

“Sometimes I think I’d like to do a show called ‘Unknown’ where I do all the songs of mine that people don’t know,” Dion said. “You put out an album and there are two hits and you never sing the songs that were never played (on the radio). I also want to do an unplugged show. I want to have three musicians and I want to be in a place where they play classical music, where the room itself is an instrument. And I just want to do the songs acoustically. Then I want to sing all the songs I love by other artists. I won’t sing any of my songs. I’ll sing a song from AC/DC. From Sia to Bruno Mars to Lady Gaga to Miley Cyrus. And I won’t sing My Heart Will Go On or Because You Loved Me.”

 

AC/DC, I ask, somewhat taken aback.

 

“Yeah, Thunderstruck. I love it. It’s not a great song, it’s a fabulous song. I’d sing all the people I love, from The Who to Creedence (Clearwater Revival) to the Doobie Brothers. I have a lot of ideas. But I don’t think Aldo wants me to go sing Creedence and the Doobie Brothers right now. But I’m looking out a window right now and (I’m looking at) a little pond, my kids playing and chasing frogs, and I see probably 15 different kinds of trees. I could have my band and we could sit on apple boxes and sing acoustic songs, with a little fire and marshmallows, and we could sing ‘till the end of the night, till the fireflies come out.’ ”

Yes very nice interview. I laughed at her statement about her being in the meetings now and I love how she says she is now a part of it and that's the part she loves. Hallelujah she doesn't want to sing MHWGO or BYLM,(at least that's the way I interpret that statement) maybe this is a fabulous change to come regarding future set lists!

I will wait patiently for an unplugged tour from you and day Celine. Her statement regarding this makes me believe she really loved the Edison setting!

One last thing I got from this interview is that after Vegas is up she will be out of the States and back in Canada.

[zuv]

While I adored the set list for Paris I am glad they are making changes. I can see some saying 'how stagnant, she did the saaammmee songs. She has NO artistry.....'

 

What?! Wait!! Where did you see the changes?! Is she still singing TLBSEPT?!?

Ill be so disappointed monday if she isnt

[Alex_Incognito]

This would be the perfect time to release "Strawberry, chocolate, ,cheese, ,and nut"

[CelineDionFreak]

This would be the perfect time to release "Strawberry, chocolate, ,cheese, ,and nut"

[québecflower]

Whaaaaat are you some mega rich biatch living in a big #ss mansion and you haven't told us??

no, we have a variety here, i'm in the poor part... Edited July 30, 2016 at 03:07 AM by québecflower

[CelineDionFreak]

no, we have a variety here, i'm in the poor part...

Oh gosh... That's still funny

[Kristinaz]

So she's doing a presser after?

And there's a red carpet broadcast before?

 

All Celine, all the time!

 

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They're doing all that and they're not showing the actual concert. I'm so convinced Celine is trying to make me go crazy

[exfactor003]

there is a large poster outside of Bell Centre that has a photo of Céline and the hashtag #CELINEMTL at the bottom, if I remember correctly.

[Davey84]

no, we have a variety here, i'm in the poor part...

 

Oh well in that case it's good for her kids to witness the common folk as well

[celine4evauk]

OMG celine, a show called Unknown! YES YES YES

[mirage]

Okay we should make a new topic called Unknown. That way Aldo take notice we want a show like that!!

Yes celine I LOVE that idea, sing all the unknown songs from your albums!!

 

 

[Alex_Incognito]

On the train to MONTRÉAL!

[DionFanAlways]

What?! Wait!! Where did you see the changes?! Is she still singing TLBSEPT?!?

Ill be so disappointed monday if she isnt

My reply was because some were griping about changes and I was just being gripey at the moment.

This would be the perfect time to release "Strawberry, chocolate, ,cheese, ,and nut"

... (cue music) I've been waiting for so long, for (this song) to come..... (fade out) Btw That little "birdie" must have gotten eaten by the cat, just sayin'

no, we have a variety here, i'm in the poor part...

Yep that happens to me also, I'm on the other side of the tracks!

 

Oh well in that case it's good for her kids to witness the common folk as well

Yes they must be taught empathy!

OMG celine, a show called Unknown! YES YES YES

Okay we should make a new topic called Unknown. That way Aldo take notice we want a show like that!!

Yes celine I LOVE that idea, sing all the unknown songs from your albums!!

Lol I tweeted her something about the "Unknown" tour! Hopefully this will come true!

Wouldn't that be a dream! Three piece band and her! Omg!

[Koolan]

I've landed in Montreal.

[BartFCS]

I've landed in Montreal.

Enjoy guys.

[CelineDionForeverNY]

Driving to Montreal today!

[flutefreak]

People who are in Montreal have a great time and please share what you can with us!

[CelineTheBest5]

Flying from Brazil to Montreal tonight!!!! ✈️

[slk9683]

I'm flying in too!! If my flight ever leaves.. Delayed flights suck! Hope to see you again:)

 

Flying from Brazil to Montreal tonight!!!! ✈️

[Alex_Incognito]

I'm flying in too!! If my flight ever leaves.. Delayed flights suck! Hope to see you again:)

I'm stuck on the train between Québec City and Montréal lol

[zuv]

Loll all of you are coming home!! It's exciting!

 

Sunday night will be hard for me! Planning on not watching any celine interviews, show critics, news etc..,

 

Can't wait for Monday night!

[CelineDionForeverNY]

Loll all of you are coming home!! It's exciting!

 

Sunday night will be hard for me! Planning on not watching any celine interviews, show critics, news etc..,

 

Can't wait for Monday night!

 

In the same boat, I'll have to stay off this topic tomorrow.

[CelineDionFreak]

Preparations have begun for Montreal!

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[LukeD]

She will bring the Bell Centre down, as usual...! I have a great feeling about this leg of the tour. Something tells me it'll be even better than the previous one!

[québecflower]

She will bring the Bell Centre down, as usual...! I have a great feeling about this leg of the tour. Something tells me it'll be even better than the previous one!

there's talks about Celine non-stop radio , newspaper, tv....it is the most excied i have seen people in quebec be. We are living the moment, and i,m really excited about going to the show, so many emotions. Edited July 30, 2016 at 04:33 PM by québecflower