"I Am: Celine Dion" documentary - Official Topic

[scielle]

Amazon doing their job… how refreshing!

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[anewdayhascome]

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Is the article available somewhere? I don't have the subscription...

[scielle]

Is the article available somewhere? I don't have the subscription...

Celine Dion Will Save Us From Our Diva Deficit

By Elamin Abdelmahmoud

Mr. Abdelmahmoud is an author and the host of the pop-culture podcast “Commotion.”

Nearly two years ago, I huddled with some co-workers over a phone watching a video Celine Dion had

shared on Instagram

. She announced she was canceling her European tour because she had been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that had made it difficult for her to move and sing.

“Hello, everyone,” she began. “I’m sorry it has taken me so long to reach out to you.” Her voice broke. “I miss you all so much.” This was Ms. Dion as we’d never seen her — fragile, tentative, worried — and all of us watching got a little emotional. It was startling to see a diva appear so mortal.

This week, Ms. Dion will premiere “I Am: Celine Dion,” a documentary about her life since that diagnosis. Watching a clip of her onstage

introducing the film

at a screening in New York to a standing ovation, I found the lump in my throat returned.

The diva is back, just when we need her the most.

Ms. Dion, 56, released her first album in 1981 at age 13, and she’s come to stand as one of the last pillars of a dwindling category: the pop divas. A diva’s commanding presence can be measured in gigawatts and the term instantly conjures a pantheon: Aretha, Barbra, Tina, Whitney, Patti, Chaka, Gladys, Mariah, Shania, Madonna, Dolly and Cher, to cite the luminaries who only require a single name. In the opera world, being labeled a diva can come with sexist overtones, a shorthand for a famous woman who makes unreasonable demands. But in her memoir, Mariah Carey described Aretha Franklin as “my high bar and North Star,” and this to me is the best distillation of what a pop diva represents: imperious, exacting, a kind of cultural lighthouse, someone toward whom the rest of us, fans and aspiring divas alike, can orient ourselves.

We’ve been mired in a diva deficit. The pop diva has come to feel like a cultural relic, an unattainable mode of stardom that carries

more baggage than currency

. It’s difficult for pop stars today to achieve the kind of consensus required to deserve the title. An artist like Taylor Swift is certainly omnipresent, but Ms. Swift’s public image hinges on offering an unyielding relatability that’s antithetical to the aura of a diva. Other contemporary stars, such as Billie Eilish, seem uninterested in the boastful triumphalism that comes with divahood.

Culturally, we need to hold in common certain things in order to even feel like a “we” at all — and the power of pop divas is that they can unify us in the celebration of a monumental star. Pop divas survived the schlock of the 1980s and the irony of the ’90s, and by the turn of the century we even had a diva glut. In 1998, VH1 launched a “VH1 Divas” series of benefit concerts to celebrate this vaulted class. (Ask me how many times I’ve watched

this performance

.)

Reigning divas were celebrated and new divas crowned, with Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson and Miley Cyrus welcomed to the ranks. The final class that matriculated into diva status may boast Rihanna and Adele as graduates, but those divas seemed to close the door behind them. The job of pop diva became so much harder during the great cultural

fracturing

of the 2000s and 2010s.

Hence the welcome return of Ms. Dion, one of the few singers with a diva’s power to electrify. The arrival of Ms. Dion’s documentary is a reminder of just how much we’ve missed figures like her.

I recently watched a video

clip

of Ms. Dion being interviewed by the Canadian journalist Adrienne Arsenault. Ms. Arsenault said to Ms. Dion, “I feel like people, on the one hand, really want the best for you physically, but then will they say, ‘Ah, I hope there’s one more concert.’”

It’s a humane point, born out of decency. Ms. Arsenault is trying to recognize the pressure we collectively place on these performers, even at the cost of their health. Her question also assumes something that’s become clear to me about divas: We need them more than we may realize. Yet is it even appropriate for people to expect that Ms. Dion will perform again?

Ms. Dion did not even register that dimension of the question. She has been one of our mainstay divas for decades, and she takes the job seriously. With no hesitation, she responded, “Oh, I’ll sing again.” She sounded resolute here, unwavering. She was even a little teary.

She repeated herself — “I’ll sing again” — and you had no option but to believe her. A diva gets what she wants.

Edited June 23, 2024 at 09:52 PM by scielle

[Shamrock_1982]

I don’t pay much attention or care about the reviews of this documentary… for the simple reason that it’s from Céline to us.

 

Not the press, critics or casual fans… and it’s what we think matters, it’s a gift from her to us and nobody else.

 

And as tough as some parts were to watch, how could be not be prouder to be fans of hers, and that’s all that matters in this partnership

[scielle]

TMZ is now covering her appearance last night: https://amp.tmz.com/2024/06/23/celine-dion-vegas-hauser-cello-concert/

Feels like this is going to make the rounds of entertainment press tomorrow.

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Edited June 23, 2024 at 10:10 PM by scielle

[Nmj]

I don’t pay much attention or care about the reviews of this documentary… for the simple reason that it’s from Céline to us.

 

Not the press, critics or casual fans… and it’s what we think matters, it’s a gift from her to us and nobody else.

 

And as tough as some parts were to watch, how could be not be prouder to be fans of hers, and that’s all that matters in this partnership

 

I agree but ironically, it’s her best reviewed project of her career.

[Nmj]

TMZ is now covering her appearance last night: https://amp.tmz.com/2024/06/23/celine-dion-vegas-hauser-cello-concert/

Feels like this is going to make the rounds of entertainment press tomorrow.

 

Not catching Adele was a big miss before this documentary drop. However it makes sense now because she was in NYC a day later. I’m sure she wanted to take it easy before flying across country.

Edited June 23, 2024 at 10:07 PM by Nmj

[scielle]

I don’t pay much attention or care about the reviews of this documentary… for the simple reason that it’s from Céline to us.

 

Not the press, critics or casual fans… and it’s what we think matters, it’s a gift from her to us and nobody else.

 

I very much enjoy properly written art criticism. The entire 33 1/3 book series from Bloomsbury, for instance, is excellent.

That said, not all reviews in run-of-the-mill entertainment press meet that bar. Nevertheless, I love reading about topics I care about - Celine being one. So the plethora of written word that was published on her this week was a joy to read. Looking forward to more in the week to come.

 

In fact, I had started a topic yesterday AM collecting all the various links of reviews and notable/ substantial articles - hasn't appeared yet. How long does it normally take?

[superstar85ca]

By chance, I found out that the documentary was being shown tonight at a theater by me, so I went. My God, I am SOOOO very emotional after seeing it. I cried, I wasn't expecting to because I dont cry easily. Like so many other people in this forum, I've been following Celine since 1990. I feel like I know her. But I had no idea the struggles she was going through behind the scenes. I'm so moved, I don't have the words to express it. She is so brave to share this part of her life with us. I just love her so much. My heart is going to burst!

[scielle]

Another interview with Irene: https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/exclusive-interview-i-am-celine-dion-director-irene-taylor-i-did-not-make-the-film-for-the-fans-101719155142922.html

 

“I would also like to ask about the fans, where Celine also says how the energy of the fans feed into her performance on-stage. With this film, she is also presenting herself to the fans like never before. Were you also conscious of this aspect as well, to present her as truthful and honest as she can be?

 

Well, I did not make the film for the fans, I am grateful for her fans. Because I see they give her so much... they bring a lot of joy to her. Not just building her ego, but joy. True joy. I really made a film that I wanted to watch and did not meet her as a fan. I met her as a professional who would approach it with a bit of a cooler detached perspective. So, I really thought about the fans in the back of my mind all the time, and when I saw the film, and heard the film in New York when we premiered it just a few days ago... I realized that the fan universe is like a film unto its own. It is, in her world, her fan base is really quite rare.”

[Nmj]

Another interview with Irene: https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/hollywood/exclusive-interview-i-am-celine-dion-director-irene-taylor-i-did-not-make-the-film-for-the-fans-101719155142922.html

 

“I would also like to ask about the fans, where Celine also says how the energy of the fans feed into her performance on-stage. With this film, she is also presenting herself to the fans like never before. Were you also conscious of this aspect as well, to present her as truthful and honest as she can be?

 

Well, I did not make the film for the fans, I am grateful for her fans. Because I see they give her so much... they bring a lot of joy to her. Not just building her ego, but joy. True joy. I really made a film that I wanted to watch and did not meet her as a fan. I met her as a professional who would approach it with a bit of a cooler detached perspective. So, I really thought about the fans in the back of my mind all the time, and when I saw the film, and heard the film in New York when we premiered it just a few days ago... I realized that the fan universe is like a film unto its own. It is, in her world, her fan base is really quite rare.”

 

Irene sure loves to double, and triple down on how she isn’t a fan and she didn’t do this film “for the fans”… I get it, but maybe lighten up on that Irene LOL.

[scielle]

One more with Irene, from Channel 9 Australia: https://honey.nine.com.au/videos/celebrities/celine-dion-documentary-director-irene-taylor-opens-up-about-filming-star-following-rare-diagnosis/clxs9jhbp00010gqxj999804a

 

She says Celine got the diagnosis about halfway through production but didn’t want to stop the project. She also didn’t ask to cut or add anything, only requested to keep that scene.

 

“My first impression was that she was very kind and very funny.”

 

Edited June 24, 2024 at 01:34 AM by scielle

[scielle]

Irene sure loves to double, and triple down on how she isn’t a fan and she didn’t do this film “for the fans”… I get it, but maybe lighten up on that Irene LOL.

 

Well she’s doing a gazillion interviews, some with random YouTubers. Amazon got her to work. Of course she’s going to start repeating herself after a while, don’t you, when you’re doing your 20th job interview? Plus she’s specifically being asked about it, so what is she supposed to answer if not the truth?

[jpatdeleon09]

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I think most of them are watching Celine lol

[scielle]

I think most of them are watching Celine lol

 

Well, wouldn’t you? 😄

I recall how someone on the BATB cast said during the premiere screening, they spent the entire time watching not the screen, but Celine & her reactions.

 

[marc-02]

That exchange with Hauser got really awkward. He got a bit pushy toward the end. Trying to convince Celine to perform with you once (despite her condition) was probably still acceptable, but doing it several more times after she has clearly refused was already pushing your luck a bit too far. Has he heen living under the rock, subjecting Celine to such public pressure? Yeah, his emotion and the fan in him obviously got the better of him. He was clearly going for the "viral" performance, I'm glad he didn't get it. Edited June 24, 2024 at 03:31 AM by marc-02

[CourageProject]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8kNYerPPP5/?igsh=MWplNTkyeHMzZzFs

 

Post from Wynn Las Vegas and AEG Presents Las Vegas

[scielle]

More interviews with Irene:

 

Boston Herald: https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/06/24/megastar-an-open-book-on-health-in-i-am-celine-dion/

 

Metro (UK): https://metro.co.uk/...otage-21083932/

 

From these two, we learn (among other things) that the episode at the end actually lasted 40min - 1 hour... that Celine was unconscious for a good 40 minutes...

 

Le Parisien: https://www.leparisi...QVNSOLTLQYU.php

Behind a paywall but a pretty extensive interview. I'll post the text separately.

 

Tele 7 Jours: https://www.programm...-taylor-4729646

This is a good, long one as well. I liked the last question:

 

"Did you draw a parallel between this film [Moonlight Sonata, Irene's previous film about her deaf son] and the one about Céline?

 

Yes, there is a similar theme. You know, Céline now has what we call a disability. The theme of "Moonlight Sonata" was that a disability doesn't have to take something away. It can actually become a superpower. So Céline hasn’t said her last word either. I don't know what's next for her, but I think it's going to be stronger. I really believe it. I believe it in my heart as the mother of a disabled child, the daughter of two disabled parents. I really believe it."

Edited June 24, 2024 at 09:50 AM by scielle

[scielle]

Here's the interview from Le Parisien, linked to above.

I'm putting in spoiler tags because a) it's long and I've got both the original French and the Google Translate version and b ) I think there may be some spoilers.

(Also, sorry but I'm not going through the Google Translate and correcting... so there's a lot of "his" instead of "hers" but you get the gist!)

 

 

 

« Sa crise est la pire chose que j’ai jamais filmée » : les coulisses du documentaire sur Céline Dion

Attendu le 25 juin sur la plate-forme Prime Video, le documentaire « Je suis : Céline Dion » raconte le combat de la chanteuse de 56 ans contre la maladie du système nerveux qui l’empêche de remonter sur scène. La réalisatrice américaine Irene Taylor nous dévoile les dessous de ce film confession.

Fin 2021, alors que la pandémie de Covid-19 confine encore le monde, Irene Taylor rencontre pour la première fois Céline Dion sur Zoom. « J’ai un respect total pour elle, je suis capable de chanter par cœur trois ou quatre de ses chansons en anglais, mais je ne connaissais pas bien son répertoire français », reconnaît la réalisatrice américaine, que nous interviewons deux ans et demi plus tard nous aussi virtuellement, une semaine avant la diffusion planétaire du film « Je suis : Céline Dion », sur Prime Video.

« N’étant pas une fan, je savais très peu de choses sur son histoire, poursuit la quinquagénaire née dans le Missouri. Sony Music m’a proposé de travailler sur ce projet un an plus tôt, et j’ai été flattée qu’elle pense que j’étais la bonne personne pour parler avec elle et d’elle. En la rencontrant, j’ai pu voir combien elle était sincère, et j’ai eu envie d’en savoir plus. Comme un peintre, je voulais faire un portrait d’elle, mais je ne savais pas quelle couleur, quel style il aurait. »

À l’origine, l’idée de cette réalisatrice et productrice spécialisée dans les documentaires est de montrer dans son 14e film la vie de famille de la superstar à Las Vegas avec ses enfants, sa résidence de concerts au Resorts World, et sa vie sur sa tournée mondiale « Courage » qui avait été reportée par la pandémie.

Mais début 2022, en pleine préparation du film, les deux managers de Céline Dion lui annoncent de mauvaises nouvelles. Les médecins suspectent chez l’artiste une maladie du système nerveux rarissime, le syndrome de la personne raide (SPR). « Je ne savais pas qu’elle était malade avant de commencer le tournage, avoue Irene Taylor. À ma grande surprise, Céline n’a pas voulu l’annuler. »

 

Céline Dion lui a donné accès à tout

Après plusieurs mois à s’imprégner de sa vie hors normes grâce aux 800 heures inédites d’images que lui a fournies son équipe basée à Montréal, Irene Taylor commence à tourner en février 2022 en équipe réduite. « J’ai passé un moment inconfortable à ne pas trop savoir où j’allais et ce que j’allais faire, reconnaît-elle. J’essayais d’être le plus sincère possible, je posais des questions vraiment basiques. »

« Au début, elle ne savait pas vraiment de quoi elle souffrait et c’était difficile de la filmer. Cette incertitude qui pesait sur elle la stressait d’autant plus qu’elle commençait à annuler des dates, mais ne pouvait pas expliquer pourquoi. Mais plus le temps passait, plus elle avait d’informations et plus simple c’était », ajoute Irene Taylor.

Céline Dion lui a donné accès à tout : « Elle m’a dit : Ne me demandez jamais la permission de me filmer, sinon ça va tout gâcher. L’un de ses managers me tenait informé entre chaque tournage de l’évolution des choses. Mais c’est elle qui me parlait le plus frontalement de la maladie, de ses conséquences, de son traitement. La première fois où elle m’en parle, on le voit dans le film, c’est d’une sincérité incroyable. »

Ce qui frappe d’ailleurs tout au long de l’heure quarante que dure le programme, c’est que Céline Dion apparaît sans fard, au propre comme au figuré. « Dès le premier jour, raconte Irene Taylor, Céline nous a accueillis en pantalon, les cheveux tirés en arrière en chignon, sans maquillage. Pendant l’année que nous avons passée à la filmer, elle est restée comme cela. »

Le moment le plus sympa du tournage ? Le jour où Céline leur a fait visiter le hangar géant — 14 000 m2 —, où sont stockés toutes les tenues de scène, toutes les robes, tous les jouets de ses enfants, bref toute sa vie. Dans l’une des rares séquences joyeuses du film, on voit la Québécoise parler et rire de sa passion pour les chaussures. « J’aime tellement ça que quand on me demande ma pointure, je réponds du 36 au 40 » dit-elle en substance.

 

« J’étais tellement mal à l’aise, paniquée »

Le pire est évidemment la crise que l’on voit à la fin du film. Céline Dion revient d’une séance en studio éprouvante, où elle essaye de rechanter après deux mois de silence, et elle est prise de spasmes. Pendant de longues minutes, on voit son corps se raidir, ses yeux se perdre, elle a du mal à respirer, ses lèvres tremblent, elle gémit, pleure de douleur.

« C’est la pire chose que j’ai jamais filmée, reconnaît Irene Taylor. J’étais tellement mal à l’aise, paniquée. J’étais toute seule avec le médecin et le caméraman dans la pièce, j’avais des écouteurs et j’entendais à peine sa respiration. Ça a duré quarante minutes avant qu’elle ne reprenne conscience ! J’étais si mal à l’aise… Je me suis demandé si je continuais à filmer, mais j’avais assez travaillé avec elle avant pour savoir que je devais le faire, même si je ne gardais pas la scène. »

 

« Sa maladie est très rare mais son histoire est universelle »

Selon elle, cette crise a eu lieu à la fin de l’année 2022. « J’ai passé du temps avec elle la semaine dernière, pour les premières du film outre-Atlantique, et elle se sent mieux, témoigne la réalisatrice. Elle est plus confiante maintenant qu’elle a les soins dont elle a besoin. Le fait d’avoir mis un nom sur sa maladie a tout changé pour elle. »

A-t-elle trouvé un remède ? « Des médecins dans le monde entier font tout pour comprendre ce qu’elle a et le trouver. Mais ce qui est certain, c’est que Céline fera tout ce qu’elle peut pour améliorer la compréhension sur cette maladie, elle a créé une fondation, elle est très engagée pour parler de son expérience, pour lever des fonds pour les malades. Sa maladie est très rare, mais son histoire est universelle. »

Pense-t-elle qu’elle remontera sur scène ? Car on parle d’un retour pour la cérémonie d’ouverture des Jeux olympiques de Paris le 26 juillet… « Quoi qu’elle fasse, elle le fera mieux que jamais, elle est passée de l’autre côté de la maladie, elle a le diagnostic et une force incroyable, répond Irene Taylor. J’ai fait un film il y a quelques années sur Beethoven, qui a créé de magnifiques musiques. Il avait fait de sa surdité un superpouvoir. Céline en a un aussi. Car elle chante avec son cœur. »

« Elle le dit dans le film. Peut-être que son répertoire sera différent, peut-être que sa gamme vocale changera, peut-être que la fréquence de ses prestations sera plus rare, peut-être qu’elle chantera devant des salles plus petites. Ce qui est certain, c’est qu’elle agira avec humilité et intelligence, car elle veut vivre. Et comme le dit le titre du film, aujourd’hui, elle sait vraiment qui elle est », conclut Irene Taylor.

 

 

 

“Her crisis is the worst thing I have ever filmed”: behind the scenes of the documentary on Celine Dion

Expected on June 25 on the Prime Video platform, the documentary “I am: Céline Dion” recounts the 56-year-old singer's fight against the nervous system disease which prevents her from returning to the stage. American director Irene Taylor reveals the secrets of this confession film.

At the end of 2021, while the Covid-19 pandemic was still confining the world, Irene Taylor met Celine Dion for the first time on Zoom. “I have total respect for her, I am capable of singing three or four of her songs in English by heart, but I did not know her French repertoire well,” admits the American director, whom we interviewed two and a half years ago late for us too virtually, a week before the global broadcast of the film “I am: Céline Dion”, on Prime Video.

“Not being a fan, I knew very little about her story,” continues the fifty-year-old born in Missouri. Sony Music asked me to work on this project a year earlier, and I was flattered that they thought I was the right person to talk to and about them. When I met her, I could see how sincere she was, and I wanted to know more. Like a painter, I wanted to make a portrait of her, but I didn't know what color, what style it would have. »

Originally, the idea of ​​this director and producer specializing in documentaries was to show in her 14th film the superstar's family life in Las Vegas with her children, her concert residency at Resorts World, and her life on his “Courage” world tour which had been postponed by the pandemic.

But at the beginning of 2022, in the middle of preparing the film, Celine Dion's two managers told her bad news. Doctors suspect that the artist has an extremely rare nervous system disease, stiff person syndrome (SPR). “I didn’t know she was sick before we started filming,” admits Irene Taylor. To my great surprise, Céline did not want to cancel it. »

 

Celine Dion gave him access to everything

After several months of immersing herself in her extraordinary life thanks to the 800 never-before-seen hours of images provided to her by her team based in Montreal, Irene Taylor begins filming in February 2022 with a small crew. “I spent an uncomfortable time not really knowing where I was going and what I was going to do,” she admits. I tried to be as sincere as possible, I asked really basic questions. »

“At first, she didn’t really know what she was suffering from and it was difficult to film her. This uncertainty weighing on her stressed her even more as she began to cancel dates, but could not explain why. But as time passed, the more information she had, the simpler it was,” adds Irene Taylor.

Celine Dion gave her access to everything: “She told me: Never ask me for permission to film myself, otherwise it will ruin everything. One of his managers kept me informed between each shoot of how things were progressing. But it was she who spoke to me most directly about the illness, its consequences, its treatment. The first time she talks to me about it, we see it in the film, it’s incredibly sincere. »

What is striking throughout the hour and forty hours of the program is that Céline Dion appears unvarnished, both literally and figuratively. “From the first day,” says Irene Taylor, “Céline greeted us in pants, with her hair pulled back in a bun, without makeup. During the year we spent filming it, it stayed like that. »

The coolest moment of the shoot? The day Céline showed them the giant hangar – 14,000 m2 – where all of her children's stage outfits, all of the dresses, all of her toys are stored, in short, her entire life. In one of the film's rare happy sequences, we see the Quebecer talking and laughing about her passion for shoes. “I like it so much that when people ask me my size, I say 36 to 40,” she says in substance.

 

“I was so uncomfortable, panicked”

The worst is obviously the crisis that we see at the end of the film. Celine Dion returns from a grueling studio session, where she tries to sing again after two months of silence, and she is seized with spasms. For long minutes, we see her body stiffen, her eyes lose focus, she has difficulty breathing, her lips tremble, she moans, cries in pain.

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever filmed,” admits Irene Taylor. I was so uncomfortable, panicked. I was all alone with the doctor and the cameraman in the room, I had headphones on and I could barely hear his breathing. It lasted forty minutes before she regained consciousness! I was so uncomfortable...I wondered if I would continue filming, but I had worked with her enough before to know I had to do it, even if I didn't keep the scene. »

 

“His disease is very rare but his story is universal”

According to her, this crisis took place at the end of 2022. “I spent time with her last week, for the premieres of the film across the Atlantic, and she feels better,” testifies the director. She is more confident now that she has the care she needs. Having a name for her illness changed everything for her. »

Has she found a cure? “Doctors all over the world are doing everything they can to figure out what’s wrong with her and find it. But what is certain is that Céline will do everything she can to improve understanding of this disease, she created a foundation, she is very committed to talking about her experience, to raising funds for patients. His disease is very rare, but his story is universal. »

Does she think she will return to the stage? Because there is talk of a return for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on July 26… “Whatever she does, she will do it better than ever, she has come to the other side of the illness, she has the diagnosis and incredible strength, answers Irene Taylor. I made a film a few years ago about Beethoven, who created magnificent music. He had turned his deafness into a superpower. Céline has one too. Because she sings with her heart. »

“She says it in the film. Maybe her repertoire will be different, maybe her vocal range will change, maybe the frequency of her performances will be rarer, maybe she will sing in front of smaller venues. What is certain is that she will act with humility and intelligence, because she wants to live. And as the title of the film says, today she really knows who she is,” concludes Irene Taylor.

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2024 at 10:06 AM by scielle

[ryba]

Here's the interview from Le Parisien, linked to above.

I'm putting in spoiler tags because a) it's long and I've got both the original French and the Google Translate version and b ) I think there may be some spoilers.

(Also, sorry but I'm not going through the Google Translate and correcting... so there's a lot of "his" instead of "hers" but you get the gist!)

 

 

 

« Sa crise est la pire chose que j’ai jamais filmée » : les coulisses du documentaire sur Céline Dion

Attendu le 25 juin sur la plate-forme Prime Video, le documentaire « Je suis : Céline Dion » raconte le combat de la chanteuse de 56 ans contre la maladie du système nerveux qui l’empêche de remonter sur scène. La réalisatrice américaine Irene Taylor nous dévoile les dessous de ce film confession.

Fin 2021, alors que la pandémie de Covid-19 confine encore le monde, Irene Taylor rencontre pour la première fois Céline Dion sur Zoom. « J’ai un respect total pour elle, je suis capable de chanter par c½ur trois ou quatre de ses chansons en anglais, mais je ne connaissais pas bien son répertoire français », reconnaît la réalisatrice américaine, que nous interviewons deux ans et demi plus tard nous aussi virtuellement, une semaine avant la diffusion planétaire du film « Je suis : Céline Dion », sur Prime Video.

« N’étant pas une fan, je savais très peu de choses sur son histoire, poursuit la quinquagénaire née dans le Missouri. Sony Music m’a proposé de travailler sur ce projet un an plus tôt, et j’ai été flattée qu’elle pense que j’étais la bonne personne pour parler avec elle et d’elle. En la rencontrant, j’ai pu voir combien elle était sincère, et j’ai eu envie d’en savoir plus. Comme un peintre, je voulais faire un portrait d’elle, mais je ne savais pas quelle couleur, quel style il aurait. »

À l’origine, l’idée de cette réalisatrice et productrice spécialisée dans les documentaires est de montrer dans son 14e film la vie de famille de la superstar à Las Vegas avec ses enfants, sa résidence de concerts au Resorts World, et sa vie sur sa tournée mondiale « Courage » qui avait été reportée par la pandémie.

Mais début 2022, en pleine préparation du film, les deux managers de Céline Dion lui annoncent de mauvaises nouvelles. Les médecins suspectent chez l’artiste une maladie du système nerveux rarissime, le syndrome de la personne raide (SPR). « Je ne savais pas qu’elle était malade avant de commencer le tournage, avoue Irene Taylor. À ma grande surprise, Céline n’a pas voulu l’annuler. »

 

Céline Dion lui a donné accès à tout

Après plusieurs mois à s’imprégner de sa vie hors normes grâce aux 800 heures inédites d’images que lui a fournies son équipe basée à Montréal, Irene Taylor commence à tourner en février 2022 en équipe réduite. « J’ai passé un moment inconfortable à ne pas trop savoir où j’allais et ce que j’allais faire, reconnaît-elle. J’essayais d’être le plus sincère possible, je posais des questions vraiment basiques. »

« Au début, elle ne savait pas vraiment de quoi elle souffrait et c’était difficile de la filmer. Cette incertitude qui pesait sur elle la stressait d’autant plus qu’elle commençait à annuler des dates, mais ne pouvait pas expliquer pourquoi. Mais plus le temps passait, plus elle avait d’informations et plus simple c’était », ajoute Irene Taylor.

Céline Dion lui a donné accès à tout : « Elle m’a dit : Ne me demandez jamais la permission de me filmer, sinon ça va tout gâcher. L’un de ses managers me tenait informé entre chaque tournage de l’évolution des choses. Mais c’est elle qui me parlait le plus frontalement de la maladie, de ses conséquences, de son traitement. La première fois où elle m’en parle, on le voit dans le film, c’est d’une sincérité incroyable. »

Ce qui frappe d’ailleurs tout au long de l’heure quarante que dure le programme, c’est que Céline Dion apparaît sans fard, au propre comme au figuré. « Dès le premier jour, raconte Irene Taylor, Céline nous a accueillis en pantalon, les cheveux tirés en arrière en chignon, sans maquillage. Pendant l’année que nous avons passée à la filmer, elle est restée comme cela. »

Le moment le plus sympa du tournage ? Le jour où Céline leur a fait visiter le hangar géant — 14 000 m2 —, où sont stockés toutes les tenues de scène, toutes les robes, tous les jouets de ses enfants, bref toute sa vie. Dans l’une des rares séquences joyeuses du film, on voit la Québécoise parler et rire de sa passion pour les chaussures. « J’aime tellement ça que quand on me demande ma pointure, je réponds du 36 au 40 » dit-elle en substance.

 

« J’étais tellement mal à l’aise, paniquée »

Le pire est évidemment la crise que l’on voit à la fin du film. Céline Dion revient d’une séance en studio éprouvante, où elle essaye de rechanter après deux mois de silence, et elle est prise de spasmes. Pendant de longues minutes, on voit son corps se raidir, ses yeux se perdre, elle a du mal à respirer, ses lèvres tremblent, elle gémit, pleure de douleur.

« C’est la pire chose que j’ai jamais filmée, reconnaît Irene Taylor. J’étais tellement mal à l’aise, paniquée. J’étais toute seule avec le médecin et le caméraman dans la pièce, j’avais des écouteurs et j’entendais à peine sa respiration. Ça a duré quarante minutes avant qu’elle ne reprenne conscience ! J’étais si mal à l’aise… Je me suis demandé si je continuais à filmer, mais j’avais assez travaillé avec elle avant pour savoir que je devais le faire, même si je ne gardais pas la scène. »

 

« Sa maladie est très rare mais son histoire est universelle »

Selon elle, cette crise a eu lieu à la fin de l’année 2022. « J’ai passé du temps avec elle la semaine dernière, pour les premières du film outre-Atlantique, et elle se sent mieux, témoigne la réalisatrice. Elle est plus confiante maintenant qu’elle a les soins dont elle a besoin. Le fait d’avoir mis un nom sur sa maladie a tout changé pour elle. »

A-t-elle trouvé un remède ? « Des médecins dans le monde entier font tout pour comprendre ce qu’elle a et le trouver. Mais ce qui est certain, c’est que Céline fera tout ce qu’elle peut pour améliorer la compréhension sur cette maladie, elle a créé une fondation, elle est très engagée pour parler de son expérience, pour lever des fonds pour les malades. Sa maladie est très rare, mais son histoire est universelle. »

Pense-t-elle qu’elle remontera sur scène ? Car on parle d’un retour pour la cérémonie d’ouverture des Jeux olympiques de Paris le 26 juillet… « Quoi qu’elle fasse, elle le fera mieux que jamais, elle est passée de l’autre côté de la maladie, elle a le diagnostic et une force incroyable, répond Irene Taylor. J’ai fait un film il y a quelques années sur Beethoven, qui a créé de magnifiques musiques. Il avait fait de sa surdité un superpouvoir. Céline en a un aussi. Car elle chante avec son c½ur. »

« Elle le dit dans le film. Peut-être que son répertoire sera différent, peut-être que sa gamme vocale changera, peut-être que la fréquence de ses prestations sera plus rare, peut-être qu’elle chantera devant des salles plus petites. Ce qui est certain, c’est qu’elle agira avec humilité et intelligence, car elle veut vivre. Et comme le dit le titre du film, aujourd’hui, elle sait vraiment qui elle est », conclut Irene Taylor.

 

 

 

“Her crisis is the worst thing I have ever filmed”: behind the scenes of the documentary on Celine Dion

Expected on June 25 on the Prime Video platform, the documentary “I am: Céline Dion” recounts the 56-year-old singer's fight against the nervous system disease which prevents her from returning to the stage. American director Irene Taylor reveals the secrets of this confession film.

At the end of 2021, while the Covid-19 pandemic was still confining the world, Irene Taylor met Celine Dion for the first time on Zoom. “I have total respect for her, I am capable of singing three or four of her songs in English by heart, but I did not know her French repertoire well,” admits the American director, whom we interviewed two and a half years ago late for us too virtually, a week before the global broadcast of the film “I am: Céline Dion”, on Prime Video.

“Not being a fan, I knew very little about her story,” continues the fifty-year-old born in Missouri. Sony Music asked me to work on this project a year earlier, and I was flattered that they thought I was the right person to talk to and about them. When I met her, I could see how sincere she was, and I wanted to know more. Like a painter, I wanted to make a portrait of her, but I didn't know what color, what style it would have. »

Originally, the idea of ​​this director and producer specializing in documentaries was to show in her 14th film the superstar's family life in Las Vegas with her children, her concert residency at Resorts World, and her life on his “Courage” world tour which had been postponed by the pandemic.

But at the beginning of 2022, in the middle of preparing the film, Celine Dion's two managers told her bad news. Doctors suspect that the artist has an extremely rare nervous system disease, stiff person syndrome (SPR). “I didn’t know she was sick before we started filming,” admits Irene Taylor. To my great surprise, Céline did not want to cancel it. »

 

Celine Dion gave him access to everything

After several months of immersing herself in her extraordinary life thanks to the 800 never-before-seen hours of images provided to her by her team based in Montreal, Irene Taylor begins filming in February 2022 with a small crew. “I spent an uncomfortable time not really knowing where I was going and what I was going to do,” she admits. I tried to be as sincere as possible, I asked really basic questions. »

“At first, she didn’t really know what she was suffering from and it was difficult to film her. This uncertainty weighing on her stressed her even more as she began to cancel dates, but could not explain why. But as time passed, the more information she had, the simpler it was,” adds Irene Taylor.

Celine Dion gave her access to everything: “She told me: Never ask me for permission to film myself, otherwise it will ruin everything. One of his managers kept me informed between each shoot of how things were progressing. But it was she who spoke to me most directly about the illness, its consequences, its treatment. The first time she talks to me about it, we see it in the film, it’s incredibly sincere. »

What is striking throughout the hour and forty hours of the program is that Céline Dion appears unvarnished, both literally and figuratively. “From the first day,” says Irene Taylor, “Céline greeted us in pants, with her hair pulled back in a bun, without makeup. During the year we spent filming it, it stayed like that. »

The coolest moment of the shoot? The day Céline showed them the giant hangar – 14,000 m2 – where all of her children's stage outfits, all of the dresses, all of her toys are stored, in short, her entire life. In one of the film's rare happy sequences, we see the Quebecer talking and laughing about her passion for shoes. “I like it so much that when people ask me my size, I say 36 to 40,” she says in substance.

 

“I was so uncomfortable, panicked”

The worst is obviously the crisis that we see at the end of the film. Celine Dion returns from a grueling studio session, where she tries to sing again after two months of silence, and she is seized with spasms. For long minutes, we see her body stiffen, her eyes lose focus, she has difficulty breathing, her lips tremble, she moans, cries in pain.

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever filmed,” admits Irene Taylor. I was so uncomfortable, panicked. I was all alone with the doctor and the cameraman in the room, I had headphones on and I could barely hear his breathing. It lasted forty minutes before she regained consciousness! I was so uncomfortable...I wondered if I would continue filming, but I had worked with her enough before to know I had to do it, even if I didn't keep the scene. »

 

“His disease is very rare but his story is universal”

According to her, this crisis took place at the end of 2022. “I spent time with her last week, for the premieres of the film across the Atlantic, and she feels better,” testifies the director. She is more confident now that she has the care she needs. Having a name for her illness changed everything for her. »

Has she found a cure? “Doctors all over the world are doing everything they can to figure out what’s wrong with her and find it. But what is certain is that Céline will do everything she can to improve understanding of this disease, she created a foundation, she is very committed to talking about her experience, to raising funds for patients. His disease is very rare, but his story is universal. »

Does she think she will return to the stage? Because there is talk of a return for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on July 26… “Whatever she does, she will do it better than ever, she has come to the other side of the illness, she has the diagnosis and incredible strength, answers Irene Taylor. I made a film a few years ago about Beethoven, who created magnificent music. He had turned his deafness into a superpower. Céline has one too. Because she sings with her heart. »

“She says it in the film. Maybe her repertoire will be different, maybe her vocal range will change, maybe the frequency of her performances will be rarer, maybe she will sing in front of smaller venues. What is certain is that she will act with humility and intelligence, because she wants to live. And as the title of the film says, today she really knows who she is,” concludes Irene Taylor.

 

 

 

wow, that was a great and insightful interview. I look forward to seeing this docu! But the initial Concept sounded great as well. Would have preferred those scenes instead of old archival footage

[scielle]

Another one with Irene, from The Strait Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/celine-dion-gently-cried-watching-own-documentary-about-her-stiff-person-syndrome-suffering

 

Excerpt:

 

"When Taylor first showed Dion the director’s cut, “she gently cried through most of it”.

“But she had little moments of laughter too. She doesn’t really think she’s funny even though she is.”

Dion really believed in the film, Taylor adds. “I know this because she said, ‘I don’t want you to change anything.’”

[…]

Taylor notes: “I was prepared for her to be kind and funny, but not as kind and funny as she is. And her level of openness is rare.

[…]

“She saw that, ‘Wow, I really don’t wear make-up for most of it, and I really am having a hard time during that medical episode, and I am very upset in that moment.’

“And for her to just say, ‘Let’s do this. This is my experience and this is what I want to let people see’ – that is very remarkable and very rare.”

[scielle]

More from Irene in this interview with Yahoo Entertainment: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/why-celine-dion-didnt-want-to-cut-stiffening-episode-from-her-documentary-she-felt-validated-seeing-herself-like-that-director-says-130024829.html

 

Some reassuming info in this one:

 

“Taylor said she and Dion "never had a conversation" prior to filming about what to do if she experienced a health issue while the cameras were rolling.

"I truly thought it was so unlikely, it was not even a conversation we needed to have," Taylor admits, noting that Dion's episodes happen infrequently. Taylor, who filmed Dion for nearly a year, said "months might go by" without the Grammy winner having an incident.

"If it does happen, [Celine] told me over and over again, 'Don't ask me permission to film, just keep rolling and we can talk about it later.' Just because you film something doesn't mean the world needs to see it. It's very private," Taylor says.

Dion saw the documentary twice before the premiere. "The second time she watched it with her twin sons, she was much more light-hearted," the director says.

"[Celine] used the film actually as a teaching tool with them so that she could show them the extent of how she feels about her situation and the extent of what can happen to her body if she goes into an episode of stiff-person syndrome," Taylor adds.

Although Taylor was surprised to have witnessed a stiffening episode, she says she noticed Dion's health improve over the year they spent together.

"Because of her illness, we got started a little later than we had wanted to because she just was really having a pretty hard time. She actually got better as we were filming," Taylor recalls. "In the beginning, I think she was kind of at a low point because she didn't have a diagnosis yet, there wasn't a consensus. She was quite relieved when the diagnosis was agreed upon [by medical professionals]. Then it was like they could move forward with a more codified plan of action for her treatment."”

[scielle]

Behind a paywall, so pasting the full article -

 

The Telegraph: I was one of many critics who looked down on Celine Dion – I was wrong

Many snooty critics couldn’t stand the superstar’s raw sentimentality during the Ironic Eighties. But she was singing to middle America

Helen Brown

 

“I will miss music,” sobs Celine Dion in the Amazon Prime Video documentary I Am: Celine Dion, out tomorrow. Detailing the 56-year-old Canadian chanteuse’s agonising struggle with a rare neurological condition, Stiff Person Syndrome, it’s a film that has left many critics in tears. And yet many of us disdained the bombastic sentimentality of Dion’s work in her 1990s pomp, when she spent what felt like years yodelling from the summit of the charts (in 25 countries) about her heart going on. And on! Annnnnnnd oooooooon!

I hold my hands up to being one of those critics. Decades ago I winced at the earnest striving of her mighty vocals, writing that she sounded like a woman “gargling ice cubes”, “over-emoting – like an ambitious back up cop – to draw fire from the lack of melodic originality and lyrical subtlety”.

While younger readers may be appalled by me (a female critic) urging a female artist to “put a lid on it, sis”, I want to remind them that the 1990s was the Age of Irony. Those of us who came of age in that decade were shrugging off the neon enthusiasm of 80s pop.

We believed in the authenticity and wit of indie bands like Blur and still loved pop stars like Madonna because they were all winking at the camera, inviting us to share in jokes. Raw and humourless music like Dion’s was hugely out of style with hipsters. We were as keen to wear our cleverness and subtlety on our sleeves as Dion was to let her heart come splattering, bloody, onto hers.

Looking back, I think that as one of the few female pop rock critics (last year I was the only female broadsheet critic sent to review Madonna’s Celebration tour in London) I felt more pressure than my peers to turn my back to Dion’s OTT balladry for fear of losing my own credibility.

It took a book written by a man to make me reassess my dismissal of Dion’s talent. Music critic Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste (2014) completely changed the way I listened to music. Wilson began from a standpoint of loathing Dion. Her music struck him as “a bland monotony raised to a pitch of obnoxious bombast… RnB with the sex and slyness surgically removed.” Wilson believed he’d never even met a person who liked Celine Dion. And yet the woman was at Number One all over the globe.

What he – a white, middle-class, highly educated man – came to learn was that Dion’s music resonated most with people who lacked all of his social advantages. According to one study, her fans tend to be older women living in middle America and three-and-a-half times more likely to be widows than the average music fan. Dion’s yearning, despairing choruses also hit home with those suffering from domestic violence, prison

It’s why now, when I write about Adele – perhaps Dion’s modern equivalent – I try to put my own situation aside and imagine the person who gets little time for music, driving home from a late shift at a dead-end job, feeling their heart swell along with her ballads.

These are the listeners who might know about Dion’s personal tragedies. Dion, born in 1968, was named after the 1966 hit Celine by French singer Hugues Aufray. She grew up the youngest of 14 children in the town of Charlemagne in Quebec, Canada, and described her Francophone, Roman Catholic family as “poor but happy”. She survived being hit by a car aged five; sang in public for the first time at her brother’s wedding aged six; was discovered by her future husband (the late René Angélil) at the age of 12. Dion’s brother had sent the 38-year-old promoter a tape of her singing a song they wrote together (Ce n’était qu’un rêve) and Angelil said it made him cry. Angélil mortgaged his house to fund Dion’s debut album – La voix du bon Dieu (1981) – on which she does sound precocious.

Through the vaseline on the mic production there’s a sweetness and innocence in her tone, but also a stubborn tenacity in the way she clings to the big notes. Although there’s an uneasy Emmanuel-style soft porn in the sound, there’s also the strong sense of a young woman who wants life on her own terms. I don’t envy Dion’s mother, who tried to talk her daughter out of marrying a man over 20 years her senior.

In Dion’s 2000 autobiography, My Story, My Dream, she wrote that, after the 1985 dissolution of Angélil’s second marriage, she kept a photo of him under her pillow writing: “I was in love with a man I couldn’t love, who didn’t want me to love him, who didn’t want to love me.” The young singer’s infatuation finally found validation when he kissed her after she won the Eurovision song contest (for Switzerland) in 1988. Her mum pushed back but Dion, then 20, held her ground. She said: “I’m not a minor. This is a free country. No one has the right to prevent me from loving whoever I want to.”

Angélil died in 2016 after rape allegations (from other women) were quashed and his accusers were convicted of extortion. The couple appear to have enjoyed a happy marriage. They have three children, the last two conceived after a traumatic miscarriage and many rounds of IVF. I still find it odd that Dion describes her career as her husband’s “masterpiece” – but maybe she knows best. In recent years, the singer has endured the loss of her father, her brother and her 16-year-old niece, who died in her arms of cystic fibrosis.

I thought of that moment the other day when her single It’s All Coming Back to Me Now popped up on the radio. The track – produced by longtime Meatloaf collaborator Jim Steinman – includes the lines “When you touch me like this/ And you hold me like that…”

For the first time a Dion ballad sent the tears flooding down my cheeks. And I realised that the thing about her going on (and on and on) is that you do too. I couldn’t stop. I’ve got a friend with a critically ill child, and Dion was insistent that I didn’t push those feelings to one side. They all had to come out. So for three solid minutes, my feelings came out of my eyes and my nose and I made weird cow noises I haven’t made since I was in labour. “So that’s when she gets you,” I thought. “When you’ve got nothing left.”

[scielle]

New content coming fast and furious!

 

CBC: Celine Dion's 50 greatest songs, ranked

[tshlw]

Behind a paywall, so pasting the full article -

 

The Telegraph: I was one of many critics who looked down on Celine Dion – I was wrong

Many snooty critics couldn’t stand the superstar’s raw sentimentality during the Ironic Eighties. But she was singing to middle America

Helen Brown

 

“I will miss music,” sobs Celine Dion in the Amazon Prime Video documentary I Am: Celine Dion, out tomorrow. Detailing the 56-year-old Canadian chanteuse’s agonising struggle with a rare neurological condition, Stiff Person Syndrome, it’s a film that has left many critics in tears. And yet many of us disdained the bombastic sentimentality of Dion’s work in her 1990s pomp, when she spent what felt like years yodelling from the summit of the charts (in 25 countries) about her heart going on. And on! Annnnnnnd oooooooon!

I hold my hands up to being one of those critics. Decades ago I winced at the earnest striving of her mighty vocals, writing that she sounded like a woman “gargling ice cubes”, “over-emoting – like an ambitious back up cop – to draw fire from the lack of melodic originality and lyrical subtlety”.

While younger readers may be appalled by me (a female critic) urging a female artist to “put a lid on it, sis”, I want to remind them that the 1990s was the Age of Irony. Those of us who came of age in that decade were shrugging off the neon enthusiasm of 80s pop.

We believed in the authenticity and wit of indie bands like Blur and still loved pop stars like Madonna because they were all winking at the camera, inviting us to share in jokes. Raw and humourless music like Dion’s was hugely out of style with hipsters. We were as keen to wear our cleverness and subtlety on our sleeves as Dion was to let her heart come splattering, bloody, onto hers.

Looking back, I think that as one of the few female pop rock critics (last year I was the only female broadsheet critic sent to review Madonna’s Celebration tour in London) I felt more pressure than my peers to turn my back to Dion’s OTT balladry for fear of losing my own credibility.

It took a book written by a man to make me reassess my dismissal of Dion’s talent. Music critic Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste (2014) completely changed the way I listened to music. Wilson began from a standpoint of loathing Dion. Her music struck him as “a bland monotony raised to a pitch of obnoxious bombast… RnB with the sex and slyness surgically removed.” Wilson believed he’d never even met a person who liked Celine Dion. And yet the woman was at Number One all over the globe.

What he – a white, middle-class, highly educated man – came to learn was that Dion’s music resonated most with people who lacked all of his social advantages. According to one study, her fans tend to be older women living in middle America and three-and-a-half times more likely to be widows than the average music fan. Dion’s yearning, despairing choruses also hit home with those suffering from domestic violence, prison

It’s why now, when I write about Adele – perhaps Dion’s modern equivalent – I try to put my own situation aside and imagine the person who gets little time for music, driving home from a late shift at a dead-end job, feeling their heart swell along with her ballads.

These are the listeners who might know about Dion’s personal tragedies. Dion, born in 1968, was named after the 1966 hit Celine by French singer Hugues Aufray. She grew up the youngest of 14 children in the town of Charlemagne in Quebec, Canada, and described her Francophone, Roman Catholic family as “poor but happy”. She survived being hit by a car aged five; sang in public for the first time at her brother’s wedding aged six; was discovered by her future husband (the late René Angélil) at the age of 12. Dion’s brother had sent the 38-year-old promoter a tape of her singing a song they wrote together (Ce n’était qu’un rêve) and Angelil said it made him cry. Angélil mortgaged his house to fund Dion’s debut album – La voix du bon Dieu (1981) – on which she does sound precocious.

Through the vaseline on the mic production there’s a sweetness and innocence in her tone, but also a stubborn tenacity in the way she clings to the big notes. Although there’s an uneasy Emmanuel-style soft porn in the sound, there’s also the strong sense of a young woman who wants life on her own terms. I don’t envy Dion’s mother, who tried to talk her daughter out of marrying a man over 20 years her senior.

In Dion’s 2000 autobiography, My Story, My Dream, she wrote that, after the 1985 dissolution of Angélil’s second marriage, she kept a photo of him under her pillow writing: “I was in love with a man I couldn’t love, who didn’t want me to love him, who didn’t want to love me.” The young singer’s infatuation finally found validation when he kissed her after she won the Eurovision song contest (for Switzerland) in 1988. Her mum pushed back but Dion, then 20, held her ground. She said: “I’m not a minor. This is a free country. No one has the right to prevent me from loving whoever I want to.”

Angélil died in 2016 after rape allegations (from other women) were quashed and his accusers were convicted of extortion. The couple appear to have enjoyed a happy marriage. They have three children, the last two conceived after a traumatic miscarriage and many rounds of IVF. I still find it odd that Dion describes her career as her husband’s “masterpiece” – but maybe she knows best. In recent years, the singer has endured the loss of her father, her brother and her 16-year-old niece, who died in her arms of cystic fibrosis.

I thought of that moment the other day when her single It’s All Coming Back to Me Now popped up on the radio. The track – produced by longtime Meatloaf collaborator Jim Steinman – includes the lines “When you touch me like this/ And you hold me like that…”

For the first time a Dion ballad sent the tears flooding down my cheeks. And I realised that the thing about her going on (and on and on) is that you do too. I couldn’t stop. I’ve got a friend with a critically ill child, and Dion was insistent that I didn’t push those feelings to one side. They all had to come out. So for three solid minutes, my feelings came out of my eyes and my nose and I made weird cow noises I haven’t made since I was in labour. “So that’s when she gets you,” I thought. “When you’ve got nothing left.”

 

Not a bad article but there is some bad reporting in this in the way she presented Celine's history. Made it seem like her niece and father died recently and the stuff with the woman who accused Rene made it seem recent. I really hate when reporters do sloppy work on things that are so easy to find.

[tshlw]

Hauser Tries To Coax Celine Dion To Perform On Vegas Stage by Graeme O'Neil

 

Think we all agree with Graeme, Hauser went to far in trying to get her on stage. And not sure what it is but Hauser just gives me a smarmy vibe. He seems like he is very full of himself.

 

[Nmj]

Hauser Tries To Coax Celine Dion To Perform On Vegas Stage by Graeme O'Neil

 

Think we all agree with Graeme, Hauser went to far in trying to get her on stage. And not sure what it is but Hauser just gives me a smarmy vibe. He seems like he is very full of himself.

 

 

I think what he did was a bit extreme, but I didn’t find it that disrespectful… he’s not American, a lot of European/Asian people tend to be alot like this… but he meant it as a form of flattering Celine, almost like “ we love you so much that I’ll ask 3 times”… he knew she wasn’t getting onstage and she knew that, and she handled it with grace. I think people are making to big of a deal.

[Nmj]

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Edited June 24, 2024 at 02:16 PM by Nmj

[tshlw]

I think what he did was a bit extreme, but I didn’t find it that disrespectful… he’s not American, a lot of European/Asian people tend to be alot like this… but he meant it as a form of flattering Celine, almost like “ we love you so much that I’ll ask 3 times”… he knew she wasn’t getting onstage and she knew that, and she handled it with grace. I think people are making to big of a deal.

 

Well personally I think it was too much. Of course Celine handle it with grace, one of the many reason we love her. Me on the other hand would have not been lol.

[tshlw]

‘I am Celine Dion’ a love letter to her fans | Your Morning

CTV Movie Review

Edited June 24, 2024 at 03:29 PM by tshlw