
Celine
Dion has been in Vegas for a long time--five years--but she's finally
ready to take her show on the road. She's beginning a world tour in
February and she has a new album out, "Taking Chances." Her are
7 things you don't know about Celine Dion.
(1) She's very superstitious. "I knock on wood a lot," Celine says.
"I have a little bell backstage. It's like a Christmas ding ding ding
ding. I stand in the same place in the elevator. I touch people's
thumbs for energy."
(2) Her stage in Vegas slopes down 6 degrees, so her audience can
see her better, but it's hard for Celine to sing and dance (in heels)
on it. "Nobody knew it was going to be that hard," she says. "It's very
difficult for the spine. Your hips change, the neck shifts forward. It
put pressure on the vocal chords. I lost my voice. I had to go to Los
Angeles [to a doctor]. They thought it was paralysis of the vocal
chords. But it was just tension. I don't want that to become so
dramatic. It was worth it, because everybody could see very well."
(3) Her halls backstage at Caesars Palace are painted orange. "When
we first moved there, it was a very hospital color. My team helped
me pick the color. Some were superstitious about the green. Some didn't
want to go to blue because of emotional stuff. I didn't want to go too
much yellow. The orange color, nobody told me, 'No orange.'"
(4) After being in Vegas for so long, she wasn't sure if she could
sing again. "I was tired. We took a few days off, and here I was
recording the album at this time of the month, who's going to tell me
I'm going to be in good shape, no sinus infection? There was no
guarantee that I could do it."
(5) But she's feeling good about her new CD. "I can't believe I have
this album. It's grounded, strong, fresh, young. Am I getting
younger?! If 40 is about that, listen I'm going to be the first
spokesperson for the 40-year-old woman."
(6) Why she sounds different on her new album: "The greatest
thing about it is, I was free. I felt free. I didn't feel like I had to
put too much pressure on myself singing. I didn't need to prove myself,
even though I haven't recorded for so long. I didn't sing from here
(points to her throat) I sang from here (points to her heart)."
(7) Celine is her biggest critic--OK, maybe not. But she's still
pretty tough on herself. Her husband, Rene Angelil, says: "Sometimes I
watch the show and I come back, 'It was a great show!' She's depressed,
'Ugh, that was so bad' The bar for her is very high. People obviously
think she's great. It's the only show in Las Vegas to have a closing
date while it's sold out. But it's very rare that she thinks she did a
great show. It's happened three or four times."
To read more about Celine Dion, click here for Newsweek's story on her. Also, click here to listen to the world debut of "My Love," Track Four from her upcoming album.