Celine Dion has always inspired me throughout my life
The awesome one and only Céline Dion.
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~ Celine Is On The Way ~
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On March 30, 1968, Celine Dion was born in the French Canadian province of Quebec in a little town called Charlemagne, 30 miles east of Montreal. As the youngest of Therese and Adhemar Dion's 14 children, she was named after the Hugues Aufray song, Celine, which her mother heard during the pregnancy. Growing up as "the baby" of the family, treated by her siblings like a living doll and surrounded by a loving atmosphere, little Celine developed many happy childhood memories admist her brothers and sisters. She was surrounded by music, many members of her family played instruments, and everyone sang. So naturally Celine readily embraced the musical family background, how else would she come to be where she is today? However, it came close to never happening for Celine as she was hit by a truck at age five and went into unconsciousness. Thankfully she made a perfect recovery, and later that year made her first singing debut with her brothers and sisters, quickly going on to give local performances. And like so many little girls, she played the piano and dreamt of becoming a star, and it soon became apparent that Celine was someone special. At the age of 12, Celine declared that all she wanted to do was sing. She had discovered a love for something which so few people ever find in life, a passion which must be pursued in order to express that deepest emotional part of herself to the world, and the only career Celine could imagine pursuing was that of a singer. Her wonderful family gave all their love and support. Her mother was determined to help her daughter succeed in every way she could, and so Therese Dion wrote the lyrics to the song that started Celine's career and her brother Jacques composed the music. It was called "Ce N?etait Qu?un Reve" ("Nothing But A Dream"--very appropriate in Celine's case) and the demo tape was sent to a man called Rene Angelil whom the family hoped would take on Celine as her manager since he was one of the most renowned in Montreal at the time, of course he would turn out to be a lot more. Ten minutes after hearing the tape, Mr.Angelil invited Celine to sing for him live at his office, he was so moved by the young girl's voice that he had tears in his eyes the first time he heard her singing voice that fateful day in his office. Needless to say, Mr.Angelil agreed to work with Celine because he sincerely believed in her, and she in turn showed her complete trust in him by giving him full control over her career. Rene even morgaged his house to raise money for Celine's first two albums, recorded when she was only 13, of course that was one investment we're all glad he made! Without Rene, the world might have never heard that amazing voice which we have all come to love. Celine and her manager have remained together ever since, though their relationship has certainly evolved, and the love story is still to come. Celine's close relationship with her large family extended to her active role as an associate of the Nickels restaurant chain (she picked the name based on her lucky number 5--the Canadian 5 cent coin is the nickel) which opened in 1990 and is now in operation in Canada and Florida. She even designed the employees' uniforms and appeared in the restaurants' promotional TV commercials. Celine also actively supports the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in memory of her niece Karine, daughter of her sister Liette, who died from the disease in 1993 when she was only 16. Meanwhile, the young chateuse became very popular in her home province, releasing seven albums in Quebec and two in France (in the French language of course), and gained the nickname "La p'tite Quebecoise" (the little Quebecer). When she was 15 Celine dropped out of school, which she never like all that much anyway, with her mother's approval to concentrate on her singing career. However Celine felt that she needed a more adult image, she took 18 months off in the 1980s to to just that. The decade marked her transformation from a little known French-speaking singer to an internationally recognized performer. She took on a new style in her appearance, learned English, and took the only vocal training lessons she has ever had in her life. In 1988 Celine's career got some much deserved attention as she won the 1988 Eurovision Singing Contest that took place in Dublin, Ireland, as the contestant representing Switzerland, whose writers were the only ones to approach her. She won with the song "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" ("Don't Leave Without Me"), and her wonderful voice of course. It was the dawning of a new era for Celine as her profile was significantly raised and the eyes of the world turned towards the young girl from Quebec. Her childhood dream of being an international star was becoming true, and a music diva was about to be born. |
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~ Falling Into Celine ~
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Celine soon realized that despite her success in Quebec and France, the world impact she desired to make couldn't be achieved solely through her native Francophone tone. And so her journey on the international music charts began in 1990 with her first English album Unison and that kicked off the ultimate decade of Celine. The biggest hit off the CD was the song "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", which was one of Celine's favourites as well. It was also during a promotional tour for the album that Celine's voice failed just before a concert. Her determination for recovery led to a three week silence period where she never spoke a word and only communicated through written notes and hand gestures. Ever since then Celine has taken special care of her 'musical instrument' and her policy of not using her voice the day before a concert is now famous in the music industry. In 1992 a self-titled album Celine Dion was released and became her first gold album in the United States with hits such as "If You Asked Me To", "Love Can Move Mountains", and "Beauty And The Beast" performed with Peabo Bryson for the Disney motion picture. The Colour Of My Love debued in 1993 with Celine's first U.S. #1 hit "The Power Of Love", and included other popular songs such as "Think Twice" and "When I Fall In Love" featuring Clive Griffin and made for the movie Sleepless In Seattle. It was also in that year Celine made a public declaration of her romantic relationship with Rene Angelil by dedicating the album to him. In 1995 D'Eux (also known as The French Album in some places) was released. It was written by the popular French song writer Jean-Jacques Goldman, who requested to work with Celine, and enjoyed amazing successes in both France and the U.K. D'Eux remained at number one on the charts in Quebec for 44 weeks (!) until it was replaced by Celine's next album, Falling Into You. Released in 1996, Celine topped yet more charts with her new CD with such hits as "Because You Love Me", the theme song for the Up Close & Personal film, which was also performed at the 1997 Academy Awards. Celine impressed Barbara Streisand so much that evening at the Awards that the diva herself suggested a duet with Celine. Also on the album was the song "To Love You More" (one of my personal favorites by the way) which started an extremely successful tour in Japan, Celine has truly gone international. Falling Into You went to the top of the charts in 11 countries and won many prestigious awards. The 1996 Olympic games, held in Atlanta, U.S.A., brought more opportunities for Celine to showcase her voice as she performed The Power Of The Dream and declared that she had something in common with the games' competitors--"I appreciate the importance of discipline in achieving your dream". Celine Dion was now recognised all over the world and it became increasingly apparent that she was the greatest success ever to appear in the Canadian music industry. In 1997 came what Celine called "the album of my life", Let's Talk About Love. It featured some of the biggest names in music, Luciano Pavarottio, The Bee Gees, Sir George Martin, Carole King, and even Barbara Streisand (one of Celine's personal favourite singers). And of course the album also featured "My Heart Will Go On", the love theme of the biggest movie in history (in every possible way) Titanic. The movie went on to win 11 Oscars at the 1998 Academy Awards, including one for "Best Motion Picture Theme Song". As Celine indicated, Let's Talk About Love was the album of a lifetime. A Christmas album was released in 1998 called These Are Special Times which allowed Celine to reminisce of her childhood holiday memories as she once again sang with her family with the Dions making special singing appearances on two of the tracks. In 1999 Celine released what she admitted will be her last album for a while, All The Way: A Decade Of Song was half a greatest-hits album while at the same time featuring some brand new songs, a distincly unique mix--just like Celine herself. Celine and her husband Rene are now on a sabbatical which began on New Years Day 2000, and they are enjoying some well-deserved time off after 16 years of hectic touring and concert schedules. The couple has settled down to live normally for a while and to enjoy what Celine called "the simple things in life". They're also starting a family (not to have 14 children or anything...just to start a family) and Celine is now pregnant with their first child (CONGRATULATIONS!!!). As Celine continues to pursue her dreams of happiness in life, her fans know of all her hard work and perseverance in achieving the amazing success she has enjoyed to date. Celine has shown the world all the things that are possible once you pur your heart into a dream and never let go until you've made it come true. And even though it wasn't always easy, Celine's dream has certainly come true for her. And as one of her devoted fans, I believe that she deserves all the happiness in the world. God bless you Celine, and remember that there will always be people in the world such as your family, your friends, and your fans, who love you very very much and we will be behind you no matter what happens in life...all the way. |
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~ The Colour Of Her Love ~
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Celine and Rene have known each other since she was a 12-year-old girl who dreamed of being a singer and he was a well-respected 38-year-old manager in Montreal. They developed a lovingly platonic relationship which lasted through her years as a rising superstar, but it changed to something more in 1988. They were in Ireland for the Eurovision Contest one night when Rene leaned over and kissed Celine, then 20, on the lips for the first time instead of the cheek. From then on a romantic relationship began to develope and in 1993 Celine declared her love for Rene to the world on her suitably titled album The Colour Of My Love. but now it's getting too powerful to keep this inside of me... so after all these years, let me 'paint the truth, show how I feel, try to make you completely real'... Rene, you're the colour of my love." --Celine Dion, The Colour Of My Love Celine and Rene were married on December 17, 1994, at the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, Canada, with 500 friends and family present to witness the vows between the couple in a huge traditional Roman Catholic style ceremony, indlucing a 12-foot high pyramid wedding cake! Celine walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of "The Colour Of My Love". All the wedding gifts were donnated as contributions to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in memory of Celine's niece Karine who had died the previous year. The couple planned a romantic private 3-week honeymoon in Florida, away from the media and lenses of the paparazzi, but the trip was cut short when "Think Twice" became a hit in the U.K. and Celine was requested to fly there and appear on Top of the Pops. Through her years of record-breaking success Celine admits to not being able to spend as much time as she would have liked with her family and friends, and of course Rene. The years passed and in 1999 the couple discovered lumps in Rene's neck which were the first signs of cancer. He underwent chemothereapy and is now, thankfully, healthy though only time will tell if the recovery is permanent. The couple simply knows that every moment in life is precious and they want to enjoy it together. Rene's illness caused Celine to make the decision of taking the long break she has wanted for the past few years so that she could be with her husband during a difficult time. She realized the power of her wedding vows, to be together no matter what, and she was determined to keep them. So the couple is now on their well-deserved sabbatical for various public and mostly private reasons. They are now living together in happiness in Quebec, Canada, on the island of Montreal, expecting their first baby, which they have wanted for a long time. Of course Celine's fans will miss her very much, we will always adore her, but most of all we want her and Rene to be happy and we are so grateful that our prayers for them to be together for a long time and to have a family has been answered so well. We love you guys! |
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~ Celine Dion Online ~
The Official Celine Dion Website No Living Without Loving Céline Yahoo! Celine Dion Full Coverage
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ICQ# 23339093
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