2000

..Articles Archive

Maman Dion in round with Canadian Draws

For Christmas, Dion mom visits the stores Canadian Tire from seven areas of Quebec to collect gifts.  The round, which began on December 5 to finish the 12, aims to collect money and toys in order to brighten Christmas of the children of underpriviledged mediums.

Already, the mother of Celine Dion went to Montreal, Three-Rivers, in Quebec, in Chicoutimi and Rouyn.  This week, it will go in the areas of Hull and Sherbrooke.

To launch the round, Canadian Tire gave 100 000 $ out of new toys to three organizations of the area of Montreal.  The other gifts will be given to the Foundation Achilles-Tanguay, which comes to assistance of the most stripped.

The public relations of this event were ensured by BDDS Shandwick.- Isabelle Bérubé

...continued

There is nothing more in wonderful at Christmas than child hugging tightly a toy and seeing is radiance to unwrap this beautiful gift "to quote Maman Dion. " Canadian Tire shows generosity by giving thousands of toys to Christmas.  As a president and a fondatrice of the Foundation Achilles-Tanguay, I am happy to accompany them in this step ".

This gift is the first stage of a round québécoise which, from the 5 to December 12 2000, will see Maman Dion visiting the stores Canadian Tire from seven areas of Quebec in order to take delivery of toys Canadian Tire collected by the associated merchants and to give them to local organizations endorsed by the Foundation Achilles-Tanguay.  The final amount of distributed toys will be known only at the end of the round, but one expects that several hundreds of thousands of dollars of toys are thus distributed.

"That Mrs. Dion voluntarily agreed to be our "Christmas Mother " is for Canadian Tire an immense privilege " declared Michel Thibaudeau, president of the Foundation Canadian Tire from Quebec "the personal engagement of Mrs. Dion in this round will heat up our 87 associated merchants Canadian Tire in order to pile up the most toys possible.  The Foundation Achilles-Tanguay brings as an invaluable technical assistance to us to make sure as the toys go to good works ". All the toys offered by the associated merchants new and are contained in their packing of origin.  In certain areas, however, the customers will be invited to give worn toys which will be added to the gifts.

- Mrs. Helene Pelletier, spokesman of the Group Action News-Life of Longueuil, known as enchanted herself of this gift of toys and engaged so that the toys " are delivered to the little children for whom such a present will make a real difference with Christmas ".

The round which starts today includes/understands the following stages:  Montreal (Tuesday December 5), Three-Rivers (Wednesday December 6), Quebec (Thursday December 7), Chicoutimi (Friday December 8), Rouyn (Saturday December 9), Hull (Monday December 11) and Sherbrooke (Tuesday December 12).  In each area, Maman Dion will govern the handing-over of a gift of toys at a local organization.

Founded in 1998, the Foundation Achilles-Tanguay was given for the mandate to establish a true power station of communication, information and mutual aid to assist the most needy through this company.  To achieve its mission, the Foundation acquired a thorough knowledge of the organizations and charitable works of Quebec and has even a bank of data to make it possible more quickly to locate any source of possible assistance for given customers.  One can contact the Foundation to (450) the 585-3466 or obtain further information on the Internet site of the Foundation to the www.achille-tanguay.org.

The Company Canadian Tire Limited - most significant detailing Canadian durable consumer goods - proposes a single combination of products and services under a same roof - for the car, the sports and the leisures and the house.  The Canadian Company Draws Limited account 87 stores to property québécoise, which have an annual turnover of a billion dollar, employ approximately 6 000 people and buy for more than 500 million dollars of products and services of companies québécoises.

Sources :
Jacques Dion: Fondation Achille-Tanguay (450) 585-3466
Michel Thibaudeau: Fondation Canadian Tire du Québec (450) 378-9884
Marylène Brosseau: BDDS Shandwick Cell : (514) 815-5559

http://www.infopresse.com/ (translated from)
 

++++++++++++++++
The Power Of Celine

Woman of Fire
 

The 1990s have been exceptionally good to French Canadian musical artist Celine Dion, born on March 30, 1968 with both her Sun and Moon in Aries. Celine is a perfect example of a self-determined Aries woman who unflinchingly believes in her power, and whose unstoppable drive to actualize that power has helped her achieve awesome professional success relatively early in life.

Aries is what Aries does—its identity is tied to how well it seizes the moment and makes things happen. Procrastination and hesitancy are foreign to this sign’s psychology. Go-getter Celine has done much with her potential thus far, and having the courage to be herself and not hold back her strong, spirited nature is part of the reason.

Her first breakthrough came in January, 1981, when René Angélil discovered her talent and vowed to make something big of it. (René—still her manager but now also her husband—was born on January 16, 1942; his Sun and Moon in Capricorn suggest he’s blessed with executive skill, shrewd business instincts, and a knack for achieving solid, enduring results.) René knew Celine’s true potential from the start, and even mortgaged his house to finance her debut album! That’s how much faith he had in her (of course, it certainly helps that he has his Mercury in Aquarius—denoting an intuitive mind that has a uncanny feel for future trends).

Celine’s Saturn Side

What else does astrology have to say about Celine Dion? Besides her Aries Sun-Moon emphasis (a fiery and dynamic duo), her Saturn joins forces with her Sun in a potent energy-pattern called a conjunction. This planetary combo is common to folks who grow up fast and handle the world of adulthood early on. Saturn fosters maturity, and for Celine, it indicates that she’s more levelheaded, down-to-earth, practical, and even cautious than The Ram is typically known to be.

She’s also willing to seriously discipline herself, work hard, and thereby excel in her craft. She’s probably a perfectionist, and yet her polished performances look easy for her to do. Saturn here tells us that Celine doesn’t take her wonderful gift for granted but works to keep her powerful voice in great shape!

The Saturn-Sun conjunction also says that Celine feels obligated to behave as the responsible one who always does what’s right, even when such responsibility frustrates more self-focused, less cooperative desires (Aries hates to feel committed to others and thus not be free to “do its thing”). Celine is highly reliable, dutiful, and is one to uphold conservative values (such as monogamy, a strong work ethic, and a devotion to her religious faith). She’ll insist that her path in life be clear, purposeful, and forever active. Pride in accomplishments is important to her. As the years go by, she’ll increasingly want to take charge over her professional affairs (Saturn, like Capricorn, has an aptitude for business management and empire-building).

Her Pisces Soul

There is another facet to Celine that flows throughout her music: she’s a romantic at heart, as emphasized by her Venus and Mercury in Pisces—a tender, dreamy, compassionate, water sign. She can move people deeply and emotionally with her music, which often tugs on the heartstrings. Pisces easily puts love on a pedestal and exalts the “soul mate” kind of closeness that two devoted people can share. Although Aries hates to seem overly sentimental and teary-eyed about such matters, Pisces easily surrenders to them all. Who can forget Celine’s very Piscean anthem to eternal love—her blockbuster hit, “My Heart Will Go On.”

Her Pisces emphasis also tells us that Celine is a charitable person with a broad social consciousness. We can expect her humanitarian side to further blossom in the upcoming years. Venus in Pisces suggests a humane, empathetic nature that is tolerant of human diversity (Oprah Winfrey also has Venus in Pisces), and this alone gives Celine a distinctly universal appeal. It also helps that she may well have Leo Rising, and thus demonstrates a warm, generous, self-confident temperament to the world (Celine is very engaging and entertaining, even in her TV interviews).

Notes

Celine’s Leo Rising—along with its associated planet, the Sun, in her Ninth House—symbolizes someone who has a strong sense of individuality and pride (Leo qualities), and who is curious about exploring life’s broader aspects (Ninth house influence) in upbeat, vivacious, and big-hearted ways. A robust, adventurous approach to living is suggested, along with the need to be treated well by life. Leo does have to watch out about acting like the privileged prima donna—it wants respect—but the Ninth House emphasis suggests Celine believes in being open, real, and sincere in her presentation to the world—she’s no phony!

Part 2: Celine's Pluto Transit by Bil Tierney

Celine Dion Is in My House!

By Brian Hiatt

Celine Dion is taking a break from recording and performing, but her career will go on in a living room near you, thanks to a new retrospective video release. [No way – Disbelief Ed.]

All the Way … A Decade of Song & Video, available December 12 on VHS and DVD, will include live footage of the Canadian diva performing such hits as "Because You Loved Me," as well as the videos for songs such as "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and the Titanic theme, "My Heart Will Go On." [I can't believe it - Disbelief Ed.]

The collection will also feature "All the Way," a virtual duet with the late Frank Sinatra from Dion's 1999 CBS television special, according to Epic Records. [You don't say - Disbelief Ed.]

The DVD version will include an alternate version of the video for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now," as well as a Dion photo gallery and other special features. [This is fantastic! - Disbelief Ed.]

Dion, who announced last year that she was going to put her career on hold for several years, last released the compilation album The Collector's Series, Volume One. The album, released in October, mixes hits with rare tracks from the singer's non-U.S. albums. [Yes, I bought that - Disbelief Ed.]

Woman of Fire

The 1990s have been exceptionally good to French Canadian musical artist Celine Dion, born on March 30, 1968 with both her Sun and Moon in Aries. Celine is a perfect example of a self-determined Aries woman who unflinchingly believes in her power, and whose unstoppable drive to actualize that power has helped her achieve awesome professional success relatively early in life.

Aries is what Aries does—its identity is tied to how well it seizes the moment and makes things happen. Procrastination and hesitancy are foreign to this sign’s psychology. Go-getter Celine has done much with her potential thus far, and having the courage to be herself and not hold back her strong, spirited nature is part of the reason.

Her first breakthrough came in January, 1981, when René Angélil discovered her talent and vowed to make something big of it. (René—still her manager but now also her husband—was born on January 16, 1942; his Sun and Moon in Capricorn suggest he’s blessed with executive skill, shrewd business instincts, and a knack for achieving solid, enduring results.) René knew Celine’s true potential from the start, and even mortgaged his house to finance her debut album! That’s how much faith he had in her (of course, it certainly helps that he has his Mercury in Aquarius—denoting an intuitive mind that has a uncanny feel for future trends).

Celine’s Saturn Side

What else does astrology have to say about Celine Dion? Besides her Aries Sun-Moon emphasis (a fiery and dynamic duo), her Saturn joins forces with her Sun in a potent energy-pattern called a conjunction. This planetary combo is common to folks who grow up fast and handle the world of adulthood early on. Saturn fosters maturity, and for Celine, it indicates that she’s more levelheaded, down-to-earth, practical, and even cautious than The Ram is typically known to be.

She’s also willing to seriously discipline herself, work hard, and thereby excel in her craft. She’s probably a perfectionist, and yet her polished performances look easy for her to do. Saturn here tells us that Celine doesn’t take her wonderful gift for granted but works to keep her powerful voice in great shape!

The Saturn-Sun conjunction also says that Celine feels obligated to behave as the responsible one who always does what’s right, even when such responsibility frustrates more self-focused, less cooperative desires (Aries hates to feel committed to others and thus not be free to “do its thing”). Celine is highly reliable, dutiful, and is one to uphold conservative values (such as monogamy, a strong work ethic, and a devotion to her religious faith). She’ll insist that her path in life be clear, purposeful, and forever active. Pride in accomplishments is important to her. As the years go by, she’ll increasingly want to take charge over her professional affairs (Saturn, like Capricorn, has an aptitude for business management and empire-building).

Her Pisces Soul

There is another facet to Celine that flows throughout her music: she’s a romantic at heart, as emphasized by her Venus and Mercury in Pisces—a tender, dreamy, compassionate, water sign. She can move people deeply and emotionally with her music, which often tugs on the heartstrings. Pisces easily puts love on a pedestal and exalts the “soul mate” kind of closeness that two devoted people can share. Although Aries hates to seem overly sentimental and teary-eyed about such matters, Pisces easily surrenders to them all. Who can forget Celine’s very Piscean anthem to eternal love—her blockbuster hit, “My Heart Will Go On.”

Her Pisces emphasis also tells us that Celine is a charitable person with a broad social consciousness. We can expect her humanitarian side to further blossom in the upcoming years. Venus in Pisces suggests a humane, empathetic nature that is tolerant of human diversity (Oprah Winfrey also has Venus in Pisces), and this alone gives Celine a distinctly universal appeal. It also helps that she may well have Leo Rising, and thus demonstrates a warm, generous, self-confident temperament to the world (Celine is very engaging and entertaining, even in her TV interviews).

Notes

Celine’s Leo Rising—along with its associated planet, the Sun, in her Ninth House—symbolizes someone who has a strong sense of individuality and pride (Leo qualities), and who is curious about exploring life’s broader aspects (Ninth house influence) in upbeat, vivacious, and big-hearted ways. A robust, adventurous approach to living is suggested, along with the need to be treated well by life. Leo does have to watch out about acting like the privileged prima donna—it wants respect—but the Ninth House emphasis suggests Celine believes in being open, real, and sincere in her presentation to the world—she’s no phony!

Part 2: Celine's Pluto Transit by Bil Tierney  12/00

Before living in Montreal, Joseph (René's father) was born in Damascus. A few years later he moved to Beirut, than to Paris. Alice (René's mother) also came from the Syrian orgini. The marriage of Alice and Joseph, was quickly arranged in Montreal. Alice was 15 years younger than Joseph!
On Jan 16, 1942, at 7760 Saint Denis Street, René Angelil was born!! His parents Joseph Angelil and Alice Sara-Angelil were both of the working class. He was a tailor, while she was a mother. René wasn't the only child in the family. He had an older brother named André.
Joseph Angelil's father loved to sing. He was a tenor, with a strong and very beautiful voice. At the Holy Savoir Church, he would sing his little heart out on Sundays. On week days, he worked at at shop at what's now Alexandre-DeSéve Street.
René grew up, and joined a band called "Baronnets". This group sang hits of Beatles, and popular songs back than in French. At one point in time, they sold more records than the Beatles!!
The first time René stepped into a casino, he won...than lost it all! He was determined to figure out, mathematically, how to win all the time. For days and days he tried everything he could...than he got it! He would spend days in the casino testing his hypotheses.
In 1961, René met a girl named Denise Duquette. After 5 years, in 1966 René and Denise came to live with his parents. To please his parents, on Decameter 11, 1966 they were married. A few months later, they found out she was pregnant! In January of 1968, Denise gave birth to Patrick Angelil.
After the Barronets split up, René became interested in managing artists. He took on Ginette Reno! From 1978 to 1979, the album Angelil produced sold more than 350,000 copies in Montreal alone! An absolute record! There, he met songwriter Eddy Marney. They hit it off big! While getting ready for a Ginette Reno tour, Ginette had left for a vaction getaway with her lover. Her lover, Alain Charbonneau (who was her fiancé) insisting on sharing the management, and receiving 20 percent commission. Angelil wouldn't hear of it! Ginette didn't know what to do! She offered René a one time payment of 15,000 for his troubles, and asked him to leave.
René was devastated! He was 30 years old? What would he do with his life? Along came a package with a bow around it - Céline's demo.
 ===============
Daily Express
www.express.co.uk Sun, Dec 3, 2000

Celine's lonely road to a dream come true
The BBC plans this year's screening of Titanic to be its biggest Christmas film ever. The movie's theme tune, My Heart Will Go On, is still the best-selling record of all time at 18 million copies and counting. But the voice behind the tune, Celine Dion, 32, has had an epic voyage of her own. Born the unwanted youngest of 14 in a poor French Canadian family, she dropped out of school at 11 and fell in love with her married manager, Rene Angelil, when she was 13. After marrying Rene and becoming one of the most successful singers the world has ever known, Celine fought against fertility problems and Rene's cancer to achieve her dream - a child due in February. Viv Groskop reports

When Celine Dion was eight years old, her family played a trick on her. A musical clan, the Dions often held family concerts in the kitchen, with Celine's older brothers doing Jimi Hendrix air guitar impressions and her father playing folk songs on the accordion. Celine would take centre stage, standing on a chair, singing into a wooden spoon. Once she started, it was difficult to get her to stop.

One evening, shining a spotlight on their little star who was singing her heart out with her eyes tightly shut, one by one the whole family of 15 tiptoed out of the kitchen. Celine kept on singing, not realising until she had finished several songs that there was no one left to hear her. In the silence and dark of the kitchen, she could catch giggles from the living room. Suddenly she felt very small indeed.

It was a moment of isolation she would never forget. It fed an early belief that although she was surrounded by people, she was basically alone and could trust no one. Her life has always been a curious mix of total rejection and overwhelming attention. The last of 14 children in an already crowded household, she remembers her earliest memory as knowing that her mother Therese didn't want her.

Dion was named recently as one of the major powerbrokers on the American music scene but few in the music industry have even met her. She is hugely private, protected and self-protective, rarely seen outside her and husband Rene Angelil's home in Jupiter, Florida, and not seen at all this year - until the first snatched pictures of a pregnant Celine appeared this week. The baby is due on February 14.

In December 1999 she announced she was taking a year off to devote herself to fertility treatment and to Rene's recovery: he was diagnosed with throat cancer in March last year.

It has been an epic journey towards this year of rest for Celine Dion, 32, a year that will end in joy thanks to the news received a few months ago that Rene's cancer had gone into remission. Later the same day, their doctor told them Celine's IVF treatment had been a success.

Together Celine and Rene, 57, have generated more than 60 million album sales worldwide. But they have had more than their fair share of disasters since the day 20 years ago when Rene, a Quebec music agent, heard 12-year-old Celine's voice on a tape her mother had posted to his office.

Angelil was forced to declare himself bankrupt when launching her early career, remortgaging his house and sacrificing all his other clients -and, eventually, his marriage - to promote Dion full-time.

In Celine's late teens they both had to fight against constant accusations that he was abusing her trust and for almost a decade Celine kept quiet about how she really felt about Rene - a secret she kept from everyone, including Rene himself. Their love affair only came into the open when Rene had a heart attack and almost died in 1992. She had first realised she was in love with him in 1981, aged 13.

To protect themselves, and the fragile ambition Celine has nursed since she was a teenager with protuding teeth and wirebrush hair, they have kept a tight circle around themselves. Having come from a tiny, closed community (her own family) within another tiny, closed community (a French Canadian province where English-speaking is frowned upon), Celine has always been a uniquely isolated individual and her sense of solitude goes some way to explaining her drive and ambition.

Aged 41 when Celine was born, her mother, Therese, already had eight girls and five boys. They lived in a four-room house in Charlemagne, Quebec.

She craved attention and a role for herself. As she puts it: "To accept success is to accept the fact that you must leave behind those you love. I have had to harden myself." She would have to call on these inner reserves of strength as she and Rene were constantly dogged by illness at the height of their joint career. But, after years of scandal about the 25-year age difference, by 1994, when they married in Montreal, they found their relationship had finally been accepted by Celine's family and by the rest of the world. Surely now she would find security and happiness.

Then in 1997, Celine, who was constantly worrying about Rene's health after his heart scare, almost collapsed on stage herself. Only months after she had recorded the Titanic soundtrack, her vocal cords gave up on her. To save her voice she would go for days without speaking, devising a system of "talking" to her mother over the phone by tapping on the receiver.

At the same time she discovered that the reason she had been unable to become pregnant all this time was because she had not been ovulating for months at a time. She rested and was able to recover and perform at the 1998 Oscars, receiving the Academy Award for My Heart Will Go On. It was this song that fuelled the worldwide success Rene had always planned, transforming Dion into an international icon.

Celine still thanks her husband for his part in helping her make that leap. The two were sitting around a piano with James Horner, the writer of My Heart Will Go On, discussing the possibility of recording a demo for Titanic director James Cameron but as soon as Celine heard the song proposed by Horner, she hated it. She loved the words but she found the tune incredibly dull. It would never be a hit, she thought, glaring her disapproval at Rene. Rene saw but ignored her, telling Horner she would love to record it.

When she heard the orchestral arrangement she realised Rene was right. It was her song. On the day of recording, minutes after James Cameron recounted the plot of Titanic to her and with tears still in her eyes, she performed the stirring ballad perfectly in one take.

As My Heart Will Go On soared into the record books as the best-selling record of all time, Rene and Celine's happiness seemed complete. Yes, they wanted a child, but Celine thought as 1999 approached that a less stressful tour schedule might help her fall pregnant. Then disaster came unexpectedly. In March 1999 Rene found a lump as hard as an egg on his neck. It was the first time either of them had noticed it.

The growth was malignant. Rene was operated on immediately, while Celine continued to fulfil her tour obligations so that the news of Rene's illness would not leak out before they knew the extent of the cancer.

The operation was a success. Then they learnt Rene would need radiation treatment five times a week. To ensure a full recovery, doctors also recommended some chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy was Celine's biggest fear: it could make Rene sterile but they could not risk a re-invasion of the cancer and in spring of last year they made the decision to go to a sperm bank. "This way our dream would be waiting, frozen in a test tube," Celine writes in her autobiography. She began IVF treatment a year later, last April, and on August 24 she found out that the dream was a little boy.

Celebrating 20 years in the business, Celine still guards herself zealously. The birth of her longed-for child will no doubt increase that feeling. Her only contact with the outside world is currently via her official website, where her fans receive carefully worded bulletins on the welfare of her and her baby.

Celine will always keep her real self very private. After years of fighting to enjoy the success she and Rene have won, she must now feel she truly deserves it.

Titanic will be shown on BBC1 on Christmas Day.

Celine's lonely road to a dream come true
The BBC plans this year's screening of Titanic to be its biggest Christmas film ever. The movie's theme tune, My Heart Will Go On, is still the best-selling record of all time at 18 million copies and counting. But the voice behind the tune, Celine Dion, 32, has had an epic voyage of her own. Born the unwanted youngest of 14 in a poor French Canadian family, she dropped out of school at 11 and fell in love with her married manager, Rene Angelil, when she was 13. After marrying Rene and becoming one of the most successful singers the world has ever known, Celine fought against fertility problems and Rene's cancer to achieve her dream - a child due in February. Viv Groskop reports

When Celine Dion was eight years old, her family played a trick on her. A musical clan, the Dions often held family concerts in the kitchen, with Celine's older brothers doing Jimi Hendrix air guitar impressions and her father playing folk songs on the accordion. Celine would take centre stage, standing on a chair, singing into a wooden spoon. Once she started, it was difficult to get her to stop.

One evening, shining a spotlight on their little star who was singing her heart out with her eyes tightly shut, one by one the whole family of 15 tiptoed out of the kitchen. Celine kept on singing, not realising until she had finished several songs that there was no one left to hear her. In the silence and dark of the kitchen, she could catch giggles from the living room. Suddenly she felt very small indeed.

It was a moment of isolation she would never forget. It fed an early belief that although she was surrounded by people, she was basically alone and could trust no one. Her life has always been a curious mix of total rejection and overwhelming attention. The last of 14 children in an already crowded household, she remembers her earliest memory as knowing that her mother Therese didn't want her.

Dion was named recently as one of the major powerbrokers on the American music scene but few in the music industry have even met her. She is hugely private, protected and self-protective, rarely seen outside her and husband Rene Angelil's home in Jupiter, Florida, and not seen at all this year - until the first snatched pictures of a pregnant Celine appeared this week. The baby is due on February 14.

In December 1999 she announced she was taking a year off to devote herself to fertility treatment and to Rene's recovery: he was diagnosed with throat cancer in March last year.

It has been an epic journey towards this year of rest for Celine Dion, 32, a year that will end in joy thanks to the news received a few months ago that Rene's cancer had gone into remission. Later the same day, their doctor told them Celine's IVF treatment had been a success.

Together Celine and Rene, 57, have generated more than 60 million album sales worldwide. But they have had more than their fair share of disasters since the day 20 years ago when Rene, a Quebec music agent, heard 12-year-old Celine's voice on a tape her mother had posted to his office.

Angelil was forced to declare himself bankrupt when launching her early career, remortgaging his house and sacrificing all his other clients -and, eventually, his marriage - to promote Dion full-time.

In Celine's late teens they both had to fight against constant accusations that he was abusing her trust and for almost a decade Celine kept quiet about how she really felt about Rene - a secret she kept from everyone, including Rene himself. Their love affair only came into the open when Rene had a heart attack and almost died in 1992. She had first realised she was in love with him in 1981, aged 13.

To protect themselves, and the fragile ambition Celine has nursed since she was a teenager with protuding teeth and wirebrush hair, they have kept a tight circle around themselves. Having come from a tiny, closed community (her own family) within another tiny, closed community (a French Canadian province where English-speaking is frowned upon), Celine has always been a uniquely isolated individual and her sense of solitude goes some way to explaining her drive and ambition.

Aged 41 when Celine was born, her mother, Therese, already had eight girls and five boys. They lived in a four-room house in Charlemagne, Quebec.

She craved attention and a role for herself. As she puts it: "To accept success is to accept the fact that you must leave behind those you love. I have had to harden myself." She would have to call on these inner reserves of strength as she and Rene were constantly dogged by illness at the height of their joint career. But, after years of scandal about the 25-year age difference, by 1994, when they married in Montreal, they found their relationship had finally been accepted by Celine's family and by the rest of the world. Surely now she would find security and happiness.

Then in 1997, Celine, who was constantly worrying about Rene's health after his heart scare, almost collapsed on stage herself. Only months after she had recorded the Titanic soundtrack, her vocal cords gave up on her. To save her voice she would go for days without speaking, devising a system of "talking" to her mother over the phone by tapping on the receiver.

At the same time she discovered that the reason she had been unable to become pregnant all this time was because she had not been ovulating for months at a time. She rested and was able to recover and perform at the 1998 Oscars, receiving the Academy Award for My Heart Will Go On. It was this song that fuelled the worldwide success Rene had always planned, transforming Dion into an international icon.

Celine still thanks her husband for his part in helping her make that leap. The two were sitting around a piano with James Horner, the writer of My Heart Will Go On, discussing the possibility of recording a demo for Titanic director James Cameron but as soon as Celine heard the song proposed by Horner, she hated it. She loved the words but she found the tune incredibly dull. It would never be a hit, she thought, glaring her disapproval at Rene. Rene saw but ignored her, telling Horner she would love to record it.

When she heard the orchestral arrangement she realised Rene was right. It was her song. On the day of recording, minutes after James Cameron recounted the plot of Titanic to her and with tears still in her eyes, she performed the stirring ballad perfectly in one take.

As My Heart Will Go On soared into the record books as the best-selling record of all time, Rene and Celine's happiness seemed complete. Yes, they wanted a child, but Celine thought as 1999 approached that a less stressful tour schedule might help her fall pregnant. Then disaster came unexpectedly. In March 1999 Rene found a lump as hard as an egg on his neck. It was the first time either of them had noticed it.

The growth was malignant. Rene was operated on immediately, while Celine continued to fulfil her tour obligations so that the news of Rene's illness would not leak out before they knew the extent of the cancer.

The operation was a success. Then they learnt Rene would need radiation treatment five times a week. To ensure a full recovery, doctors also recommended some chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy was Celine's biggest fear: it could make Rene sterile but they could not risk a re-invasion of the cancer and in spring of last year they made the decision to go to a sperm bank. "This way our dream would be waiting, frozen in a test tube," Celine writes in her autobiography. She began IVF treatment a year later, last April, and on August 24 she found out that the dream was a little boy.

Celebrating 20 years in the business, Celine still guards herself zealously. The birth of her longed-for child will no doubt increase that feeling. Her only contact with the outside world is currently via her official website, where her fans receive carefully worded bulletins on the welfare of her and her baby.

Celine will always keep her real self very private. After years of fighting to enjoy the success she and Rene have won, she must now feel she truly deserves it.

Titanic will be shown on BBC1 on Christmas Day.

Celine Sighting in Florida

This was printed in today's issue of the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. I thought all Celine fans would like to know what she is doing.

Sightings...a very preggers Celine Dion, shopping for handbags at Saks Fifth Avenue in Boca. I'm told the girl knows exactly what she wants, and she wants it now. And she doesn't mind spending a little money. She dropped 15Gs on bags there last week. "We love Celine," said a handbags department sales rep. "She's nice to us."

--Jose Lambiet "South Florida Insider"  -Shanna (posted)

Celine Dion's heart will go on...but her defamation lawsuit against the National Enquirer is history.

The oft-sued supermarket tabloid has made nice with the pop diva, reaching a settlement with her over a false story it published earlier this year about her being pregnant.

Editors for the Enquirer have promised to print an apology and a full retraction to Dion in next Thursday's issue. Additionally, the tab will donate money to the American Cancer Society in honor of Dion and her hubby/manager, Rene Angelil, who has battled cancer.

Dion sued the Enquirer in February for $20 million after it ran a story claiming she was expecting twins when editors knew she wasn't.

Citing "a source who knows Celine," the Enquirer's February 1 story asserted the pop singer, whose struggles to become a mother were well publicized, was "overjoyed her greatest dream has come true." A photo of Dion graced the cover with the headline: "Celine--I'm Pregnant with Twins!"

Dion's lawyer said at the time that no one from the tabloid had even tried to verify the story with Dion or her publicist.

What's more, the report caused Dion, 32, emotional anguish after being deluged with phone calls from friends and associates who thought it was true.

"This thing has really upset me," Dion said in a statement. "Since the story came out, everyone has been congratulating me, and I have to keep telling them that it's not true. I only wish it was true, and I hope and pray that some day it will be."

Her wish wasn't too far away. In June, she announced she was in the family way, after undergoing fertility treatment in New York.

It was news a long time in coming for the "My Heart Will Go On" diva. A year prior to her pregnancy, she announced she was semi-retiring from musicdom to concentrate on raising a family and spending time with Angelil, 57, who was recovering from cancer.

With the publication this week of Dion's book, My Story, My Dream (she may be in retirement, but she's never far from the limelight), the songstress announced she knows the sex of her child.

On the last page of the book, she writes that she's known since August the baby, due on Valentine's Day, is a boy. "I imagine he will have Rene's smile, his eyes. I know I will be crazy about him," Dion writes.

"In a few months, I'll sing him a lullaby. Everyday I say a little prayer for him to be good and happy. He is already an important part of my story."
=========================
 
 
 

10/30/00

Echos Vedettes Magazine front page: Rene Angelil to buy the Molson Center. (10/30/00)
(translated)
Rene Angelil in string to buy the Molson Center.  For a man who had decided, with his wife, to take one or two sabbatical years, Rene Angelil does not make only play golf and supervise the pregnancy of Celine tenderly;  it mijote of the projects, meets people, tries to make placements to make bear fruit its assets.

It there has little less than one year, the organizer of radio Pierre Trudel, in a chronicle with the Press, launched an idea:  why Rene Angelil, with partners, wouldn't he become owner U Centre Molson?  It is known that the Canadian of Montreal and the Molson Center are to be sold for the sum of 300 million dollars.  Pierre Boivin, president of the Canadian and the Molson Center, is in load of the sale of the building and the club of hockey.  Was Trudel right to mention the name of Rene Angelil?  It seems well that yes!

Tuesday last 17 October, whereas the Canadian received Buffalo in Montreal, Michel Beaudry, organizer of hockey for TQS, walked in the estrades when it saw Rene Angelil sitting with Jean-Jacques Goldman, author-type-setter-interprete who worked with Céline on his last French album.  Michel Beaudry put the question with Rene directly:  " Etes you in string to buy the Molson Center?  " Obviously, Rene Angelil did not have the taste to answer this question, but it never contradicted information, saying even that it had met people of the Molson Center but that the meeting remained private and that it was not only on the business...

- an interest which goes far We joined Michel Beaudry who explained us how the meeting proceeded:  " When I saw Rene Angelil in the steps, I went to see it and, before being in waves, I said to him that I was to ask him the question concerning his interest in the purchase of the Canadian club and the Molson Center.  It was not very hot with the idea to answer this question, but I posed it to him nevertheless and it answered me what you know.  Then, it hastened to introduce Jean-Jacques Goldman to me, who attended for the first time of his life part of hockey."

Always according to Michel Beaudry, Rene Angelil met the leaders of the Molson Center a few days after this short declaration.  One spoke, in the case of Rene Angelil, his interest to acquire part of the building to deal only with the shutter spectacle of the Molson Center, but according to Michel Beaudry, its interest goes further:  " It was said that it could obtain 15% of the shares and that its partners would share the remainder.  I am certain that Rene Angelil is interested in the shutter hockey.  A few years ago, it had said that Michel Bergeron, his large friend, would become immediately coach of the Canadian if it acquired."  Did Mr. Angelil have already sights on the Molson Center?

- other purchasers as a string-Rene Angelil will not buy the Molson Center alone.  It has surely partners with him.  It would be astonishing that SOny is implied in a similar purchase;  the house of disc does not have, is informed our, of serious investment in clubs of sports has through the world, And if ever Rene Angelil becomes one of the shareholders of the Molson Center, be assured that it will have his word to say in the direction of the club of hockey.  It is known that it is very large impassioned hockey, that one of his/her larger friends, the fortunate Pierre Lacroix, is a general manager of the club of hockey the Avalanche of Colorado.  It is known that Rene Angelil is in very good terms with Serge Savard, who already touched the pulse as for the purchase of the Molson Center.  And on the level spectacle, the Molson Center is almost the second house of Celine Dion, the director of the spectacles in the Molson Center is Aldo Gianpolp, large friendly of Rene Angelil.  This last would not be thus surely in unknown country.

There are other companies which have an eye on the club of hockey the Canadian and on the Molson Center.  Yvon Pedneault declared the week last that Stephen Bronfman and the Claridge group had met the leaders of the Canadian to have information on the management of a club of hockey.  Claridge, which specializes especially in the real world, seems to be an interested purchaser.  This known as, it is not impossible but very hypothetical that Rene Angelil is its Feeling company are associated with Claridge.

One will probably know before the beginning of year 2001 if Rene Angelil will be one of the significant shareholders of the Molson Center.  If it is the case, unless Molson lowers its purchase price to keep the promotional name of " Molson Center ", as said with humour Michel Beaudry, " it is quite possible that the building becomes the " Celine Center " ".

The first time they met
Love at last
  "He had a mysterious, exotic side," Dion writes of her husband.

"She's doing great," says Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, the Manhattan fertility specialist who successfully completed Celine Dion's in vitro fertilization in May. Now nearly five months pregnant, Dion is healthy, gaining weight and supremely happy, says Rosenwaks. And a recent ultrasound confirms that "the baby is growing beautifully."

The silky-throated pop diva spent the summer and early fall at her home near Montreal, where her pregnancy is monitored by a local obstetrician. But Rosenwaks, 54, says he speaks to her often and expects her to go to term, delivering a single baby -- not multiples as had initially seemed possible -- in mid-February. "Once an IVF pregnancy is established," he points out, "it's a natural pregnancy and proceeds as every other pregnancy."

Dion, 32, and her husband-manager, René Angélil, 58, have yet to decide if the blessed event will take place in Montreal or in Jupiter, Fla., where they usually winter at their 10-bedroom estate. The couple reportedly spent much of the summer planning a $20 million renovation of the $8 million Gagnon Island mansion they bought recently, near their current home in Rosemere, Que. The refurbished house will include -- surprise! -- a nursery next to the master bedroom. In August, Dion attended the Montreal wedding of Angélil's daughter Anne-Marie, 23, from a previous marriage. Dion has hardly indulged her passion for golf with Angélil -- whose metastatic skin cancer, first diagnosed in 1999, remains in remission. Mostly, says Rosenwaks, the pop queen is "just enjoying the moment and, in essence, paying attention to her pregnancy." She has been learning Spanish, devouring baby books, humming lullabies, making endless lists of possible baby names and awaiting publication of her autobiography, Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream, due this month from HarperCollins.

Having life "growing in me," says Dion (with her husband), is "the proof that love exists."
Much of her rags-to-riches story is well-known: how the youngest of 14 children born to poor, music-loving parents in the small, French-speaking town of Charlemagne, Que., began her music career in 1980 at the age of 12. That she placed her future and her trust in the hands of manager René Angélil, 26 years her senior, and became a star. That she is one of the bestselling female singers in history, that she has earned five Grammies. And how, along the way, Dion and Angélil finally yielded to the growing knowledge that their relationship was more than that of manager and star.

But in her new book, Dion reveals for the first time some of the most intimate details of her climb to the top. Here, in this exclusive excerpt, she tells the real story of her passion for Angélil, his courageous battle against cancer and their deep desire to have a child.

The first time I met the man . . .
Copyright © 2000 Time Inc.
--
The first time they met

  Dion (in 1990) ached to reveal her adoration of Angélil.
The first time I met the man who would ultimately occupy such an important place in my career, life and heart, René Angélil was standing behind his desk in his office in Quebec City. He was extremely polite -- "a gentleman" as my mother put it -- but he wasn't smiling. He asked us to sit down, but he remained standing. He seemed to address my mother more than me. He said he'd heard my demos and thought my voice was very beautiful. Suddenly, I felt intimidated. Finally, he sat down and asked me if I wanted to sing for him -- right there, without music. My mother, too, was looking at me. There was a silence that lasted for a century. Then Maman said, "She's really not used to doing it, like that, without a mike."

René handed me an enormous pen and said in a very gentle voice: "Let's say that's your mike, okay?"

He still wasn't smiling, but his voice had a soothing sweetness, very warm, very calming.

I stood up and put myself in front of the office door, to get as much space in front of me as possible. My mother had to turn around to see me. I brought the pen to my lips and began singing:

To a magic garden I did stray
And woke up one enchanted day.

When I finished, it was my turn to wait through a century of silence. René wiped his eyes. Then, as if we hadn't seen anything, he said, "You made me cry." I still didn't really know him, but I felt that that said everything.

From then on, René was part of the family. My sisters and mother thought he was really handsome. He was always very elegant. And he had a mysterious, exotic side to him, like a quiet seducer, sure of himself. In the beginning, when he came to the house, he talked for hours about everything and nothing, except what counted for me. Then, before leaving, always discreetly, he would get serious. The first time, he had his coat on when he said to my parents, "If you put your faith in me, I can guarantee that your daughter will be an important star in Quebec and France within five years."

Ultimately, it took only two years for Dion's romantic brand of pop -- which she sang in her native French -- to win her acclaim in Quebec and France. But even as her star was rising, the teenage singer yearned for something she couldn't have.

For the first time in my life . . .

===
For the first time in my life, I was hiding something from René. I must have told him at least a hundred times that he was dear to my heart, but I never dared tell him that I dreamed of him every night: He would come to my bed to take me away to a desert island where we made love. I never told him about the torrid movies that he was starring in more and more often.

I'd found -- where, I don't know -- a photo of him that I gazed at a thousand times a day and that I covered with kisses at night, in my bed. I rubbed it against my cheek. It slipped onto my neck like a kiss and slid onto my shoulders. Before I fell asleep, I slid it under the pillow, out of fear that my mother, who shared a room with me, would find it.

One morning I woke up with the photo of my love right in view on the pillow, next to my head. My mother had already gotten up, washed, dressed and even pulled open the curtains. She must have seen it. I was scared stiff that she'd talk to René and tell him that I was fixated on him and that he'd better be careful if he didn't want any trouble from her.

But if she did see that precious photo, she never said anything about it. She must have figured that I was bound to get over it, that sooner or later I'd meet a boy of my age, fall in love and get married.

Meanwhile, I continued to go to sleep with René's photo against my cheek, against my neck. I wore out several of them. Some days I felt horribly alone. I was locked up in this love about which I couldn't speak.

And I knew very well that I wouldn't get over it. I had become a woman, I'd be 18 soon, and I wanted René to take me in his arms, to kiss me and make love to me. "But maybe he doesn't see any of it," I told myself. "Maybe he simply isn't interested in me."

I tried to understand why I loved him so. I thought he was handsome. I loved his soft eyes, his gestures, his voice, the color of his skin, his hands, his cologne, the quiet strength that came from him, his calmness, the authority that he exercised over everyone, even my parents, even over the executives at the record companies. I loved his passion for gambling, and his laugh, and his ways of analyzing situations, of making decisions -- above all, of course, the way he looked at me, the confidence he gave me, and his hopes for my future.

I had a surge of hope when the gossip magazines said that his wife Anne-Renée had asked for a divorce, which René had granted. But I quickly realized that he was devastated by what he considered an irreparable failure on his part. "He still loves her," I told myself. "She can still cause him pain."

I would have so much loved . . .
 

Copyright © 2000 Time Inc.
====
I would have so much loved to be able to make him feel the pain of love. To be able to console him. To hear him say that he loved me, that he was suffering because of me.

Love at last

Angélil tried to keep his distance from his infatuated client, but as her French-language hits made her the object of international fascination, rumors about their relationship began to filter into Canadian tabloids.

René had a lot of experience, but at the time he acted like a scared adolescent, a hundred times more intimidated than he would have been in front of a woman of his age. He was afraid of what people would say, afraid to hurt me, afraid that when I was 30 I'd find myself with a man of 56.

But I knew I had him. And I bided my time. Finally it came.

It was in Dublin, on that unforgettable day of April 30, 1988, the evening of the Eurovision competition in which, though French-Canadian, I was there to represent the Swiss! With a song written by an Italian and a Turk.

In the end, I won by just one point. As I went to get my prize, I dissolved into tears. I made my thank-yous more or less coherently and left the stage almost at a run. When I found René, I threw myself into his arms and, still crying, hugged him very hard and kissed him on the neck. I was at the height of happiness.

He let it happen. He was laughing.

Later that night, I was seated at the head of the bed, legs folded under the covers. I was happy about being alone with the man I loved. And I had a very precise plan.

I realized that he'd stopped talking, that we were enveloped by silence. He stayed there, sitting on the arm of the chair, very near my bed, without saying a word. I looked at him with my mature woman's smile. I think that at that moment he realized that I hadn't been listening to him for a while and that I was thinking of other things. He lowered his eyes. I could feel that I'd affected him. Directly in his heart. He got up, he backed toward the door two or three steps, as if to escape my hold over him, and said goodnight.

I couldn't let . . .
===========
I couldn't let it go like that.

He'd already opened the door. I got off the bed and went up to him, I pressed against him. "You haven't kissed me, René Angélil."

I took his head in my hands and I kissed him on the lips. I hung from his neck. He held me tight, the door still opened behind him. Then he pulled apart my arms. He fled to his room. I stayed there for a moment all alone, my heart beating, trembling, flabbergasted.

I knew that I'd won. That flight was an admission of it.

I grabbed the telephone and called his room to tell him: "If you don't come back here immediately, I'm going to go knock on your door."

But there was no answer.

It was he who called me several minutes later from the lobby of the hotel. To ask if I was all right. And then he told me: "If you really want to, I'll be the first."

And I answered him: "You'll be the first. And the only."

From Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream by Celine Dion. Copyright © by Georges-Hebert Germain, Celine Dion, Rene Angelil, Les Editions Robert Laffont. English Translation © HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. To be published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

www.People.com:

By STEPHEN M. SILVERMAN
October 12, 2000
Celine: Her Own Story

It's been the fodder for tabloid stories and unauthorized books, but now Celine Dion tells her own tale. In the soon-to-be published "Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream," the French-Canadian pop sensation, 32, charts her own life, placing special focus on her partner, manager-husband René Angelil, 58. In its Oct. 23 issue, PEOPLE offers an exclusive excerpt, in which Dion describes her initial encounter with "the man who would ultimately occupy such an important part in my career." She was 12 and he was 26 years her senior when he asked her (with her mother at her side) to sing for him in his office. When she finished, he had to wipe away a tear, and "from then on," recalls the singer, "Rene was part of the family." Within two years, Dion's star -- guided by Angelil -- was on the rise. "But I never dared tell him that I dreamed of him every night," she writes, admitting that she slept with his picture under her pillow. Encouraged by reports that Angelil's marriage was on the rocks, Dion continued to secretly pine for him -- until April 30, 1988, when she won a TV singing competition in Dublin. "I threw myself into his arms," she writes. "Later that night, I was seated at the head of the bed, legs folded under the covers. I was happy about being alone with the man I loved."
 xx
10/03/00  Star
Celine's labor of love

    Pregnant songbird happily prepares for motherhood as her husband Rene plays the tables in Las Vegas.
Ecstatic Celine Dion, looking very pregnant in these exclusoiive photos, and her husband, Rene Angelil, are happily preparing for the birth for their first child in wildly different ways.

     While the Candadian songbird is feathering her nest at home like any other excited mom-to-be, Rene, 58, has been out with the boys in Las Vegas, with his darling Celine's full blessing.
     Friends say Celine knows he probably won't have the time to be a high roller when he's a diaper changer.
"Celine encouraged him to go," a source tells Star.
"She kissed her husband and told him she wanted him to enjoy himself.
 "She said,: "when our baby comes you'll be too busy - so off you go, now!"
 "Celine told me this is the happiest time of her life and she wants Rene to be just as happy."
    While Rene reportedly gambled up to $50,000 playing cards at Caesar's Palace last week, Celine, who's four-months pregnant, began to prepare for her February Special Delivery.
"She is busy shopping for the baby clothes and planning the design of her baby's room at her home in Montreal and Jupiter in Florida," says a source.
     Celine who became pregannt by in vitro feritization in May, has also been  doing everything she cn to have a healthy pregnancy.
"She made a commitment bring this baby to term with healthy living." says the source.
"She is zealous about her daily routine of rest and diet. She now eats the dairy products she gave up during her singing careeer because she believed that the mucus obscured the clarity of her voice.
"She's also eating the pasta she passed up before and working out lightly.
    Careful Celine has done very little has done very little public socializing, with one exception. As these pics show, she accompanied To the wedding of his daughter Anne-Marie at the Four seasons Hotel in Montreal Aug.25.
     Rene, who overcameneck cancer last year, has also been taking care of himself. He got a clean bill of healthfrom his doctor two months ago.
     They're hoping the next hospital visit they make will be a joyous one to welcome their new baby.
 "Having a child is everything I dreamed it would be and the greatest joy I've ever known - second to loving Rene, " she confided in friends.
     "It's as great a thrill as all my singing achievments. I didn't think anything could top that, but being an expectant mother has."
-Patrice Sturtevant

--

• Here is a recent interview I found about Celine...-8-29-00
• Interview of Eric Burrows from- 27-Aug-2000
• Pregnant Celine not having twins -  7/1/00 -JOM
• Celine Dion: Pregnant at Last! - People magazine-6/15/00
• Celine Dion Endorses LiFizz Effervescent Vitamins - 06/13/2000
• Ecstatic Celine Dion says she is pregnant - 6/09/00
• Celine Dion convalescing after two operations -5-30-00
• Le Bureau de Francine Chaloult: Annoucement-Celine's two surgeries-5/29/00
• Celine demolishing Montreal home -May 12, 2000
• Man who with stun gun sentenced - Dot Music-UK - 5/9/00
• Fine imposed on Céline Dion "admirer" -5/4/00
• Celine's Castle Is Expensive- 4/13/00
• I just read this on Celine Conversations: 4/14/00
• Céline buys out three neighbors! -APRIL 9, 2000 -
• Celine Dion Enjoys Life Off Stage - 3/29/00
• Translation summary of the "Julie Snyder Show..with Celine"- 3/00-ATW-egroup
• Celine Dion to Headline Nabisco Championship Celebrity Pro-Am - 3/9/00
• Singer Dion Sues Tabloid for $20M - 2-29-00The Associated Press
• Celine Dion-lingerie lawsuit dropped -Friday, February 18, 2000
• Tune In Tonight -  MTV Diary - 2/16/00 The Journal - New York
• CTV National news transcript - 1/16/00
• "The Golden Touch Of The Queen Of Shmaltz"-Israeli youth magazine - Jan. 20,  2000
• Celine's Husband Treated - Jan 14, 2000
• Article from Hello Magazine hope you enjoy it.-1/18/99
• Dion's Las Vegas Arabian nights-themed wedding...Jan.11, 2000
• Celine diaries reveal retiring personality-Jan. 10, 2000
• Queen Elizabeth makes U.S. list of sartorial shame - 1/11/00
• December Artist of the Day. -1999
• Camels, tents in fairy-tale rite for Celine Dion - 1/6/00
• credits for the wedding event -1/6/00
• Dion renews wedding vows - 1/6/00
• Fan at Dion concert zaps guards with 300,000-volt stun gun -1/6/00
• The Best-Selling Canadian Of The Century - Jan. 05, 2000
• Celine Dion and sick husband renew wedding vows - Jan. 05, 2000
• Millennium Concert articles - 1-1-2000

• 1999:Celine Dion gets a plaque for selling 100 million CDs -12/16/99
• Dion given key to the city and is named UNESCO ambassador -12/16/99
• More on the "Zapper Raids" for Tax evasion.12/10/99
• More Zapper Raids on Nickels in Québec... 12/09/99
• Celine Dion and Rene Angelil Proudly Present...- 12/9/99
• "EVERY BODY MADE FUN OF HER CROOKED TEETH", 3/12/99
• Paris Match article translations..sent by Teresa and another by Ric- 12/04/99
• Posted comments about The Oprah Winfrey Show with Celine- Nov. 17, 1999
• ALL THE WAY...A DECADE OF SONG -Globe & Mail review-Nov. 18, 1999
• All The Way...A Decade Of Song - E-Online-like Review-11/16/99
• TV Guide has a interview with Celine and Rene!-11/15/99
• Hope for Celine Dion -Nov. 15, 1999
• Celine writes a book!  11/14/99
• Dion Delivers Declaration of Love to fans...-11/11/99
• Celine writes a book on her new life, her career and on Rene - 11/10/99
• © La Presse Canadienne, 1999 - Canadian Press, 1999
• CELINE'S TITANIC RETURN -New York Daily News - 10/31/99
• Really, Billy-bored-like  - article  - paraphrased all about ATW- 11/06/99
• Child with Cystic Fibrosis meets her idol: Celine Dion -Sept. 17
• Entertainment Weekly-10/99 - bio book rights
• Celine Speaks Out - TeamCeline-10/14/99(end articlearc2)
• Canada's Celine Dion to fight lawsuit -Reuters/Variety 10-12-99
• Are they singing or just synching? - Oct. 11, 1999
• Fired drummer claims Dion lip-synchs - The Globe and Mail -10/9/99
• Celine Dion turns on charm for Pepsi Center opening gala -Denver Post -9/2/99
• REVIEW - MUSIC - POP - CELINE DION -Pop Music Critic -9/9/99
• Dion's concert a tribute-Denver Post Oct 2, 1999
• CBS Says, Come on Over With New Music Specials:The Robins Report-9/99
• Review: Dion's performance gave everyone a thrill!-September 30, 1999
• Dion's bombast proves to be everlasting love - The Dispatch - September 28, 1999
• Dion's despair adds to drama of show  - Lifestyles-Buffalo News - 9/21/99
• Celine Dion charms with mix of moods, styles - Pop Music Writer -Providence
• Diva Dion shimmers in the sweetest scores-Globe-Boston review-09/27/99x
• CELINE DION Weekend Watchdog 09/24/99
• Media Articles & Reviews covering Friday, September 17th
• Dion brings down the house with over-the-top performance-Ottawa Sun-14-Sep-1999
• Canada's Walk of Fame Pays Tribute to Céline Dion - 14-Sep-1999
• giving part $1 million dollars-9-13-99-posted
• Celine Dion's New Year's Eve bash almost sold out - Rueter's- 09-12-99
• ..the singer..answered liberally....Le Soleil /Sun-9-12-99
• Wants time with husband, who's winning battle with cancer- The Gazette-9/9/99
• Celine Dion faces a holiday from showbiz -Jam - Sept. 9, 1999
• Let's talk about more seats/CBS Special / Rider PGA Cup - fans-(8-24&25)
• Top Performers Join Cisco-Netaid concert - 10-8-99
• Singer Celine Dion is golfer's biggest fan at charity benefit-R.Macy-8/8/99
• Celine: even better saleswoman of concert tickets-F. Perron -7-28-99
• Céline Dion takes a little rest - 7-27-99
• CBS To Tune Up Specials From Martin, Dion, Twain -7-27-99
• Celine Dion and Shania Twain, go head-to-head-UK- Observer-S. Taylor -7-11-99
• Pop up too close and personal: Celine...Sheffield - D.  Simpson -The Guardian 7/8/99
• Soul diva Celine is queen - Polly GrahamDaily Mirror -July 7th 1999
• Celine Dion: Sheffield Don Valley Stadium -Yorkshire Post - Dawn Jessop- 7/8/99
• 29 Treat Her Like A Lady -- Dot Music-UK -July. 1999
• A Viewpoint from France/Un point de vue de la France M. Pellerin -Le Parisien-6/23/99
• Article from Le Soleil…about "Tapis Rouge " (translation) - June 22, 1999
• Dion larger than life...filled the Stade de France. -By H.  HAZÉRA June 21, 1999 (AFP)
• Celine at the Stade in France- The Journal of Montreal by M. Guilbert ( 6-19-99)
• Céline Dion .....giving the largest spectacle by any Québécois--M. DOLBEC
• From today's Journal de Montréal Thursday, June 17th.-Céline au Stade de France.
• Maman -7 jours vol no 28, May 15 1999
• "For the love of a child"- 'The Mail on Sunday - May 2, 1999
• Ladies Home Journal - May, 1999
• People-Low Note-4-17-99-
• Sinatra, Streisand top U.S. century's singers poll-(Reuters)4-99
• Celine Dion draws incrowd with high drama-By J. GUERRA-4-12-99
• Céline still on scene -Le Soleil-(translated)-4-10-99
• Husband's Cancer Diagnosis -MTV Online -April 8, 1999
• Celine Dion's Family Crisis-Reuters-April 8, 1999
• Let's have a summary- Apr 9, 1999
• Celine Dion's husband treated for cancer- By Patrick White -4-8-99
• For Duceppe, Dion remains a Quebecer - Montreal Gazette, 4-7-99
• Identity doesn't follow political  borders -Paul Wells, National Post -April 07, 1999
• Celine Dion Accused Of Lacking Quebec Soul- Rueter's-4-6-99
• Dion captivates with words of love-By T. Gubbins/ Dallas Morning News-04/03/99>
• >Multitalented Dion thrills her audience-By D.  Lindquist, Star/News Staff Writer-4/1/99
• Dion packs show with plenty of heart -Journal Sentinel -Dave Tianen(3-27-99)
• Celion Dion's success story just seems to go on and on and.. / Star Tribune-(3-21-99)
• Glamour at Oscars--2 from.c The Associated Press- (excerpts only)3-22-99/3-21-99
• Her heart beats for home -National Post- Tuesday, March 09, 1999
• Award Articles: recent ..mostly from  1999
• Let's talk about Celine's Junos-Toronto Sun- March 8, 1999-By J. STEVENSON
• Oh baby! Celine wins five Junos-March 8, 1999-Doug Foley -The Spectator
• Dion sails to big Juno win-By ANDREW FLYNN - Jam-Canadian Press-3/ 7/99
• Make way for Celine-Jam-Edmonton Sun-M. Ross-March 5, 1999
• Celine's the Juno queen - Jam Showbiz-February 28, 1999
• That syncing feeling - March 1, 1999
• Northern divas topped by Hill-By ANDREW FLYNN - Canadian Press-2-25-99
• Grammys Become Lauryn Hill Night-(excerpts from)- AP-99-02-25
• After Grammys, Canadian divas capture the world's ear-Rueter's-2-25-99-
• People -Family Matters -(March 1,1999)
• Celine Dion Denies Anorexia Rumors-The Associated Press-02-19-99
• Picks for Winners at Grammy Awards-The Associated Press(99-02-17)
• Dion surpasses all expectations-Star-Bulletin-By John Berger, Feb. 13, 1999
• Star-Bulletin-Celine-By Tim Ryan
• Giving Up The Stage For A Real Life-By B. MOSSMAN-Feb 10, 1999>
• ROUND-UP: Record of the Year-Grammy site-Sunday, February 7, 1999
• Le Soleil-Translated from the Québec newspaper-Feb, 1999
• Transcript of Celine's press conference in HK- Feb 6, 1999
• CARAS To Honour Céline Dion -05-Feb-99(end)
• -Company Press Release-Thursday January 28, 12:24 pm Eastern Time
• -Babies and golf in diva's dreams-By Mary Ann Benitez -1-27-99
• -Dreams, love linger in a night to remember-Hong Kong-Jan.27, 1999
• -High notes at Kai Tak spectacular --Hong Kong Standard Jan. 26, 1999--
• -Celine Dion Tops Europe's Album Chart For 1998- Jan 21, 1999
• -Gavin's Top Artists of 1998 -Jan 15, 1999
• -Will Smith Wins Three Music Awards-By M. FLEEMAN-A P 01-12-99
• -The fix is in-By MIKE ROSS -- Edmonton Sun (CA)- 01-12-99
• -Magical' for Celine- .. American Music Awards,  Toronto Sun  (CA)- 01-12-99
• -Dion, Twain lag at American Music Awards-AP-Jam Music(CA)- 01-12-99
• -The People Have Spoken- CBS This Morning Site-January 11,1999
• People Magazine -The new pop Diva’s-To Have, and Have a Lot-Jan. 18, 1999---
• Paris Match Year-end Issue-Decembre 1998 (with translation)

• The Miseducation Of The Recording Industry-Rolling Stone-Jan. 1999
• Rolling Stone -1998
• Dion sings her way to top selling artist title-Dec. 24, 1998
• Celine Dion keeps U.S. music business from sinking -Dec. 24, 1998
• 1998 was special time for Dion-Dec. 22, 1998

• -The Gazette-'I love to sing about love'-NORBERT IVANEK-December 1998
• -The Gazette-Celine's tour launch: let's talk about love -J.  Griffin -Aug.  1998

• -Dion, 'Titanic' Lead Year-End Certifications-By Julie Taraska -Dec. 1998

• -Dion's dazzling display-Examiner Music Critic - October 14, 1998
• -Boatload Of Love-Calgary Express -October 08, 1998.
• -In concert, Celine Dion's heart goes on-Flint Journal-Sept. 22, 1998
• -Delightful Dion-By Anika Van Wyk Calgary Sun - October 08, 1998
• -Celine Is The Queen-By J. Muretich-Calgary Herald -Oct.  03, 1998
• -Boston Concert-From: "Shawn- Aug 23, 1998

• *C'est Celine - Jennifer Graham -1998 guide-
• Celine Dion -Magazine Interview + -OK Magazine -10-98
• -USA Today - Aug. 1998-
• -Indulge - Food, Wine and Lifesyle-Celine-1998-
• -Entertainment Weekly-Star-Ship Enterprise-March, 1998
• -McCalls-Celine Dion: Let's Talk About Love.. -1998

• *Target The Family-At Home With Celine Dion-1998
• -Modern Woman- Heart to Heart-Dec. 1998
• -Dion's Versatile Voice Will Go On- D. Heckman-LA Times Oct. 1998
• -"S'Il Suffisait D'Aimer"-M. Freedberg -The Boston Phoenix -Oct.1998
• -Celine Dion wants a break -and children- C. Grandmont Nov. 1998  (above 5 article are on same page)

• -US Magazine-Celine Dion-April 1997-
• -The Daily Mail -1997-UK-
• -TIME - By Charles P. Alexander-1996 & 1994-
• -Chatelaine Magazine- That's Ms. Dion to You-September 1996-
• -Record Collector-Celine Dion - Karen Faulkner-1996
• -The National Magazine-1996 & Tete a Tete-CA TV Interviews
• -Musique Plus-Sans Frontiere-1996-
• -Q Magazine-Celine Dion-1996
• -In Style Magazine- L. Friedman-Jan.1995 + People Mag.-North Star-June 1994

It is written in French, so I tried to translate you it. Sorry for mistakes !!! Love to celine !

what was your first reaction when you heard that you are pregnant?
Celine : I screamed "now it's true!" .Listening to the heart beat of my baby was as if I was listening to the most beautiful music you can find.

were you said about a possible danger for the baby?
C.D : yes : there is 15% of bad pregnancy and 30% of multiple pregnancy. Doesn'tmatter, I couldn't be happier.

Do you want a boy or a girl?
C.D : we do not care. I just want the baby to be in good health. I don't want to know about it.

Do you want to get a big family, getting 14 children like your mother?
C.D. : I am glad to be actually mother, but I think that 14 children is a bit too much ( lol ) And René already has 3 children from his first marriage.

You wanted to be pregnant from René while he was fighting against the cancer. Wasn't it crazy?
CD : Rene, the man of all my life, was seriously ill. He could have given up and let our happiness die. But he fought with all his strongness. Because he loves the life and because he loves me, for his children and his friends. Now, the life he fought for is growing in me.

How is rené?
CD : He passed important tests and doctors are quiet happy. that's what is important for me. My husband feels very good, and now i want to be more with him.

What is the poll you can make about the last months you lived?
CD : René and I are completely happy and we thank God for this happiness. About last year, whatever happens now, life wins.

How do you live now, 8 months after stopping singing?
CD : I havn't really changed. I still love shopping, for instance. I have bought a bigger car and now it is easier to do shopping ! I think I am to sell the houses I had bought in Florida and in Montréal, so as to build houses I have drawn myself. And I offered my parents a house next to a lake, next to Montréal, and an other house in Palm Beach. At the moment, I am busy with thir decoration. I do love the colour white, on the walls, on the ground…

No regrets about leaving the stage?
CD : It is the best decision I took in all my life. I wanted to be able to take my time, to cook, to see my family and my friends. I wanted to be bored…I had success in it!

When will you come back?
CD : I said I wanted to take 2 years for relax. Now, I think i am to stop for 3 years at least "
why? Céline Dion says she wants to live at her rythm. " today I can wake up early and got to bed late. I don't have to take care of my image because a new video is to be turned. " What about stopping completely? " I think of it. Happiness and love are so precious for me that I can't let them leave. " Whatever, in all contracts she signed, there is no one which deals with a come back…
thanh

1. Eric, can you tell us a little of your background?
I was raised in Barbados as well as Montreal. I attended Concordia University, majoring in Sociology and Management. For many years, football was a big part of my life but during off-season I worked security for all the big shows that passed through Montreal, as well as other cities in North America. I've been doing this type of work for over 13 years.

2. And how did you come to be in Céline and René's employ?
I met Céline and René only after I had spoken with René about bringing Céline to Madonna's show in Montreal. That was in '92, if I'm not mistaken. About two days before Madonna's show, René called the production office to make sure that Céline would have some security around her. Now, at the time I was living in New York City and Céline was just breaking into the US market. I mean, I'd heard of her but I had no idea how big she was in Canada. So when René requested security, I said to myself 'why'? I soon found out. As we escorted Céline into the stadium the fans went wild! As soon as the show ended, René commented on the possibility of working together. Now in the music business people often say things but actually acting on it is a whole different story. But René was true to his word. It's been 5 years since that day and I still work for the best two people in the world.

3. What exactly are your responsibilities, on tour and at other times?
I'm Céline's Head of Security all over the world. When we're on tour it's my responsibility to make sure that Céline gets to and from every event without incident. When we fly, I'm the first person to deplane. This gives me the opportunity to check and deal with any possible problems.

4. What 's the best part of your job? The worst?
The best part is not only getting a chance to see the world but also working with the two best bosses ever. Céline and René trust me to do my job well. But don't be fooled, if Céline doesn't like something she has no fear in telling me so. The two of them have put together an all-star staff that give 100% to the job at hand. They make all of us feel like family. Under sometimes stressful conditions you have to love your job, and I do very much.

5. How do you spend your spare time?
In the mornings I work out, lifting weights and running. I love to shop for stuff, around the world. If I have the chance, I'll take some time to explore the town we're in. And movies, I try to see as many as I can. And sports, I always try to catch live games. It doesn't matter what sport because I enjoy them all. But one of the best things about traveling is being able to go out dancing. Let me tell you, there are a lot of wonderful clubs around the world and I make sure that I get into all of them!

6. What changes have you noticed since you started working with Céline?
When you work for one of the biggest pop stars in the world, you deal with a lot things. One change has been in my ability to deal with crowds of people. I don't like a lot of attention but with Céline it's all around us.
People remember me because of my association with Céline -- or is It because I'm not exactly the smallest person in the world?

7. What is Céline like when she's not working?
Céline is so down-to-earth it's unreal. She loves a good laugh so I make sure to crack her up once in a while. When she's not working (which is practically never), she's off playing golf, her new-found love. Or shopping. Other than that she has a pretty normal day off. She likes to take care of herself and is in great shape.

8. Can you describe an average day on tour?
To start the day off right, I need to do my work-out first thing in the morning. Later on in the day, I would conduct my pre-show security meeting. Soon after, I would escort Céline to a sound check. Céline loves it when her fans really get into the show, especially when they get up and dance or sing along. So I'll talk with the local security and try to get them to ease up a bit and relax. When her fans are happy, Céline is happy, so I try and make sure everyone is happy.

9 I've heard there's a lot of silliness (as well as professionalism) that goes on behind the scenes. Any particular moments stick out?
Last year René and I started what we call 'the tap game'. The rules are simple, if you get tapped on the shoulder and look in the direction of the tap, you lose a point. The object is to look in the direction opposite to the side you got tapped on. One day while in Germany I was leading the game 5 to 4. René did something I will never forget. While standing in front of the stage during a show, René decided he was going to get me. This will go down in history as the best. This man got down on his hands and knees and crawled under the stage. Now this is a dangerous thing to do, but René did it anyway. So I'm standing out front, watching the fans while Céline is singing on stage behind me. Now, I have no reason to think that René would be under the stage so I'm just doing my job. Then all of a sudden I feel a tap on my left shoulder, so I look to the left. No one. Then I feel a tap on my right, so I look to the right. No one. René had tapped me on both sides and sneaked back under the stage, now leading 6 to 5. I was so angry! But In the end I still won, 10 to 9. We have done a lot of silly things but I think that was the best one yet. Right now, we're trying to see who can open a door for Céline first but I'm kicking his butt. I won't tell you the score but it's bad.

10. Do you ever miss living a 'normal' life?
I do have a normal life because if I didn't I'd be going mad. In this business you have to maintain some sense of normalcy. The fancy hotels, planes and cars, all of it can really do a number on you. When you get home that way of life is not your own. I don't pretend that I'm the 'million dollar bodyguard'. My lob is to protect Céline and not to get caught up in the fantasy. When I go home I cook, clean and wash my own stuff. I can see where people would think my life isn't normal but I'm always in control and I try to keep it that way.

11. Does Céline have any quirky habits?
To me, the only quirky thing Céline does is she likes to imitate people for her sister, Manon. She would say or do something so funny that Manon would be crying but that wouldn't stop Céline she goes on and on. A lot of their conversation would be in French but when Céline starts and Manon begins laughing, you can't help laughing yourself, even if you don't understand.

12. Have you ever wanted to sing?
Back in the day, I used to be in my church choir, singing like a bird. But I gave it all up to play football. Some day, one of Céline's backup vocalists might get sick and they might need me to fill in and I could make a comeback!
Hey, you never know!

M.G

MONTREAL (CP) -- Celine Dion,who was rumoured to be expecting twins, is pregnant with just one baby,says Le Journal de Montreal.

The newspaper says the singer's pregnancy was confirmed Wednesday at her doctor's Florida clinic and the couple is extremely pleased.

"It's total joy," said a Dion sibling.

"Her ultrasound test gave the hoped-for results. She heard the baby's heart.
It's a dream come true."

The unnamed family member said the 32-year-old pop artist has been experiencing morning sickness but she's encouraged by Dion's mother, who had 14 children. "My mother reassures her on that score."

Dion announced her pregnancy June 10 after in vitro fertilization treatments at a New York clinic in the last week of May. At the time, she said the chances of a false pregnancy were 15 per cent and there was a 30 per cent likelihood the offspring would be twins or triplets.

"It's an easier pregnancy with just one baby," the sibling told the Montreal tabloid. "We're all relieved and extremely happy for our sister, Celine.
She's already been transformed by this baby. She's more calm."

The test results were welcomed by husband-manager Rene Angelil, 58, who reportedly had his sperm frozenlast year before he had cancer treatment. The treatment later was pronounced successful.

Murielle Blondeau, a Montreal spokeswoman, said last month the singer wants a healthy baby and doesn't care whether it's a boy or girl.

Dion, who often talked about taking a three-year break to relax and start a family, didn't bow out until a final concert last New Year's Eve.

She later spoke of improving her golf game, sleeping late and taking life easy at the couple's Florida home, away from the grind of touring.

Le Journal says Dr. Ronald Ackerman of West Palm Beach., Fla., Dion's gynecologist-obstretrician, has become a close friend of the couple.

The newspaper says Dion is lucky because the probability of becoming pregnant after only the first in vitro treatment is about 65 per cent.

Dion and husband Rene Angelil received the happy news that the singer was pregnant on the afternoon of June 8 in the kitchen of their Jupiter, Fla., estate. Celine's gynecologist, Dr. Ronald Ackerman, had arrived around 1 p.m. and, with Dr. Zev Rosenwaks (the Manhattan fertility specialist who had completed Dion's in vitro fertilization procedure 11 days earlier) on the speaker phone, Dion finally heard the long-awaited words: "Congratulations, you're pregnant!"

Now the singer, who has slipped from view since her farewell Millennium Eve concert in Montreal, is permitting her doctors, Rosenwaks, 53, and Ackerman, 47, to talk exclusively to PEOPLE about her medical procedures.
Dion had 18 eggs retrieved from her body on May 25, and had up to three fertilized eggs transferred into her uterus on May 28. For the procedure, doctors used the high-tech Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) intervention, which can cost approximately $14,000. The couple began to consider this method of conception after Angelil's diagnosis and subsequent treatment for cancer in 1999. Both concerned about potential side effects from Angelil's pending radiation treatment, they decided to freeze some of his sperm for use in the future. Tests conducted prior to the freezing showed that Angelil's sperm was low in both density and movement. Dr. Ackerman reports that Dion has "very, very healthy ovaries" and speculates that "there's a good chance Rene's sperm count has been the problem since they were married."

What next? If an ultrasound given in late June indicates that the fetus is developing normally, Dr. Rosenwaks says Dion will have a 90 to 95 percent chance of carrying the baby to term. He also estimates that there's a "30 to 40 percent chance" she's carrying multiples. Dr. Ackerman predicts that Dion will deliver in mid-February if she is carrying one child, two to four weeks earlier if she's carrying multiples.

Dr. Rosenwaks calls the couple's candor about their infertility problems "courageous" and in keeping with the bond Dion shares with her fans. As she said last year, "I share my whole life with the audience. They know everything about me."

For more on this story, pick up the June 26, 2000 issue of PEOPLE magazine.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- World famous pop vocalist, Celine Dion, has agreed to become a spokesperson for LiFizz (pronounced, "Life is") Vitamins, Inc, an effervescent vitamin company, it was announced jointly by Christer Rosen, LiFizz CEO & President, and David Platel, marketing representative for Celine Dion.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000613/NYTU025 )

The two-year agreement between Dion and LiFizz will bring added marketing strength to the popular LiFizz Effervescent Vitamins. LiFizz will support Dion's involvement with a $19 million dollar advertising budget over the next two years. The budget will include a television commercial campaign with Dion, which will be aired nationally across the country on the major networks as well as cable outlets.

Christer Rosen, CEO & President said, "We are very proud to have an artist of Celine Dion's caliber associated with our company. She tried our product after playing golf with my co-founder, Jesper Parnevik, and had the same reaction that we have seen by other consumers, if they try LiFizz, they buy LiFizz.  We have several retailers lined up to carry our products when the new Celine commercial airs and we expect to double our retail base to 30,000 stores within the next six months. This in combination with our Internet site, http://www.lifizz.com, makes the product conveniently available for most consumers around the country."

Celine Dion commented by saying, "Like many people, I don't find taking vitamins a lot of fun. But with LiFizz, it's different. The first time I tried them I liked LiFizz so much that I ordered 144 cartons for my people to take on tour. I'm proud to be associated with this innovative company."

LiFizz's other company spokesperson, LiFizz co-founder and professional golfer, Jesper Parnevik says, "We started the company when we realized that effervescent vitamins were not available in the United States. In Europe, effervescent vitamins represent over 30% of the total vitamin sales in a $9 billion market."

LiFizz consists of a complete line of effervescent vitamins in several different fruit flavors specially formulated for both adults and children. Product distribution started 18 months ago and the product is already sold in over 15,000 health, chain drug, supermarket and mass-market stores. LiFizz Effervescent Vitamins are the official vitamins of the PGA TOUR, SENIOR PGA TOUR and the LPGA.

For further information, please call LiFizz's Vice President of Marketing, Michael Rackley at 1-800-561-0068 and Natalie Pavlenko, 416-413-4649.

SOURCE  LiFizz Vitamins, Inc.

06/13/2000 09:35 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com

MONTREAL (Reuters) - French Canadian pop star Celine Dion said Friday she was at last pregnant, ending speculation sparked when she spent a few days recently at a fertility clinic in New York.

Dion, famous for such hits as ``My Heart Will Go On'' from the movie ``Titanic,'' released a letter to her fans Friday to ``share the wonderful news.''

``There's no hiding happiness. We can't keep something so big, so wonderful a secret just for us. This time it's for real -- I'm pregnant,'' said Dion, who has sold more than 100 million records since the beginning of her career.

``We just found out yesterday afternoon, (husband Rene Angelil) and I, that the dream dearest to our hearts has come true. We are completely, totally happy. And we thank God for the great joy we've been given,'' she added.

Dion, 32, who is taking a three-year sabbatical from her career to have a child, underwent two small operations just two weeks ago to improve her chances of becoming pregnant. She had been treated at a New York City fertility clinic so she could fulfil her dream of having a child with her husband. She gave her final public performance on December 31 in Montreal.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien told reporters on a visit to Quebec City he was delighted to hear the news.

``Good for her, good for her. I congratulate her,'' he said at a news conference.

Angelil was diagnosed as having throat cancer last year and Dion said that over the past year she and her husband, who is also her manager, went through a ``terrible test together, but made it through stronger, closer, more loving than ever.''

The couple married in a celebrity wedding in Montreal in 1994. Angelil has managed Dion's career since she began singing as a teen-ager in the rural town of Charlemagne near Montreal.

``The man of my life, my whole life, was seriously ill. He could have thrown in the towel, given up and let our happiness die. But instead of giving up, he chose to fight with all his might.''

She said that medical tests conducted on Angelil over the past few days have all been negative.

``And today, the life he fought for and saved is now beating inside of me, growing inside of me. This is my love. This is the proof that you must believe in happiness, the proof that love exists so long as you believe in it,'' Dion wrote in her letter.

Reuters/Variety
====================

Celine Dion says she's pregnant and 'totally happy'

Singer Celine Dion sits in a golf cart with husband Rene Agelil while driving in a golf cart to the clubhouse after finishing on the 18th green during Pro-Am celebrity play, March 22. (AP/Michael Caulfield)

MONTREAL (CP) - Pop singer Celine Dion, who took a break from the pressures of touring to get pregnant, says it has finally happened. "We just found out," she said in a statement Friday.

Dion said she and husband-manager Rene Angelil "are completely, totally happy" with the news that she's having a baby. Dion, who has had trouble conceiving, missed singing at Maurice (Rocket) Richard's funeral last week due to fertility treatments she had in New York.

Dion said the couple has another reason for joy: Angelil, who has had cancer treatment, had major tests a few days ago that found no trace of any cancer.

"For me, this is still what counts most," said Dion.

"In three weeks, if all goes well, we'll hear the heart of our baby, beating inside of my tummy.

"We know how fragile this new life is. But we know that whatever happens, life has already won.

"This is the proof that you must believe in happiness, the proof that love exists so long as you believe in it."

Dion's baby is expected in early March, said a spokeswoman Francine Chaloult.
Reuters/Variety
© The Canadian Press, 2000

Celine Dion convalescing after two operations -5-30-00
 

MONTREAL (Reuters) - French-Canadian pop diva Celine Dion underwent two operations of an undisclosed nature over the past few days and will be convalescing for a few weeks, her spokeswoman said late Monday.

The Le Journal de Montreal newspaper, citing reliable sources, reported Tuesday that the singer had been treated at a New York City fertility clinic so she could fulfill her dream of having a child with husband and manager Rene Angelil.

``I have no comment on that,'' Dion's spokeswoman told Reuters, adding Dion would take a rest for at least 10 days.

``Two small operations, performed on Thursday the 25th and Sunday the 28th, compelled me to remain in bed for few weeks of convalescence,'' Dion said in a statement late Monday through her spokeswoman.

Le Journal de Montreal daily reported that Dion was trying to become pregnant through the help of fertility techniques applied at a New York clinic.

The singer, who is on a two- to three-year sabbatical, has said she badly wants to have a child.

In her prepared statement, Dion said she would not be able to sing at Wednesday's funeral of French-Canadian hockey legend Maurice Richard, who died Saturday in Montreal after a battle with cancer.

``Only reasons of health could have kept me away from this (Montreal) Basilica, where the hearts of Quebecers will beat as one in memory of their hero,'' she said.

Reuters/Variety

20:52 05-30-00
============================================

Fertility treatments to keep Celine Dion from singing at Richard's funeral

MONTREAL (CP) - Celine Dion won't be able to sing at Wednesday's funeral for
Maurice Richard because she is recuperating from fertility treatments, Le Journal de
Montreal reported Tuesday.

Dion - who performed at a tribute to The Rocket last year sporting a No. 9 Canadiens
jersey - sent regrets Monday she won't be able to sing at Richard's funeral at the
Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. She said she is in bed recovering from minor operations performed last Thursday and Sunday.

"Only a medical reason could keep me from the basilica where the heart of Quebec will
beat in unison in memory of its hero," Dion said in a statement.

"I was immensely touched by his passing and nothing in the world would have prevented me from
having the pleasure and privilege of singing one last time for him."

Neither Dion nor her husband-manager Rene Angelil would provide details about the operations. But Le Journal de Montreal, citing unnamed sources, reported Dion is having fertility treatments at a New York clinic.

The pop diva has said repeatedly she wants nothing more than to have a baby, and is currently on a much-publicized hiatus from performing so she can try to conceive.

The couple has even had Angelil's sperm frozen in case they decide to turn to in-vitro fertilization.

Richard died in hospital Saturday of respiratory failure after a battle with stomach cancer and Parkinson's disease. He was 78.

Quebec singer Ginette Reno has been asked to sing Ceux qui s'en vont (Those Who Go Away) at the legendary right-winger's state funeral.

The Roman Catholic mass will follow a procession along Ste-Catherine Street - the scene of many
Stanley Cup parades and the avenue torn apart by fans who rioted in 1955 to protest Richard's suspension after a brawl.

While the church can accommodate 3,000 people, the service also will be broadcast live on television and shown on a giant screen outside.
Several hockey greats and Canadian politicians are expected to
attend.

© The Canadian Press,2000

FOR:  LE BUREAU DE FRANCINE CHALOULT

MAY 29, 2000

Le Bureau de Francine Chaloult: Annoucement-Celine's two surgeries -MAY 29, 2000

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--At the age when I began to skate awkwardly, supported by my brothers and sisters, Maurice Richard had already hung up his skates several years before.

And before I had the pleasure of shaking his hand and sharing a few brief but memorable moments with him, I had heard his name around a lot, each time because he was being cited as an example to others.

Rene has told me about his incredible career and his determination, each time with a tremor in his voice.

All I knew about him was the Legend.

Then I caught his eye, and I understood how this great athlete could become a symbol of courage and an inspiration for an entire nation.

I too was taken by his warmth, his sincerity and his charisma.

I was also impressed by his courage and dignity in the face of an adversary for once stronger than his determination.  Although
unwell, he retained a lucidity and strength of character far beyond those of mere mortals.

He crossed my life like a shooting star, like the "Rocket" he was until he breathed his last.

I was deeply touched by his loss, and nothing in the world could stop me from having the pleasure and the honor of singing one last
time for him.

That will be my way of saying goodbye to him; my own personal prayer.

Only reasons of health could have kept me away from this Basilica, where the hearts of Quebeckers will beat as one in memory of their hero.

Two small operations, performed on Thursday the 25th and Sunday the 28th, compelled me to remain in bed for few weeks of convalescence.

I will therefore be with you only in spirit, but knowing that you will understand my absence.

Please convey to the Richard family my sincerest and deepest condolences.

Celine Dion
-http://www2.cdn-news.com/scripts/ccn-release.pl?2000/05/29/0529081n.html?cp=francais1

Celine demolishing Montreal home -May 12, 2000
Celine Dion is a homewrecker.

The superstar singer and her husband, Rene Angelil, plan to level their $7.8 million Montreal home in order to build a new abode worth $20 million, according to a report in Le Journal De Montreal.

The home, which sits on an island north of Laval, features marble flooors, multiple living rooms and bathrooms, as well as a glass-domed indoor swimming pool.

But apparently it wasn't palatial enough for the couple, who asked architect Rene Rioux to seek permission from city officials to demolish the home, according to the report in Le Journal.

The paper reported that the couple has quietly bought up neighboring properties and now own most of Ile Gagnon on Riviere Des Milles-Iles. The original home, which also includes a tennis court, took two years to build in the early 1980s. It will cost $30,000 to demolish, the paper reports.

-- JAM! Music

5/00 Celine has a project of restoration in the Gagnon island

It is the general swing-low which prepares on the Gagnon island. All the interior of Celine Dion and Rene Angelil's  famous   7-8 million castle will be demolished in an immense project of enlarging it with several million dollars...will be carried out during next months.

According to information's obtained by the Newspaper of Montreal, acquisition, the restoration and ' enlarging of the castle by two big companies dependences will add up to an invested cost of more than 20 million dollars.

A licence of demolition for $30,000 was acquired recently by the architect Rene Rioux of the Town of Laval to demolish the interior of the famous castle built on an island giving on the river of the Meadows.

The architect expressly requested from the Laval municipal authorities to show the greatest discretion concerning this project, to be completely modified.
All had been done to measure in this castle, of the interior woodworks to the cut stones and the spiral staircase while passing by the immense canopy sheltering the swimming pool, of the natural trees and a cascade which will bathe an immense hearth.

The request for licence of demolition implies the right all to demolish in this house of luxury, which includes/understands a black marble floor to the kitchen and beige with the show.

At the beginning of the Eighties, semi-skilled workers had spent two years with to build this luxurious home in castle style.

The enlarging envisioned  by the famous Dion-Angelil couple implies the construction of two separate structures on each side of the current building to accomodate guests there whereas the current basement of the castle is arranged in apartment for the servants.

The castle already five bathrooms and a bath-swirl offering a sight on all the field.

Let us we remember they 'are' celebrities who acquired this house.

A man who attempted to attack Celine Dion with a 300,000 volt stungun at her farewell concert was fined £480 today.

Simon Rioux, 22, was also put on probation for two years and forbidden from possessing any sort of weapon for 10 years after the attack.

Rioux was arrested during Dion's New Year's Eve concert at Montreal's Molson Centre, after an altercation with guards when he tried to approach the stage.

Rioux, who was described as agitated and inebriated, attacked three security guards with the stun gun when they blocked his path.

Dion was playing her last public show before departing on the sabbatical she is currently enjoying to have children with her husband.

Source: Dotmusic UK http://www.dotmusic.co.uk/news/May2000/news13825.asp - posted by Che

MONTREAL (PC) - The young man who attacked three security guards at the Molson Centre with the aim of reaching singer Céline Dion was fined $ 770 yesterday.

Judge Gilles Cadieux also sentenced Simon Rioux, 22 years, of Outremont, two year's probation and prohibition to have any weapon for ten years.

Towards the end of the singer's concert on New Year's Eve, Rioux advanced towards the slides, armed with an electric gun capable of discharging 300 thousand volts.  He attacked and wounded three Molson Centre security guards who blocked his path.  Rioux was apparently agitated and in a state of intoxication.

In court, he pled guilty to charges of brandishing a weapon and possession of a prohibited weapon.

© Canadian Press, 2000

-translated by Ric

LAVAL (PC) - The castle that Céline Dion and René Angelil are about to buy will cost seven million eight hundred thousand dollars.
According to the Journal de Montréal, the new purchasers put down a million dollars cash last December 3rd and contracted a 25 year mortgage at monthly payments of $50,817 . Municipal taxes for the luxury estate are over $30,000 annually. Electricity costs run approximately $19,000. And the land transfer tax, commonly called the welcome tax, is $112,000.
© Canadian Press, 2000
ranslated by Ric

Patrick Lagacé

LAVAL - Céline Dion has still not confirmed purchase of the 7.8 M$ Gagnon Island castle but she's already started to locate family members on the street leading to this large so-called deluxe hotel.

Three properties - two houses and a wooded lot -- were acquired by intermediaries acting secretly for the singer and René Angelil, over the last few months. The two nearby houses are separated from the wooded lot by a single-family house also wanted by the couple. These four properties, comprising one-half of the lots on Gagnon street, are located only a stone's throw from the famous Gagnon Island castle.

That property was purchased for 7.8 M$ in December 1999 by an intermediary on behalf of the star and her husband.

Céline Dion bought two houses, empty single-family of the pastoral victorian type, to locate there one of her brothers, Clément, and sister Manon who accompanied her on tour.

Market Price

But they did not cough up the full initial asking price for these houses, nomatter how vain they are. Far from that, indicated Marc Leblanc, who sold them to people acting for the couple.

"They paid full market price," he told the Newspaper yesterday.

And market pricet, on Gagnon street, is approximately $150,000 according to Town of Laval assessments.

Throughout negotiations, Mr. Leblanc was unaware of that the prospective buyers acted for Céline Dion and René Angelil. He only discovered that afterwards, he said.

The other residence which sold knew, him, with which it dealt. That did not have any effect on the selling price " They paid market price," he ensured.

The wooded lot of 1,100 square metres was bought for $40,800 by Lynne Deschâtelets in trust. But, in fact, the celebrity is behind this business, said Marc Leblanc. "The lawyer who finalised the transaction, is mine!"

The three properties acquired by the celebrity surround another house, that the current owners refused to sell. Until now.

Other Purchases?

Eight houses line Gagnon Island street, located between boulevard Labelle and Route 15, in Sainte-Rose.

Do Céline and René intend to conquer them one by one?

"No, there is no immediate plan to buy all the properties," said a resident who sold his.

The two houses will be available for Clément and Manon Dion at end-September 2000.

posted by MG-Canadian Press
-translated by Ric

The Associated Press

 By BETH HARRIS

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) - There are no screaming fans, shows to perform or awards to accept in Celine Dion's new life.

And she loves it.

``You don't know how happy I am,'' she said. ``It's wonderful.''

After a decade of having record sales in the millions and appearing everywhere, Dion began a two-year hiatus from her singing career in January.

``I'm going to become a professional golfer,'' she joked. ``It's a game that drives me crazy, but it's a wonderful game.''

She briefly interrupted her self-imposed break to sing five songs for 1,000 people attending a dinner for an LPGA tournament here.

``I'm nervous. I haven't trained,'' she told the audience before launching into her hits ``Because You Loved Me'' and ``My Heart Will Go On.'' Dion brought three backup singers, but performed to recorded music.

Dion is comfortable performing in front of thousands of people, but she's out of her element on the golf course. She's an 18-handicapper whose best round in 2 1/2 years is 84.

``When I go on stage and I sing a song, I'm nervous, but I know what I'm doing. I'm sure of myself, I can just go for it. If I make a mistake, I know where to hit the next note,'' she said.

``On the golf course, I'm an amateur and I'm trying to think of everything I have to do, but you hear your knees shaking big, big time.''

Sporting a drastically short hairdo, Dion played with her husband-manager Rene Angelil in the pro-am of the Nabisco Championship. In a move sure to jar longtime fans, she got rid of her famous long locks ``just for fun.'' Her spiky new style is blond with dark roots showing.

``Now I don't have to protect an image or be careful because a new video is coming up for me and I need the long hair,'' she said.

One aspect of a superstar's life that she can't escape during her break is the tabloids. Dion and Angelil are suing the National Enquirer for $20 million over a Feb. 1 story that said she is pregnant with twins.

Dion, 32 , denies that she is expecting, going so far as to turn sideways and lift up her top, revealing a flat stomach that accentuates her size-2 body.

Asked if the story started because she had been pregnant at one time, she replied, ``Absolutely not. I've never been pregnant. I wish, but not yet.''

The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit accuses the tabloid of invasion of privacy, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Enquirer is standing by its story.

``We don't think it's right,'' Angelil said. ``We're suing them and when we win, we will give that money to charities.''

The couple's very public desire to have a baby is one reason Dion took time off.

``This is our dream. We would both love for Celine to be pregnant,'' Angelil said. ``We're working hard on it.''

That comment prompted Dion to jump out of her seat and dash behind a tournament sign. She slowly peered out at the laughing crowd, feigning embarrassment.

``I'm enjoying life for the first time very, very much,'' she said. ``I can be with Rene much more now and it makes me feel really, really happy.''

Angelil, who had surgery to remove a cancerous lump on his throat, has been in remission for a year.

``I feel really great,'' he said.

Dion said her vacation will definitely last two years.

``Maybe two and a half, maybe three and a quarter. I love singing as much as I used to but ... it's a lot of pressure because I have to deliver. But now I can wake up early, I can go to bed late. There's no schedule, which I love.''

AP-NY-03-29-00 1417EST

Hi Deborah!  Well I don't speak French fluently, but almost!!  I watched the
interview (thanks for the link by the way!! I never thought I'd see it!!)
They were talking about what it was like to finally be on vacation....waking
up in the morning together...Rene said that Celine is in a bad mood in the
morning! lol  They play golf everyday...and Rene has lost some weight and
Celine says that whenever she finds him in the kitchen, she chases him away
with clothes line (?)!!   She also doesn't listen to the radio a lot cuz she
is always playing golf, sitting in the sun, swimming,,,but when she hears her
songs on the radio, she changes the station.  Then she said her vocal teacher
told her she shouldn't completely stop doing vocal exersises if she plans on
returning...I guess she's recording this summer for her French hits album.
Then Julie asks to clear up some rumors:  like ARE YOU PREGNANT WITH TWINS?
lol  She says "FALSE FALSE FALSE!!"  True or false: Did Rene take any
fertility precautions before the chemo treatments?  Yes...I think we already
knew the answer to that one!!  True or false:  Did the remarriage in Las
Vegas cost $2 million?  "That's completely false" -- Celine says "Not 2
million!  4 million!! " (she was joking)...True or false: You will be coming
to France this summer for vacation:  Celine: "Yes"...they love France and
Europe and have friends there that they miss.  It'll be the first time
they've gone there without a microphone!
    They put a green in the middle of their pool so that they could show off
their golf skills....so Rene hits the ball and misses the green!!  Then when
Celine hits it, she gets the ball on the green (but no hole)...Celine's the
winner!!
    Then Julie announces that there is another Celine Dion that exists in the
world!  She lives in Bauvais...a city an hour away from Paris....she's a 24
year old girl that works in a bakery!  So they go to the bakery, take her
away in a limousine to a salon and give her a manicure, haircut and wardrobe
then they take her to a hotel (where for some reason there are people waiting
for her autograph) and she has a photoshoot in the hotel room!!  (I guess I'm
describing what's happening for those who haven't seen it or can't get it on
their computer LOL)  Then they bring the 24 yr old Celine on and Julie
introduces the Celines.  Then Celine asks her if she's Quebecoise and the
girl said "No no no not at all look at my Northern accent"...it sounded kinda
snotty to me but oh well!!   Then Celine's like "Which one doesn't play
golf?" (makes a funny face)...she was joking...then she gives Julie an ID to
prove she's Celine Dion! Then Julie asks if there are advantages of having
the same name...Celine 2 replied that her mom was buying shirts for her dad
and the cashier noticed  her last name was Dion and asked if they were of the
Celine Dion family and her mom said "Yes!  She's my daughter!" LOL Then Julie
gives Celine 2 two copies of the All The Way CD...one with the normal cover
and one with a cover of Celine 2's face!  Then Julie asks the two Celines to
say goodbye to eachother and tells Celine2 to kiss the screen goodbye (and
she does!!LOL).
    Julie asks Celine if when she was little did she ever think she would
find herself in the dictionary...she said no...so Rene looks in the
dictionary for Celine Dion...I guess it's not there but Celine pretends to
find the Celine Dion of Beauvais.  I have no idea why they thought Celine
would be in the dictionary but oh well!  (I've looked before hehe)
    I hope that helped some!!  Sorry I didn't get everything they were
saying...maybe the fluent French speakers in the group will be able to clear
up what I missed!!!  But anyway, there ya go!

*~Cath~*

    RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.--(BW SportsWire)--March 8, 2000--The Nabisco Championship, the first major LPGA golf tournament of the year, has announced that global superstar Celine Dion will headline the tournament's 2000 Celebrity Pro-Am.

    The Nabisco Championship Celebrity Pro-Am marks one of Dion's first public appearances since she started her hiatus from active performance at the end of last year. Moreover, the event represents Dion's first celebrity pro-am appearance on the LPGA Tour. The Nabisco Championship Celebrity Pro-Am will be held Tuesday, March 21, and Wednesday, March 22, at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage.

   Considered the premier contemporary pop vocalist, Dion has earned music accolades from around the world including Grammy awards in the United States; Juno and Felix awards in Canada; and World Music awards in Europe. So far in her career, she has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide - more than any other female solo artist in the history of the music business.

    Dion has been an avid golfer for three years and plays golf year-round. She and her husband, Rene, spend winters at their house on a golf course in Jupiter, Fla., and summers at their own golf course in Montreal, Quebec.

    "I have an almost obsessive love for golf, so I am very excited about playing in The Nabisco Championship Celebrity Pro-Am," Dion said. "The game is always a great challenge and great fun. All of that will be heightened by playing side-by-side with the great champions of the LPGA and the other celebrities in Nabisco's tournament."

    Joining Dion at the 2000 Nabisco Championship Pro-Am is a lengthy list of famous names from film, television and music. Other celebrities set to compete include Michael Bolton, Alice Cooper, Patrick Duffy, Jamie Farr, Glenn Frey, Don Meredith and Tommy Smothers.

    During the two days of celebrity golf action, The Nabisco Championship is offering free admission to adults 55 years and older as part "Senior Appreciation Days."

    The 2000 Nabisco Championship starts on Monday, March 20, with a practice round for LPGA players and the finals for the Toyota/Nabisco $1 Million Hole-in-One Contest and the Celebrity Hole-in-One Contest for Charity. Both events are free and open to the public. Championship play will follow on Thursday, March 23, through Sunday, March 26.

Hahn Communications
 
 
 
 

The Associated Press

 LOS ANGELES (AP) - Singer Celine Dion has sued the National Enquirer for $20 million, alleging it said she was pregnant with twins while knowing the story was false.

Claims in the suit, filed Monday in Superior Court, include false light invasion of privacy, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Citing ``a source who knows Celine,'' the Enquirer's Feb. 1 story on the pop singer said she was ``overjoyed her greatest dream has come true.'' Its cover sported a photo of Dion with the headline: ``Celine - I'm pregnant with twins!''

``The story is absolutely false,'' said Martin Singer, her lawyer. He said no one had attempted to verify the story with Dion or her publicist before it appeared.

Singer said the report caused Dion ``significant emotional distress'' because it was believed by the public as well as her friends and relatives.

He read a statement by Dion in which she told of being repeatedly congratulated on the reported pregnancy.

``I only wish it was true, and I hope and pray that some day it will be,'' she said.

Calls placed after business hours to the Enquirer's offices were not immediately returned.

In 1998, Dion sued a French tabloid for violation of privacy after it printed an article suggesting she was unable to have a child.

 Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.
 

Celine Dion-lingerie lawsuit dropped -Friday, February 18, 2000

 MONTREAL (CP) - A $2.7-million lawsuit filed by a Quebec businessman in 1998 against singer Celine Dion and manager-husband Rene Angelil was dropped Thursday, Radio Canada, the French service of the CBC, reported Thursday.

 Carl Legault, of Boucherville, Que., claimed Dion and Angelil had agreed in 1996 to let him use the singer's name on a line of woman's underwear his company wanted to market.

 Legault further claimed the couple backed out of the deal the following year without compensating him.
 Dion and Angelil denied ever making the deal. Soon after Legault had filed his suit, they filed a $300,000 countersuit for damages.
 Legault could not be reached for comment Thursday

 MTV kicks off a new series, "Diary" (10:30 p.m.) promising to take viewers inside the daily lives of their favorite music artists and celebrities. Viewers looking for an inside look at the private life of "Diary's" first subject, Celine Dion, will be shocked to discover that she doesn't have one. But not for the lack of trying.
 Dion spends the entire half hour repeating herself, begging her fans and flacks to forgive her for leaving them and returning to a normal life. Along the way we see her rehearsing for a new year's Eve  concert in montreal and flying in a private plane with her husband Rene.
 Fans looking for deep, deep private thoughts had better seek them elsewhere. dion appears to be a good sport, but Decartes, she's not. At one point she looks straight into the camera and actually says, "There's no business like show business, but there's no place like home." Dion's millions of fans will no doubt enjoy these contrived peeks at her entourage, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that anything will be revealed by this exercise in self-promotion.

This is the transcript from the interview with Rene taling with the interviewer in Toronto studio. Celine was not present.

SR is the interviewer.
Clips are shown from New years eve concert between talking.

SR:Rene Angelel,the man who managed her, molded her and married her,the master-mind behind the mega-star.
Rene: she's not stopping cause she doesn't like doing it, it's because we wanna live something else,
SR: In all honesty is it largely due to your health that she's doing this.
Rene: not really cause we had decided before that to take a long break.
SR: Was the super-star worried about being over-exposed, that fans would tire of her.
Rene: YES! Last year that was a factor, this year though we're not even thinking of that. We wanna be closer with our family and friends.
First we have to stop traveling, that's what we're doing. Second take some time for ourselves,and try,.. and you know... make a baby, thats our biggest wish by the way, you know when you go through chemo-therapy, theres a chance that you won't be able to have a baby so we had something done before to secure that in case it doesn't happen naturally.
SR: As if to sanctify this hope to pro-create they renewed their wedding vows. A lavish extravaganza in Las Vegas, A middle eatern theme to reflect Angelil's Lebanese and Syrian roots.
SR: Wwho's idea was that Rene: Celine's actually. She knows that I... ah.. you know... love Las Vegas.
SR: and so after 20 years in the fast life they said au-revoir to an adoring hometown crowd, See you soon,
SR: who would have thought that when that 12 year old girl walked into your office, so many years ago, who would have thought that she would be this successful today. Did you ever contemplate that.
Rene: No. Never.
SR: In your wildest dreams...
Rene: Never.

I found this Israeli youth magazine, a bit late, the issue of March 1998, but it's something pretty rare, cause not many papers in Israel write about Celine, and good stuff also. I find This specific article very interesting and I'd like to translate some of what is says, even though it's not so new:

"Celine Dion is not "IN". She's not as tough as Alannis, Not as sexy as Mariah, Not as provocative as Madonna and not as privileged as Janet. It's not "cool" to love her, but it doesn't stop her from selling millions of records, spending her time recieving prestigious awards and starring in any prestigious soundtrack."

"Last week i(the writer) considered leaving the keys on the desk of the editor, and announce my resignation as your loyal music reporter. The reasons for my failure i'd define as disgrace of the profession and a total ignorance from the reality. 30,000 Israelis had alreday brought "Let's Talk About Love", Celine Dion's latest album to thier homes, and i barely even knew she was Canadian.
Just for comparison, 30,000 copies is sort of what the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys has sold in Israel. And when was the last time you read a serious article on Miss Dion here? That's right, Never."

" A few months ago, Celine's previous album Falling Into You's sales were published, and i didn't even bother letting you know... Do you think you can so easily ignore 25 million albums sale?! That's just about the same amount Alannis Morrisette had sold from her hysterical debut album, and to this day, we're still making a big deal out of it. By the way, Alannis also comes from Canada and if you wrote for yourselves that she's the most successful artist who came from Canada, get an eraser and quick."

"Celine's latest album had already sold 10 million copies in the US and it's only been 4 months since it's release... To be more exact with the details, i looked at the list of awards Celine Dion had won in the last 3 years, out of intention to give you some more details. The problem is i'm still counting the awards of 1997, when i finish, i'll update you on that too."

"I must say for my defence that i'm not the only one who ignored her. Lots of bigger and more important writers than me in the US and Europe rather close thier eyes to that day. And if they write something, it's usually not something good. But Celine doesn't even bother responding. Maybe if she had the time, she'd say something, but she's busy going on and off fansy ceremonies stages,
where she takes so many awards."

"She's thin, not very pretty, with a look of a conservative girl that you can't read about in the gossip column. The music she makes is shmaltz in the extreme sense of the word, and shmaltz is still a bad word. In our age it's not enough being talented. In the 90's, the most successful female singers are the preety and provocative ones. In this age, Celine Dion has, so to speak, nothing to
look for in this business. But all the "anti" didn't stop her from being the best selling artist today, leaving behind big stars like U2, Madonna and Michael Jackson."

The article ends speaking about the Titanic soundtrack, saying that "If Celine Dion had been on the Titanic, that ship would have probably never sank".

Celine's Husband Treated
Singer Celine Dion's manager-husband Rene Angelil, 57, was discharged Friday after an overnight stay at Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Fla. PEOPLE has learned that Angelil checked in Thursday afternoon, complaining of chest and back pains, and was later moved to the intensive care unit. The medical center declined to comment on his condition, as did Dion's spokeswoman. Angelil, who was diagnosed with neck cancer in March, was accompanied to the hospital by his wife, who recently announced she would put her music career on hold in order to spend more time with Angelil. Her New Year's Eve performance in Montreal was billed as the farewell concert for the 31-year-old singer. On January 5, the two renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas in an elaborate ceremony with an Arabian theme.

Even by Las Vegas standards it was a major extravananza, but then, when one of the world's biggest stars wants to create a memorable occasion, theres no need to cut corners.
For the renewal of her wedding vows to husband/manager Rene Angelil, who turns 58 next week, Canadian songbird Celine Dion, 31, went to the brightest city on the North American continent and there gave full rein to her most exotic dreams,transforming a ballroom at Caeser's Palace hotel into a living scene from the Arabian Nights.
Clad in a metal-effect shimmering gold gown, she reavowed her love for Rene before 235 guests who had been flown in at her invitation and were seated on brightly coloured cushions inside the 'ancient mosque' created for the occasion.
The rest of the elaborate estimated by one source to have cost upwards of a million pounds featured tents,jugglers ,musicians,exotic birds,dancers and even camels. Each one of the six Berber tents
represent a scene from the Thousand and one Nights.
The decor,the music,both religious and secular, allreflected the Lebanese and Syrian origins of Rene Angelil,explained the couples publicist. Rene wore a flowing white Arab costume which like his wifes
dress was designed by Givenchy.
Gold clad Celine was carried on a white chair, and Rene on a gold one.
The actual ceremony conducted by Monsignor Michel Sayde, was celebrated according to the Melchite Byzantine Eastern Catholic rites, and was heavily laden with symbolism. The highlight of the ceromony was the placing of crowns on Celine and Rene's heads. The crowns symbolise their status as king and queen of their houshold.
Another element in the service involved the singer and her husband drinking wine from a chalice blessed by the priest; an act symbolising the sharing which a man and a woman embark upon when they marry.
The ceremony took place on January 5 at five o'clock in the afternoon five years after the couple first wed,and it formed a distinct contrast to the traditional Roman Catholic ceremony that sealed their union at the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal in 1994.
Last weeks romantic celebration also marked the begining of a two or three year breakin Celine's so far non stop career. She had given her last concert just a few days before, on New Years Eve , In Montreal.
Her decision to bow out of all public appearances and produce no new albums at a time when she is on the crest of a career wave was a deeply personal one rene, who has managed her career since she was 12, has been undergoing treatment for skin cancer. Faced with the shock of his illness, Celine had no hesitation in simply putting her own commitments on the back burnerso as to enjoy more time with her husband and , hopefully,start a family with him.
"Rene and I are one", she explained in a recent interview with Larry King on American TV." When he got ill for the first time in my life I had two months off.Before,we were supposed to take a year year off
anyway, but the Titanic happened and we kept postponing everything. I was really with him for the first time over those two months and I loved it.
It was another great reason to stop work."
Celine also related how they had first heard the news of Rene's illness.

"I was on tour and he was on the plane with me," she recalled " I noticed a bump on his neck, and I said let me press that. Does it hurt?.
He said no. I was a little concerned about it, so next day, in Dallas, a doctor came to the hotel, and he said that doesn't look so good.
"I had a show and Rene was supposed to come with me but he had to go to hospital and have a biopsy. I went to meet him at the hospital later and he told me he wanted me to go on with the show that night.
Of ccourse I wanted to be with him so badly, but I didn't want toput any more pressure on him because we still didn't know what it was. I kept thinking positive. I said OK I'm going to do the show you do a good show here too, here in the hospital.
After her performance, Celine returned to her husbands side in Dallas.
It was a while she was snatching a couple of hours sleep that a friend on vigilat the hospital woke her saying your husband needs you. He just got the news.
When she said to me your husband needs you, I knew it was not going to be good news said Celine I have never got dressed so fast in my life.
Now that Rene's condition has responde to treatment, the couple plan to travel on their own. No bodygaurds no chauffeurs, no entourage said Celine , who has amassed a fortune estimated at over 130 million . I travelled the world a couple of times, maybe many times, and I don't know anything because I havn't had the time.
The couple also hope that relaxation and more time together will bring true their dream of having a child. Before Rene underwnt chemotherapy, he and Celine agreed to freeze some of his sperm in case his fertility was affected by the treatment.
Herslf the fouteenth child in a family that struggled to make ends meet, Celine is devoted to her many relatives. The renewal of vows was, of course, a very special occasion for all the family members present, and the finishing touch came when the latest addition to the clan was baptised after the crowning ceremony. Celine held little Andrea, who is her niece an goddaughter, as her head was wetted. No doubt she was hoping that before too long, she will be holding her own child in her arms at its christening.
THE END
That took me ages as I only type with one finger slowly, take care all.
Love Karen
-sent to mail list by Karen

Dion's Las Vegas Arabian nights-themed wedding raises question in her home province

Last week Dion and manager-husband Rene Angelil renewed their wedding vows in a $1.5-million US Las Vegas extravaganza that included camels, six Berber tents, jugglers and musicians. (CP)

JACK BRANSWELL

ONTREAL - Goodbye already. Maybe it was the camels. Or it could have been the Cleopatra-like appearance set in some wacky Arabian nights theme. Whatever it was, pop diva Celine Dion's drawn-out departure from the public eye has raised eyebrows in her home province - where adulation is almost a civic duty.

Last week Dion and manager-husband Rene Angelil renewed their wedding vows in a $1.5-million US Las Vegas extravaganza that included camels, six Berber tents, jugglers and musicians.

It came exactly four days after Dion finished her emotional goodbye concert at Montreal's Molson Centre so she and Angelil could take a career hiatus to practise their progenitive skills.

Like the line in her hit song from Titanic, Dion's heart may go on, but people are beginning to wonder if she can pull her whole body out of the limelight.

After all, Dion started talking about taking a break in October 1997 and it took her until early 1999 to make it official.

While she has stopped touring, her intimate wedding for 235 friends and family was promoted all over Entertainment Tonight, the American television show.

"I think some people are annoyed at it because she isn't retiring gracefully," said Tommy Schnurmacher, a Montreal radio host and columnist.

Dion is starting to become the brunt of jokes, which is a major turn of events in Quebec where people may make derisive comments privately about her folksy style but publicly most people are proud of her achievements.

Montreal Gazette columnist Peggy Curran ran a mocking piece last weekend with a schedule of events for the upcoming year. It included a post-honeymoon news conference and promises of monthly progress reports on whether Dion and Angelil are pregnant.

Aislin, the paper's editorial cartoonist, drew the couple with a camel in between them and a caption that read, Absolutely Perfect.

Dion and Angelil have been talking about having children ever since they were married five years ago in Montreal.

While Dion still has adoring fans worldwide, people like Marie-Claude Lajoie wonder what the camel wedding was all about.

"I thought it was kind of a parody," said the Montrealer, a longtime Dion fan.

"When I heard about the camels, I thought it was a little strange. It's like showing us that when you have too much money, you do weird things."

However, a spokeswoman for the company that handles Dion's public relations said their office has only received compliments about how fabulous a wedding it was.

Lajoie, 29, isn't ready to give up on Dion, but the wedding did turn her off.

"I think it was done with poor taste. But just because you're rich and you're a celebrity doesn't mean you can't have bad taste."

Nathalie Petrowski, a columnist for Montreal La Presse who also has a radio show, says when it comes to Dion, enough is enough.

"What people think is that she should have done it (the wedding) without any photos and in private because it is just a little too much and we are a little fed up," she said.

"After her last show she should have had a blackout from then on. She shouldn't have added on her wedding, which was a little ridiculous with the camels.

"One person said Rene was carried in (to the reception hall in) a kitty litter box." Both Dion and Angelil were carried in on divans.

Petrowski was also irked that no Quebec television network was allowed into the Caesar's Palace bash while Entertainment Tonight was invited in.

"What shocked me the most was to see TQS Flash (a show on the French TV station) with a clip of Celine saying in English, 'Hi guys.'

"I didn't appreciate that."

But Lajoie, a translator, said Dion and Angelil haven't abandoned their Quebec identity.

"We have to accept that when we have an international star that they live that lifestyle," she said.

"It is a trait of Quebecers that we want people to remain average and when they go beyond that there is a sort of rejecting of people who obtain a level that is too high."

Schnurmacher says all the fuss about Dion is unwarranted.

"I think people are envious. She has reached every pinnacle and gotten every award there is and if she wants to throw big parties than why not?

"Of course, it (the wedding) was ostentatious but it is her business. It isn't taxpayers' money."

© The Canadian Press, 2000

post by Ric

Celine diaries reveal retiring personality
PEGGY CURRAN
The Gazette

Exclusive! Celine Dion's retirement diary for 2000 and beyond. (Subject to revision, depending on a better offer or more exposure in a bigger market.)

Jan. 1, 2000. Absolutely last pre-retirement concert in Las Vegas (follows final pre-retirement concert at Molson Centre in Montreal).

Jan. 5. Remarry my darling Rene in simple ceremony in Las Vegas. There's nothing like Caesar's Palace for an intimate gathering with an Arabian Nights theme for 250 family, friends, jugglers and Entertainment Tonight camera crews. As they carry me in on the divan, I think about how one of my nails is chipped and how happy we are, as much in love as the day we discovered one another, not a moment before it was decent. Dangling earrings so heavy I fear earlobes will fall off. My head hasn't hurt this much since the seven-pound tiara of 2,000 Austrian crystals I wore to my first and Rene's third wedding ceremony.

Jan. 15. Press conference to announce end of our second honeymoon and official beginning of sabbatical. I weep with joy and share my most personal feelings and plans to have a baby. Promise reporters monthly updates on our progress in the love department.

February. Quiet time in West Palm Beach. Just the two of us, the chauffeur, the cook, the gardeners, assorted servants and my parents, brothers and sisters, who arrive in shifts. Golf. Sort my shoes. Try new hairstyles. Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards. Rene makes calls, sets up a few post-retirement gigs and endorsements. Suggests we call magazines so they can see how happy we are out of the limelight.

March. Gain a pound. Wanted to go shopping for new clothes, but Rene insists I stay by the phone in case anyone gets sick or has a tantrum and I have to fill in at the Oscars at the last minute. Send white fedora to the cleaners. Turns out they didn't need me for the Academy Awards, but Rene lines up guest spot on New Hollywood Squares.

April. Gather whole family in the salon, put on sequined gown and belt out a few songs to get the rush from the audience for old time's sake. To my delight, Rene secretly tapes session and sends it to the studio - so glad I did all those retakes! I thought we would keep it just for the family but Rene says no, that wouldn't be fair to my adoring public. Demand from our fans is so beautiful it makes me cry.

May. Call up my dear friends Rosie, Jay, Dave, Oprah, Katie and Matt to stay in touch. Because I love them and hate to disappoint anyone, I appear on their shows to sing a selection of ballads from Celine, Live in West Palm Beach. Share confidences about life in the slow lane with television viewers.

June. Always wanted a June wedding, so Rene and I elope to Paris. Can't imagine how Paris Match and Hello! found out about the little Louis XIV-style reception for 500 at Versailles.

July. Get listed on the stock exchange. Introduce Celine at Home line of gold lame bath towels. Launch new CD, Celine Sings on the Seine.

August. Back in Montreal between recording gigs, but everyone seems to be out of town. Bored. I ask the chauffeur to drive me to Carrefour Laval for groceries and a quick look around. It's too hot for the scarf and sunglasses; before you know it, I'm mobbed by autograph-seekers. I'm singing Beauty and the Beast in the food court when Rene arrives and begs me never to do it again. Says: "At least go to Holt's."

September. Screen test for Piaf movie. Acting will be a challenge. If I get the part, I can't wear heels, have to smoke and can't gush.

October. Buy Taj Mahal. Celebrate with renewal of vows and concert. I sing Titanic theme in a sari.

November. In case we have a baby, Rene asks Vanity Fair about a photo shoot like the cover with Annette Bening and Warren Beatty. They decline.

December. Rene found out last year wasn't millennium after all. Booked for back-to-back New Year's shows in Tokyo, London, New York and Los Angeles, with Internet and satellite pay-per-view hookup. Plenty of time to retire again next year.

- Peggy Curran - The Gazette

By Jill Serjeant
 

LOS ANGELES  - Her Majesty would not be amused.

Queen Elizabeth's star-spangled makeover put her high in the ranks of the world's worst-dressed women Tuesday, with California fashion gadfly Mr. Blackwell asking caustically whether she was the ``palace Christmas tree or just a royal clown.''

The 73-year-old British monarch, who stunned her subjects by swapping her flowery gowns for a multicolored, sequined Harlequin outfit in November, earned third place on Blackwell's annual worst-dressed fashion list.

Preceded only by pop superstar Cher -- a regular target for the self-styled fashion guru -- and French-Canadian singer Celine Dion, the queen was judged one of the fashion flops of 1999 for her new look.

``From Her Majesty to Her Travesty. The queen's cartoon makeover is the talk of the town,'' proclaimed Blackwell, presenting his 40th list.

The queen's outfit -- a glittering diamond patchwork top with a gold-and-yellow silk skirt -- earned both brickbats and bouquets from the media after her appearance at Britain's annual Royal Variety Show in November. Britain's tabloid Mirror newspaper dubbed her ``the Harlequeen.''

Blackwell, who has no first name, said 1999 had seen a ''veritable symphony of style-free flops,'' although many celebrity fashion nightmares had kept a mercifully low profile.

``ULTIMATE FASHION FIASCO''

Cher, who enjoyed a huge renaissance in her singing and acting career last year, took first place as ``the ultimate fashion fiasco,'' with Blackwell mocking her penchant for ``a million beads and one over-exposed derriere.''

Dion, he quipped, needed a sense of direction. ``In her backward tuxedo, there's no way of knowing whether 'Diva Dion' is coming or going -- a profusion of confusion,'' he said. She came in second.

The worst-dressed list was rounded out by American home style guru Martha Stewart (''dull, dowdy and devastatingly dreary''), U.S. singer Fiona Apple and, in sixth place, U.S. teen pop star and ``belly-baring songbird'' Britney Spears.

Seventh was actress Sarah Jessica Parker of ``Sex and the City'' television fame, and ``Friends'' television star Jennifer Aniston was eighth, deemed a ``fashion bore and snore.''

Actress Cameron Diaz was placed ninth for falling prey to a ''freaky fashion curse,'' and popular U.S. country band the Dixie Chicks was 10th, labeled as a trio of ``truck-stop fashion tragedies trapped in a typhoon.''

Blackwell said that many of the winners in his fashion hall of shame were fabulously talented. ``But when it comes to choosing a wardrobe, they seem to have entered the land of bad taste -- no exit in sight,'' he added.

Two more royals attracted Blackwell's attention in 1999, this time on the ``fabulous fashion independents'' list.

Princess Caroline of Monaco and Countess of Wessex Sophie Rhys-Jones, who married Queen Elizabeth's youngest son, Edward, in June, joined Gwyneth Paltrow, Sophia Loren, Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand, Helen Mirren, Nicole Kidman and Sharon Stone in the ranks of best-dressed women.

Reuters/Variety

December 1999

Celine Dion: A Decade of being a Star.
In the last ten years, Celine Dion has changed from a local Canadian success into one of the world's most well-known pop superstar singers's. Since she released her first English album, "Unison" in 1990 to her recently released November album, "All The Way. . . A Decade Of Song," which includes nine hit songs and seven new songs, the career- orientated Canadian diva has issued 14 English (and French) albums combined.

Over that decade,  she has sold 110 million records worldwide, according to her label Epic/550 Music, including over 27 million copies of each of her last two English-language albums.

Dion has also sung with stars such as, Pavarotti and the late Frank Sinatra to R. Kelly, for the Pope; at Wembley Arena (in London)...and in five different languages.
Celine has also received five Grammy Awards, along with earning four Billboard Music Awards in 1998, including album artist of the year.

In fact, her success is so universal, that there are eight different versions of her greatest hits, according to her individual hits in North America, Europe, the U.K., France, Brazil, Latin America, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand.

"I'm still amazed by the career that I've been having," Dion tells. "Of course, I'm very thankful for having great people surrounding me and a record company that treats me more like a human being with feelings than a product. I have great fans who want to travel with me through my music, and there's no price for that; it's the greatest reward.

"To be honest, I'm not aware of everything that's happening around me," she adds. "I go and do my shows. I don't live with the success, so I don't completely understand how I've come to where I am. And I don't want to understand it, I don't want to know about all the elements that have to be put in place. I just want to walk on the road that was offered to be my destiny."

In the last months before her retirerment(1999), Dion will be seen all over during various media appearances, including her second Thanksgiving  special on CBS. On Nov. 16, the date "All The Way.." will hit the stores, she'll be the guest star of "Oprah." She also appear in Rosie O'Donnell's upcoming Christmas TV special and the accompanying album, (sold at Target), again with a another TV show appearance in December. Television appearances on "Today," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," and "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" are also planned.

She will end the year (after touring internationally nearly nonstop for two years) with a millennium concert at Montreal's Molson Center.

Then beginning Jan. 1, 2000, Dion will begin a well-publicized break from the public eye, probably for two to three years.  Dion says, "I'm looking forward to that, because you want to be honest and sing to
the people and say, 'It's wonderful to be here.' I never want to feel like, 'Oh, no, not a show tonight,' not for people who pay the money to hear me. It's time for a break, so that I have something new to say and sing about, just to refuel."

Rene Angelil adds(manager and husband since 1994)  "We know that fans understand; there have been so many letters from people wishing us the best. People ask if we aren't afraid that if we stop, it could go away. That's a gamble you have to take in life. We've taken bigger gambles, when she started singing and I mortgaged my house, which was all I had. It could go away, we could lose our fans, but that's life."

Dion still admits that she will feel a bit of remorse, likely to peak as she enters the stage for her concert performance on Dec. 31. "It will be very emotional because it's my last show for a while," she says. "Everybody wants a party, and so do I, but I'll have a little tear at the corner of my eye."

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Camels, exotic birds, jugglers and Arabian tents provided a backdrop for French-Canadian pop diva Celine Dion as she renewed her wedding vows in a fairy-tale start to a two-year break from show business, her spokesman said Thursday, revealing the first details of the private ceremony.

Wednesday's ceremony at Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas had initially been described as a small, private affair, but details released Thursday showed that the 31-year-old singer bowed out of show business temporarily in grand style.

Dion announced last year she would be taking a break of at least two years to focus on life with husband Rene Angelil, 56, who underwent surgery for skin cancer last April. The couple are hoping to have a child.

Dion, whose rendering of the theme song from the movie ''Titanic'' propelled her to international stardom, gave her final public performance Friday in Montreal.

But she was center stage again when the ballroom of Caesars Palace was transformed into a scene from ``A Thousand and One Nights'' in a religious ceremony reflecting the Lebanese and Syrian origins of Angelil.

Dion wore a golden gown and Angelil, who has managed her career since she was a teen-ager, wore white for the rite, which was followed by a five-course banquet for 235 guests.

Camels, birds, jugglers. dancers, singers and musicians created the mystery of the Orient in the Arab mosque setting, which included six Berber tents.

Dion and Angelil had a Roman Catholic wedding in Montreal in December 1994. The ceremony was conducted by Monsignor Michael Sayde of the Melkite Byzantine Eastern Catholic rite.

Variety

Arthur Goldberg,Anna DeMartino , Linda Crane, Paul
O'Neil, Danielle Strong, Deborah Munch, and all their co-workers.

Coiffeur/Hair : Peter Savic
Maquilleur/Make-Up : Stephane Marais
Styliste/Stylist : Annie L. Horth.
Decor/Set Design : Johanne Dastous, designer

Production : Destinations by Design : Joyce Sherman, Jim Nelson, Andrew Erskine, Tami Hance.

Coordination : Ian Donald, Suzanne Gingue, Shari Weber, Simon Watkins,
Yves Aucoin, Denis Savage, Michel Dion, Eric Burrows.
Rituel oecumenique/Ritual Ceremony : Mgr Sleiman Hajjar assiste de Boulos Loutfi.
Officiant/Priest : Mgr Michel Sayde.
Chanteuse/Singer : Vera Loutfi.
Musiciens/Musicians : Muchid Alkhalaf, Monir Sabet Nosseir, Youssef
Abdalla Magdy. Merci a Eddie Alepin.

Alexander McQueen de la maison Givenchy a cree la robe de Celine et le Costume of Rene. Dress and suit for Celine and Rene were designed by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy.
Styliste/Stylist : Annie L. Horth.
Coiffeur/Hair : Peter Savic Maquilleur/Make-Up : Stephane Marais L'animation musicale est signee Claude Challe assiste de Hovanes Kakanian & Fruly. Claude Challe came from Paris to illuminate this night with his choice of music.
Danseuse de baladi/Baladi dancer : Samia.
Chefs Greg Waldron & John Hui and staff.
Invited Guest Chefs :Restaurant Daou, Montreal.
Chefs
Greg Waldron & John Hui and staff.
Invited Guest Chefs :
Restaurant Daou, Montreal.
Logistics : Sylvie Beauregard.

Coordination : Normand Leblanc, Jacqueline Deslauriers, Celine Fontaine, Michel Lapointe, Pierre Trepanier, Karen Marquardt, Guillaume Kelly, Josee Lacroix, Philippe St-Aubin, Fabienne Benita.
Presse : Francine Chaloult, Kim Jakwerth.

Cette soiree, hommage de Celine a Rene, a ete concue par Paul Sara, Johanne Dastous et Mia Dumont.
This evening is a tribute to Rene from Celine and was made possible by Paul Sara, Johanne Dastous and Mia Dumont.

CONTACT Celine Dion and Rene Angelil
n/t

Dion renews wedding vows -1/6/99

ALAN HUSTAK
The Gazette

Singer Céline Dion and her manager-husband, René Angelil, renewed their marriage vows in Las Vegas last night in an extravagant, movable feast that was right out of the Arabian Nights.

Security was tight outside the scene of the nuptial encore - the ballroom of Caesar's Palace. Only 235 guests, most of them family or close personal friends flown in at the couple's expense, were permitted to attend.

Dion and Angelil were married in Montréal in a traditional Roman Catholic service at Notre Dame Basilica on Dec. 17, 1994.

At their fairy-tale winter wedding five years ago, Dion walked down the aisle in white Italian silk and French lace, complete with 10- metre train.

Angelil was in a formal morning dress.

Yesterday's ceremony was a fairy tale of a different sort. The Caesar's Palace ballroom was converted into six Berber tents by set designer Johanne Dastous at cost of "at least $1.5 million U.S.," according to one source.

The chapel where the religious ceremony took place was designed to look like an ancient mosque. The star and the crescent, symbols of Angelil's Arabic background, figured prominently in the design.

"The decor, the music, both religious and secular, all reflected the Lebanese and Syrian origins of René Angelil," Kim Jakwerth, the couple's publicist, said in a press release.

"Each of the tents represented a scene from A Thousand and One Nights. The magic and the mystery were enhanced by jugglers, musicians and singers. Men were dressed in black, women wore gowns in the colours of precious gems - emerald, sapphire, ruby and diamond."

The religious service was conducted by Msgr. Michel Sayde in a Melchite Byzantine Eastern Christian rite. This time, Dion wore a gold gown and Angelil was dressed in a djellaba, a white, flowing Arab costume. Both were designed by Givenchy.

Guests sat on brightly coloured cushions and were served a five-course meal prepared by chefs from Montréal, Lebanon and Syria.

Two chefs from the Daou restaurants in Montréal and St. Laurent, sisters Elizabeth and Gladys Daou, were flown to Las Vegas to help prepare the meal.

"Céline and René are old customers of ours. Whenever they are in town, they either drop by or take out," said a third sister, Soad, who stayed behind to look after the restaurants.

The bash, to commemorate the couple's fifth wedding anniversary, signals the beginning of Dion's three-year sabbatical. She's taking a break to spend more time with her ailing husband, and perhaps to start a family.

Angelil, who turns 58 on January 16th, was diagnosed with skin cancer in March and, although it appears the disease is in remission, he remains under a doctor's care.

Dion, 31, is at the peak of her career and can afford the extravagance of last night's ceremony. Every two seconds, someone in the world buys one of her CDs; her latest, All The Way, has been riding the charts since it came out in November.

Although Dion has said she won't be making any more live appearances, she won't stop recording.
Ric
 

xx