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(From Billboard Oct 14th)
Celine Dion's Success Goes On
BY CHUCK TAYLOR
NEW YORK -- Call her an industry unto herself.
In just the past year, Celine Dion has released her
fifth English-language album, "Let's Talk About
Love"; sung duets on projects with the Bee Gees,
R. Kelly, Paul Anka, George Martin, and Luciano
Pavarotti; performed at VH1's Divas Live concert;
and recorded a new French-language project and
a Christmas album. Next month, she'll host her
own CBS holiday special.
That's all in addition to her latest world tour, currently working its way
across the U.S. before heading to Canada, Europe, and beyond. It endures
into January 2000.
The payoff has to do with an astounding statistic Dion can add to her
bulging cache of superlatives: In the past 30 months, she has sold 60 million
albums worldwide, according to her label. That amounts to one sale every
1.2 seconds, her Sony family notes. (Add in "Titanic" soundtrack sales of
25 million, and the rate is into nanoseconds.) Meanwhile, her current tour,
covering 29 dates, has grossed $35 million.
While Dion has taken some critical jabs and is seen by some as grossly
overexposed, the fact remains that no other current artist in the world --
perhaps with the exception of Madonna -- appears to have as broad a fan
base, with the ability to seize the charts and retail racks and sell out venue
after venue. In the seven years since the release of her first English-language
album, Dion has tirelessly worked across the world to become as much of a
phenomenon in Poland as in her native Quebec, as much in Israel and Brazil
as in the U.S., France, and Switzerland.
Yet Dion's biggest accomplishment in recent times -- maybe of all time --
has come from the staggering boon of "My Heart Will Go On," the love
theme to "Titanic." In February, the song went to No. 1 on the Hot 100 and
Adult Contemporary charts, associating Dion with the No. 1 and No. 2
albums for six weeks on The Billboard 200 -- "Let's Talk About Love" and
the film soundtrack. It also won an Oscar for writers James Horner and Will
Jennings and became the most-played radio hit in history, reaching a record
audience of 117 million in March, according to Broadcast Data Systems.
It's this kind of larger-than-life achievement that marks the most bountiful
year of Celine Dion's career.
"When you're hot, you have to go with the momentum," says Dion's
husband and longtime manager, Rene Angelil. "You have to address the
demands that come from all over the place. We have refused so many
projects and turned so many opportunities down. But there have also been
a number of projects that we find very exciting. We say, 'Why not?' "
"I didn't want to record another album after [the 1996 Grammy-winning]
'Falling Into You,' " Dion admits. "But we couldn't just refuse all the
opportunities. People kept sending great songs. 'Titanic' came, and then all
those duets. It seemed that the people wanted to party with us again, too.
Then came the Christmas album and the tour.
"In show business, timing is the most important thing," she adds. "I've been
trying to take a break for years, but it could wait. There's just been no
perfect time yet."
For Sony, Dion is held up as an artist who can do it all, excelling at anything
she takes on. "She has the quality and the talent to sing with R. Kelly one
minute, then Andrea Bocelli the next," says Sony Music Entertainment
president/CEO Thomas D. Mottola. "There's no one category she cannot
do."
"Celine always takes herself to the next level," adds Epic Records/550
Music president Polly Anthony. "She's better than anyone at raising the bar
for herself. We're all here to support her like a giant brain trust, but she is
really in control of her destiny at this point. I can't imagine trusting anyone
more than her."
RETAIL SUPPORT
Retail, not surprisingly, is 100% behind Dion.
Her latest French-language album, "S'il Suffisait D'Aimer," released Sept. 8
in all territories except the U.S., sold 2 million copies in its first three weeks,
with 700,000 units moved so far in France alone, Sony says.
As on her last French album, 1995's "Deux" ("The French Album" in the
U.S.) -- the world's best-selling French-language album of all time -- Dion
worked with songwriter/producer Jean-Jacques Goldman.
Because of her schedule, the new album was ultra-efficiently recorded -- in
less than a week.
"We worked out the songs during the day and recorded two to three each
night for six days," Dion says. "I had such a great time and got to know
Jean-Jacques better than ever."
The album hit the racks quietly in the U.S. Oct. 13 with no marketing
fanfare from Sony. Executives were wary of misleading the artist's fans into
thinking the set was an English-language recording, because that very album
is just around the corner.
Entitled "These Are Special Times," the 16-track holiday project is a
big-ticket item for Sony's fourth quarter; it's due worldwide Nov. 12 and
Nov. 13. It contains inspired arrangements of standards like "O Holy
Night," "Blue Christmas," "O Come All Ye Faithful," and "Ave Maria," new
versions of the modern classics "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Feliz
Navidad," and a half-dozen original songs.
Among them is a signature Dion ballad, "Don't Save It All For Christmas
Day," a track about sharing goodwill and love throughout the year, not just
during the holiday season. Dion co-wrote the song; it's her only such
contribution ever, aside from the reggae-fortified "Let's Talk About Love"
track "Treat Her Like A Lady," likely to be a single next year.
"I had this melody in my head for two years," she says of "Don't Save It
All." "I had never pushed myself to finish it; maybe I was afraid of the
reaction. I don't trust myself as a songwriter. Rene suggested I sing it to
[frequent Dion producer] Ric Wake, that maybe he could help. One night,
after the Divas Live show, we were all at dinner, having great wine and
great food, and Ric and I talked about it. And he called his home, and I left
the tune on his [answering machine]. Maybe it was the wine, but I went for
it. I sang my idea for the melody and a verse and the chorus. Not long after
that, he came to me and said, 'Here is your song.' "
Also present is "The Prayer," a potent half-English, half-Italian duet with
opera virtuoso Bocelli. It's a song that each sang solo on the 1998
soundtrack to "Quest For Camelot." It's Dion's second pairing with an
opera master; she sang "I Hate You Then I Love You" with Pavarotti on
"Let's Talk About Love." That track will also appear on his upcoming live
"Pavarotti And Friends" video and album.
HOLIDAY EXPECTATIONS
Will it be a merry Christmas for Dion and her friends at Sony?
"We think this could be one of the great holiday records of all time," says
Danny Yarbrough, chairman of Sony Music Distribution, who says that the
record will initially ship 3 million copies in the U.S. alone.
Certainly part of that will be a high-profile, hourlong TV special tentatively
scheduled to air Nov. 25 on CBS. The program will feature live
performances from the holiday album, as well as a number of past Dion hits.
The variety show is the first from a contemporary artist on a major network
in years.
And unlike most holiday packages, "These Are Special Times" contains
what looks to be Dion's next big single, a duet written by Grammy-winning
R&B/pop balladeer Kelly. "I'm Your Angel," also the lead-off single from
Kelly's new set, "R.," is the most restrained ballad ever released to radio by
either artist. It's simple and joyous in theme and melody, with a compelling
hook and seamless harmonies that should honor it with chart greatness.
CELINE SATURATION?
No one is more aware of the danger of Celine saturation than Angelil.
"I am absolutely concerned about overexposure," he says. "When we were
asked [by Sony] to do another album after 'Falling Into You,' that was the
big concern. The deal was that we would try and record an album, but if we
didn't think it was a great album, we wouldn't release it. Very soon into the
album, though, we thought it was wonderful, especially when the 'Titanic'
song came to us."
His point is that if the material is consistent, fans will be there for it.
"With Elvis Presley and the Beatles, I couldn't get enough of their records,
and they were always great," he says. "The Beatles were sometimes coming
out with two and three albums a year. Some artists come out with an album
every four years. That doesn't mean it's great. You always have to give the
public a great product."
The most effective way to avoid overkill is, of course, to just disappear for a
while. When her current tour expires at the dawn of 2000, Dion and Angelil
intend to make it known that her heart doesn't go on and on -- at least for
the following year, or maybe two or three years.
"After the tour, the plan is to stop for a long, long time, for a few years," he
says, even using the term "semi-retirement."
Yes, Dion is still interested in doing an English-language film, playing a
secondary role to get her feet wet.
"We've gotten scripts and offers and stories, but there's nothing she can
work on now, nothing that we can even talk about," Angelil says.
The couple is still intent on having a baby, too, once things slow down.
"That's the biggest project of them all," Angelil says, chuckling.
"I started working when I was 13," notes Dion, "and now I'm 30, and the
longest I've ever stopped is a month. I need to have a normal life for a
while, to spend some time with Rene while we're both young at heart. I
want to cook at home, to picnic, to swim in my pool. I need time to be sick
and time to recover, time to take a car and listen to music when I am going
nowhere."
Most of all, Dion says, she wants time for family and friends, free time for
the first time in her life.
For now, though, she plugs onward, flying from city to city, awaiting the
next cycle of promotion for her French album, her Christmas album, or her
TV special -- whatever the moment holds as a priority.
"Time goes very fast," Dion says in stride. "I can't even imagine myself all the
things I've done in the last year."
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