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Posted October 5, 200717 yr

EXCLUSIVE CELINE DION

Says Goodbye To Vegas And hello To An edgy New Album Ready for Takeoff

BY CHUCK TAYLOR

It’s the fourth standing ovation of the evening, as Celine Dion soars through another of her signature hits. The reverent audience inside Las Vegas’ Colosseum at Caesars Palace—many of whom have planned their entire vacations around these 90 minutes—appears to be in awe. And even though she has lived this moment for some 700 nights since launching her “A New Day” residency at the resort in March 2003, Dion still appears stunned by the reception. She looks studiously upon the 4,000 fans, bows gracefully, then raises her arm to share the moment with the troupe of 70 dancers and musicians who fill the stage with her. “A New Day” is credited with helping catapult the town’s reputation as a destination for A-level talent. She has sold 3 million tickets there, according to Billboard Boxscore—and grossed $370.4 million through mid-September 2007. But come Dec. 15, Dion will have left the building.

“People were still questioning us after one week, two months, the first year,” Dion says. “Now we can say we’ve changed something. It’s hard to leave behind, because we started a family with everyone involved in the show. But it’s time for something else.” Enter “Taking Chances,” Dion’s first English-language album in three years. Due Nov. 13 via Columbia, the set signals a sonic left turn for Dion. In a career often trademarked by hits that soar, the AC immortal here more often roars, accompanied by an abundance of guitars and an overall tempo that is brisker, with a deliberate rock tint.

Dion collaborated with a number of producers new to her stable, including Ne-Yo, Ben Moody, Linda Perry, Emanuel Kiriakou and Tricky (see story, page 29), along with stalwarts John Shanks, Kara DioGuardi, Kristian Lundin, Anders Bagge, Peer Astrom, Aldo Nova and Chris Neil. Now, Dion is ready to show the world how she has grown—as a singer, an entertainer and a woman. “It’s not a new Celine,” she says. “There was no deliberate plan after five years to do something else. But I’m like everyone. I’m 39 now. I don’t look like I did 10 years ago, I dress differently—and I don’t sing the same. I have more edge and felt like doing something different.” Still, Dion has been away for a while, and there’s no doubt it took some adjusting on the part of her label when it came to her change in musical direction. But so far, radio looks to be along for the ride.

THE NEXT CHAPTER

While no one would question if Dion decided to fan herself leisurely in the Caribbean for a year or two after “A New Day,” the singer is primed for her next chapter amid a 25-year career marked by relentless ambition. Since her first project in 1982, the French Canadian has sold more than 185 million albums to become the best-selling female artist in history, according to her label. She has won five Grammy Awards, including the 1997 album of the year for “Falling Into You,” which sold 25 million copies worldwide.

Dion’s personal life has also played a role in her livelihood: In 1994, she married manager René Angelil, and in 2001, their son René Charles was born—a primary factor in the decision to put down roots in Vegas. So with “A New Day” winding down, the wheels began turning for “Taking Chances” last December, when her well-tread A&R team of Sony BMG Canada senior VP of A&R Vito Luprano and Columbia senior VP of A&R operations John Doelp started fielding more than 300 songs for the project.

“We met with Celine and René, and she made it clear that she’s at a point where she has nothing to prove—she wants to evolve and to push the envelope—but in the process, have fun,” Doelp says. Luprano notes that Dion is involved in every step of the process and readily knows what she likes. “She has to feel a connection. When a song feels right, she starts acting it out, as if stepping into a role,” he says. “She talks about how she envisions it being produced . . . ‘More guitars here,’ ‘Funky bass there,’ ‘Change the tempo.’ ”

Throughout July and the first half of August, Dion took time off from her show to record at the Studio in the Palms in Las Vegas. And while there is a greater edge to many of the tracks, which might surprise those who believe they have the singer pegged, nowhere does she compromise her essence in an effort to be hip, shocking, overtly contemporary—anything that she’s not. Dion offers a candid view of her perceived reputation, suggesting that as she was building her career, perhaps she was steered in a direction that kept her stylistically staid.

“When people sent me all those romantic songs to make people feel better or to cry, I went there because I had to prove myself,” she says. “Those songs are great and made me who I am today. It wasn’t a mistake, but I didn’t have a lot of choices. Do you think I wanted to hold those long notes forever and kill myself onstage every night? But everybody always sent the hardest songs to sing to me: ‘If somebody can hit those notes, it’s Celine Dion.’ And I can do it; I can hit them, baby. “Now maybe we’re all tired of those 10-second notes—the writers, the people—and they’ve evolved, too,” she continues. “Maybe no one thought I was capable of doing anything else, but I’ve got Heart and Doobie Brothers and Janis Joplin and Creedence Clearwater Revival inside of me, too.”

The album’s 16 tracks offer a full menu of tempos, emotions and lyrical themes, from the wash-away-my-man midtempo ballad “I Got Nothin’ Left,” co-written and co-produced by Ne-Yo, to Perry’s soul-baring pop-along rocker “My Love” and the hands-to-the-heavens “New Dawn.” Shanks produced the album’s electrifying standout performance, “That’s Just the Woman in Me,” which Dion has considered recording for 20 years, but never felt was the right fit for previous albums. Written by Kimberly Rew, it implores, “I need a man to love/Respect me, protect me, rule over, drool over/That’s the woman in me, baby.”

Shanks says, “Her vocal is smoking. She sang just two takes and killed it. At the end, Celine does a scream, like Janis Joplin, which gave us all chills. I brought back a mix to her and she insisted it wasn’t raw enough. She wanted it to sound live, like it was coming from a club.” Dion says, “I was amazed that song waited for me, that no one had recorded it. But now I was scared—I’m used to such control, and this needs to be sung like Joplin. I got myself into a character and put myself into abuse mode and started to sing through my soul and not my vocal chords. I sang it through twice; I didn’t want to work on it, because its honesty needed to be felt. When we played it back, I began to tremble, because I could not believe it was me.”

The overall recording process, Dion adds, was the best she has ever had in the studio. “The songwriters and producers that came with me helped me give it my all. I had the most fun. I have everything in life I could hope for—my husband, my son, who is coming on tour with me—and I wasn’t thinking that I have to deliver something. My voice sounds as strong as my happiness.”

GETTING THE WORD OUT

From Sony’s perspective, Dion’s move toward a less polished sound actually made the job easier when returning to the airwaves with “Taking Chances.” “Of course we wanted to get radio on this,” Luprano says. “Celine made it clear that that’s not why she was making this album or changing her sound, but when we heard these songs, we realized what a perfect vehicle we have. People don’t realize that Celine is only one year older than Gwen Stefani—and here she sounds younger and more contemporary than she ever has.” The radio initiative for the title track launched at AC in mid-September. Despite Dion’s history with 38 charting titles at the format—the most by any artist in the past two decades—and 11 No. 1s, nothing was a given. Since her last top 10 there four years ago, AC has retreated from the softer sounds of Elton John, Phil Collins and yes, Dion, instead supporting a more vigorous template from the likes of Nickelback, Daughtry, the Fray and Snow Patrol.

However, the less-silken sound of “Taking Chances” connected with programmers. In its first week, it blazed onto the AC chart at No. 23 with Most Increased Plays and Most Added honors, corralling key stations on both coasts. This week the song rises to No. 18. “This is the best song from Celine in years,” says Jim Ryan, Clear Channel senior VP of AC programming/WLTW New York PD. “She is still a core AC artist—one of few—and reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. If I were in Vegas, I’d bet my paycheck on it being a No. 1 AC song, as well as a multimillion-selling album. This is truly an event record that will be fully embraced by the masses.” KOST Los Angeles PD/music director Stella Schwartz adds, “We put ‘Taking Chances’ on the air at eight in the morning, and the phones lit up. Response has been unbelievable. No. 1 calls. Anything Celine touches will always be great for KOST and, I believe, for AC radio.” But though the song is off to a strong start, observers acknowledge Dion is so associated with her old sound that it may take some listeners longer to warm to her new sonic experiments.

“A lot of artists insist that their sound can never change—that they have a formula you shouldn’t mess with. Celine is saying that she’s more mature, her voice is changing and she wants to sing what fits her now,” says Michael McVay, president of radio consultancy McVay Media. “I actually think the song is so good and so contemporary that you could take Celine’s name off the CD and increase the number of first-time listens from programmers.”

PERFECT TIMING

Columbia is pulling out all stops for its marquee artist. “Everybody around the world thinks that Celine has made an incredible record, and we are 100% committed,” label chairman Steve Barnett says. “Timing is so important and this album feels right. This is the time for her return. When we look at the opportunities she has on a global platform, it’s amazing.”

The campaign launched Sept. 7 via an alliance with Amazon, which for five days posted a “first glance” in-studio videoclip of Dion recording “Taking Chances” with streaming of the song, along with pre-orders of the disc for $9.99. By the promotion’s close, the album was ranked No. 7 among the site’s best-selling 100—two months before its release.

In October, People magazine will feature Dion on the cover, followed by an avalanche of other print coverage. Columbia also indulged fans with the Oct. 2 release of a “collector’s edition” of her 1998 Christmas CD “These Are Special Times”—with 4.8 million copies sold, it is the second-best-selling holiday album in U.S. history, according to Nielsen SoundScan—which includes gatefold packaging and a DVD of her first CBS TV special; while on Dec. 11, a high-definition DVD release of “A New Day” will be issued. Meanwhile, three versions of “Taking Chances” will be offered at retail: the traditional CD, a two-disc CD/DVD set and a CD/DVD with expanded packaging. Surrounding street date, Dion will devote a full hour to “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” in addition to the usual slate of entertainment TV appearances. Columbia is also aligning with various online partners that are still being locked in. CBS is already using “Taking Chances” to preview its fall Friday night lineup, including promos for new drama “Moonlight.” And in February, she will headline a one-hour musical special on the network featuring performances from the new set.

“So much of what we’re trying to do is let the world hear Celine’s music. That’s always been the driver,” Doelp says. “It’s very much about awareness and letting her large fan base know that she has a new record, and understanding the new direction and things she wants to do and say.” Not that Dion doesn’t invite at least a little mystery—for instance, the dramatic cover art for “Taking Chances,” in which her hair is teased with extensions into a near-lioness mane and her facial expression is curiously cryptic. The idea was all hers. “Maybe there’s a look that people expect, but this is show business. Come on, it’s still the same me, but I decided that I don’t have to paint on a smile to show what’s inside,” Dion says. “Don’t look at my lips and my hair; look into my eyes and feel me, baby. I am smiling there and giving more than ever before. Come with me. Listen and imagine me however you want.”

Fans will be able to do just that on the arena/stadium tour in support of “Taking Chances,” which kicks off Feb. 14, 2008, in Johannesburg with eight shows there that month. (Proceeds go to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.) Dion then treks to the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. The yearlong outing will cover five continents, 25 countries and more than 100 cities. These shows will be far less intimate than “A New Day,” which Caesars Palace president Gary Selesner says “reinvented how entertainment is perceived in Las Vegas. She brought people into our restaurants, our hotel beds and casino seats, and filled each of them night after night. There are few stars in the world with that ability.”

Dion was guaranteed a $100 million purse, making the Vegas shows worth her while financially. But the commitment left her reputation vulnerable if the engagement, which launched in March 2003, deflated into a high-profile flop. Instead, at an average price of $150, she persistently filled 4,000 seats five nights per week at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace—a $95 million theater custom-built for the show. Billboard Boxscore ranked the AEG Live residency among the top five-grossing concerts worldwide each year.

Though Dion recognizes the risk of wrapping up the engagement, she waves that off as a reason to have made any other choice. “Five years ago, I had done it all. I needed a new challenge,” Dion says. “I wanted to offer my fans something more theatrical and spectacular than anything we’d done before. I never felt I had anything to lose. “This is the best album of my life,” she adds. “If you have a child with all the potential in the world and you don’t give him or her the chance to explore, it’s a loss. My voice and my body are in the best shape ever. I’m more mature and grounded. I need to express myself and show that I feel great and beautiful.”

:cheer:

taken from www.celinedionforum.com

Edited October 5, 200717 yr by dragonleader