Viva la Diva

How do we love Celine? Let us count the ways

By DAVID SCHMEICHEL

 

For decades now, music fans have had a love/hate relationship with Canuck pop diva Celine Dion -- though you'd have a hard time getting most of 'em to admit it.

 

Well, the love part, anyway. The hate part? That, they'll gladly cop to.

 

See, even though she's one of the most recognizable Canadian commodities in history -- one of the best-selling artists of all time, in fact, with a rack of Grammys, Junos, Golden Globes and even two Oscars to her credit -- most Canadians still treat Celine with a mix of embarrassment and contempt.

 

When pressed, they rattle off the same list of complaints: Her music is too over the top. The arrangements are bombastic and devoid of feeling.

 

And offstage, she's even worse -- shacking up with her manager and talking in that weird accent.

 

But there's something of a herd mentality at work here. For starters, you can say whatever you want about Dion's histrionics, iffy fashion sense and blissfully oblivious all-around weirdness.

 

The fact remains, someone's buying all those albums. As of 2007, Celine had sold more than 200 million records, and the same year, she wrapped a record-breaking five-year run at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where she performed for an estimated 3 million fans.

 

In these days of dwindling sales and skittish concert crowds, that is quite a healthy haul, so the next time you feel like begrudging Celine's top of the pops status, remember that you (or someone you know) helped put her there.

 

And why not, really?

 

Though she makes for an easy target, we've long maintained Celine is far from the worst thing to happen to music (she's also far from the best, but that's neither here nor there).

 

So in honour of her pending performance in Winnipeg -- she's headlining back-to-back shows at MTS Centre next week -- we've come up with a few reasons why Celine Dion ain't all that bad.

 

1) SHE CAN SING

 

This much is obvious, even if you're no fan of her schmaltzy adult-contempo stylings. As a kid, belting out Quebecois standards from a table in her parents' restaurant, Celine already boasted a soaring, technically skilled set of powerhouse pipes. And while it's true she lacks the emotional subtlety of Judy Garland or Barbra Streisand, or the church-bred R&B phrasings of Aretha Franklin or Whitney Houston, Dion can still straddle the divide between deep whispers and full-throated arias. Sure, she's guilty of laying it on a bit thick at times (think that godawful theme from Titanic), but when she remembers to exercise restraint -- as on early hits Beauty and the Beast, Where Does My Heart Beat Now and The Power of Love, or the Jim Steinman-penned mini-epic It's All Coming Back to Me Now -- the results can be downright electrifying. And let's not forget that in the wake of 9/11, when producers of the TV special America: A Tribute to Heroes needed someone to close the show, it was good Canadian Celine who brought the house down with a defiantly patriotic version of God Bless America.

2) SHE'S DOWN TO EARTH

 

Celine grew up poor (the youngest of 14 kids), and though her albums have since earned her more money than God, she's never let success go to her head the same way Michael Jackson did. Really, the closest she's come to a scandal is when she admitted to an affair with manager Rene Angelil (26 years her senior) in 1993. But when the couple married a year later, fans forgave. When she announced she'd be taking time off to raise a family in 2000, that's what she did -- retreating from the spotlight for two years (and giving birth to son Rene-Charles) instead of engaging in Britney-style bickering with paparazzi. Most importantly, footage of Celine with her fans has always shown her to be gracious, accommodating and kind.

 

3) She's a good sport

Celine's become a bit of a walking punchline over the years, parodied by everyone from French & Saunders to the South Park crew to SNL's Ana Gasteyer. And neither her ultra-bizarre Vegas show (inspired by Cirque du Soleil), nor her aforementioned bouts of flat-out craziness (Google "Celine Dion is F---ing Amazing" for a sample) are likely to help matters. But historically, Celine has always taken the ribbing in stride, whether by incorporating Gasteyer's spot-on parody into her stage show, or explaining to VH1 how she's flattered when people take the time to impersonate her. And with her profile again on the rise, something tells us those impressions aren't going to go away anytime soon. But love her or hate her, neither is Celine.

 

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i can't believ that some people are embarrassed by her :o

 

i totally agree with the good bits though

i cant believe it either but it happens believe. some people still believe celine makes boring music and has boring fans. i disagree ofcourse :lol:

of course

when have i ever been boring :kink:

if someone said that to my mum, she would thump them

I dont care what people think. I think she's amazing. One of the few artists that remained true to herself, is loyal with her fans and is

a warm and sincere person. And she has a killer voice as well :wub:

definetly :wub:

 

i have never cared what people think about my taste in music or the artists i like, i love them and that is all that matters to me

Same here, I used to love Steps so that says it all :blush:

:lol: i am the only one of my friends to like Celine,

 

when i went out today i met some of my friends and they asked what i was going to buy. i told them it would be Celines new single and they gave me a funny look and walked off :lol: and i could not care less