What Should We Say About Celine Dion?

Now that Celine Dion has ended her wildly successful run of nearly five years in Las Vegas, put out a new album and laid plans for a new world tour, it seems an appropriate time to pose the following question. What should an objective observer say about this megastar, who is as loathed by music critics as she is adored by her fans?

First, a personal disclosure: besides being a professional writer and former Time magazine senior editor, I am a fan of Celine. I was the first major American journalist to write about her, back in 1994. In 1996, I put her on the cover of Time International, and in a sign that I was getting too close to the rising star, she sent me a Christmas card that year. If a music writer denies ever becoming a fan of some artists, then he or she is lying.

Anyway, my professional dalliance with Celine ended abruptly in 1998, when I wrote an article in Time Canada that criticized her album, "Let's Talk About Love." Her collaborations with such older performers as Barbra Streisand and the Bee Gees were, I wrote, strange "duets with dinosaurs." That was the last time I was invited to interview Celine.

Of course, I was not the only one to turn on Celine. Critics dismissed her as soon as they noticed her. When a performer becomes extremely popular -- and particularly popular with "low brows" (middle-class schlubs) - the intelligentsia really sharpen their knives. Celine became the definition of unhip and a running joke on Saturday Night Live. My friend and former Time music critic, Christopher John Farley, was especially insulting and oblivious of Celine's popular appeal. If you read Chris's writing and nothing else, you would have to conclude that Hootie and the Blowfish became bigger stars than Celine.

I never made it to Celine's Vegas show. Now I'm sorry I didn't because I just saw a video of the show, which was screened in movie theaters around the U.S. this week. Even as a long-time Celine watcher, I was amazed by what I saw. I now see why the Vegas extravaganza was such a huge success.

Which leads me to two sure-to-be-scoffed-at assertions:

1. Celine Dion is the hardest working performer in show business history. (I'm sorry, Mr. Brown, in rock 'n' roll heaven above.)

2. No other star has ever put on as big a show for her fans as Celine.

Notice that I didn't say the "best" show. That's a matter of taste. Over-the-top spectacle is not for everyone. For a Springsteen fan, listening to Bruce and the E Street Band just sing and play for a couple of hours must be the closest thing to heaven on earth. But some people want more for their hundreds of dollars per seat. They are delighted to have a show as well as a concert.

For her show, Celine hired the Cirque du Soleil folks to create a hybrid between a pop concert and circus phantasm. Her nerve and ambition -- some would say ego and self-importance -- boggled the mind. She mastered 90 minutes of intricate choreography with dozens of dancers and musicians while the costumes and sets were constantly changing. How good it was is a matter of opinion, but the crowd always roared and no one left Caesar's Palace feeling gypped. Celine tried harder than anyone ever has to please her fans. It was Madonna times five. I get exhausted just thinking about what Celine has done for the last five years. Sinatra never sold out the same theater for years running. Maybe Bruce could, but he would never try. To do it, you have to consider putting on a show to be the most important thing in your life.

I wonder if the critics will ever properly acknowledge Celine's place in show business history. This week's New York Times article, while not written by a critic, is a start. But there is much more to be said.

I'm not arguing that Celine is the greatest singer. She's not even my personal favorite. And she's not necessarily the greatest recording artist just because she has sold hundreds of millions of records worldwide, more than almost anyone else.

What is undeniable, though, is that she is the Barnum and Bailey of pop music. And she will retain that title at least until someone dares to try to stop her. In the realm of putting on shows, she became bigger than Sinatra. Bigger than Streisand. Bigger than the Stones. Bigger than Springsteen. That's not fan talk. That's simply a fact.

Comments

[Imzadi]

What shoud we say about Celine Dion? As little as possible, PLEEZE.

[Konnie]

Where have you been dear? another planet?
Its always been this way - anything the "folks"
like, the "critics" pan. Can you say: Pavarotti,Bochelli, Wayne Newton, Barry Manilow,Ce­line......­...the list is long.
And its not just music - its movies, books, art -
if its "popular" is must be critized by those
who know what's better for us........­...

[Haligonian]

Quaoar says "Blame Canada!"

Hey Quaoar:

Did we make you guys listen to her wretched songs? We are not really that anti-American in the Great White North.

However, now that she is done in Vegas, we are planning to seal the border in order to prevent her coming back to Canada.

I am only kidding! Sticking you guys with David Frum, Conrad Black and Celine Dion would just be cruel and unusual punishment.

[inthedesert]

I am a very big fan of Celine Dion. I saw her show in Vegas twice and already have tickets to her Arizona show about a year from now. She has a God-given talent which she uses to bring enjoyment and entertainment to millions of her fans all over the World. She is genuine and sincere in her devotion to her fans and continually acknowledges the fact that were it not for her fans, she would not be where she is today. Yeah, she makes gazillions of dollars doing what she does. Why do people hold that against her? Jealousy is my guess. She also contributes millions to charities every year and does not make a big deal out of it. She has a husband, child and extended family that love her dearly...o­ne lucky person in today's world I would say. I could care less what critics say about her or her singing or what she sings. Celine Dion has the greatest voice of this decade....­sorry Babs.

[Nommo]

Bad comparison­.----James Brown? Just leave that one alone. JB composed, arranged, choreographed, and labored in obscurity for years before "stardom". His rehearsals were the stuff of legend--he understood where his bread was buttered.
And he put on a show for his fans. Let her at least come close to his longevity before you try that comparison again.

[Haligonian]

Cha ching! Canadian duo leaves Las Vegas with $400 million in concert sales alone while marketing cheap and cheesy music. Good thing Las Vegas has so many people with addictions of one type or another. See ya' suckers. Enjoy the credit crunch! Mencken was right, You will never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public!

[Rickerando]

This is what you should say about Celine Dion:
She has a God-given voice.
She comes at you from her heart.
She is naive, even childlike in her trust.
She performs in three languages, French being her best.
People who are cynical and critical without having one-tenth the talent that she has will NEVER, can never appreciate her.
She is an artist who can reach right in and twist your heart when you see her live; unless she doesn't, in which case you wouldn't be there anyway.
Let the millions who love her have her; they have a right.

If you do not like her or her music STFU about it- it is a world where you are not in charge. Celine simply prefers that love should be in vogue rather than fear and its' myriad of bastard children like disdain, scorn, contempt and negativity. Celine's world is better one and I, for one, applaud her.

[rh654]

Hard to argue with success.

As for the critics - those that can do - those that can't become critics and mooch off the shadows of those they write about.

[BeerHolder]

Celine is what most people call overdone. You can sing a song without assaulting your audience and the song itself. Yeah, she's popular, a good entertainer, talented I guess but more than that, she has learned how to sell herself. They call that marketing.

She will not be remembered as a great singer by anyone. Powerful? Okay. But not a great singer. Not a song writer. Just a woman who knows how to market herself. Madonna fits that description. I have already forgotten about her just like I have all the other bimbos that make it to the radio. There's nothing there to listen to or look at.

[Quaoar]

Blame Canada!

[grendl]

If those aboard the Titanic had only known their deaths would nearly a century later be trivialized by Ms. Dion's syrupy song, I think they may have kept their eyes open that fateful night.

Truly wretched wretched stuff.

As for putting on a great show, doesn't the music enter into the equation anywhere? She may just be the Phineas T. Barnum of music, but I bolted for the egress a long long time ago.

[LizM]

Could I humbly suggest that what I would like to hear y'all say about Celine Dion is that you will keep her...plea­se!

[clevelandchick]

In answer to the question which is the title of your post: nothing. My God...Celi­ne Dion posts on Huffington? Sad, very sad.