Interviews

KING: Rene a part of that?

DION: Oh, yes. He's a big part of it. And they listen to everything. And they gave me about 100 to 200 songs to listen to. And I decide my songs.

KING: Now, what does it have to have for you to say I want to record this?

DION: Become a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it's like feeling. Like when you see somebody...

KING: Chemistry.

DION: Chemistry. That's right. I would probably think that the music would be grabbing my attention a little bit more, because the lyric can be adjusting. We can always play with the sense, lyric is a very important message, so it is important, but also the music has got to be nice.

KING: That's interesting.

DION: So both, actually.

KING: Sinatra has told me the lyric came first to him.

DION: Lyric came first.

KING: The music was always, what am I saying?

DION: OK. Well, of course, he's right. Because what you sing is very, very important. But you can always -- the music, too, I guess, both. you know what? I guess, both.

KING: How long does it take to do a CD, they way you work?

DION: Well, it depends. The way I work, my two last French CDs took me -- first one took five days, the other one six days for me to record. This one, it's in English and the producers had to come to Montreal. And I worked with different producers on this album, because it took about a month.

KING: Does the CD have a theme running through it? Is there a concept of the song or is it just, this is my latest?

DION: Well, this is my latest, but also the fact that it felt so -- the title of the album, which is "A New Day Has Come," which represents not only a song, but a mood. A new day has come for us, is our child, of course. But a new day has come for somebody else can be moving from our parent's place to our first new apartment.

KING: It also could be post-September 11.

DION: Exactly. We just lost somebody, have to take my life back into charge. I'm in charge now. I'm back. And by myself and I'm going to make it. A new day has come for me. It can be represented in many, many different ways, which I love this song for.

But I think the mood of the album is very -- maybe more -- I've done some modern things on that, too. Because like I said to you before, I'm not ready to jump into this new way of performing, of the rap thing. But there's a couple of songs that are a bit more modern for me to do.

KING: How did you get to do the "Titanic" theme? How did that come about?

DION: I was in Las Vegas. And I don't remember exactly what I was there for, but I was working probably. And James Horner, who wrote the song, came to us at the hotel. And he said, "James Cameron doesn't know nothing about this. He doesn't want to have any song for his movie."

KING: Doesn't want a theme.

DION: Doesn't want a theme song, no. But he said, "I believe in this song. And I wrote this song just for you. I believe in this song so much I want you to hear it, please." And he went to the piano and he started to play. And he was OK, but I couldn't hear the song well, because the piano -- he plays well, but I couldn't get the song right. And I looked at Rene in the back, like, "I kind of want to do that song." And Rene went to see James and he said listen, "You know what we're going to do?" Let's do a demo. In a couple of days, we're going to go to Los Angeles and Celine's going to put her voice on the demo just to give it a try and see if she feels it, if it's good. She said, "Thank you. Thank you very much. Great. But don't say a word. Promise them we're not going to say a word."

KING: Now hold it right there, because this is good. This is called a grabber. We'll be back with Celine Dion in the story of one of the most amazing song successes of all time. Don't go away.

KING: We're back with Celine Dion.

OK, so you do the demo.

DION: So I do the demo. I'm going in a studio. It's a bad day for me. Period of time the voice is not top shape. Normally, when I sing in a recording studio for real I don't take any caffeine, neither chocolate, neither coffee, because it makes my vibrato too fast. But I'm saying to myself it's a demo, no big deal, it's just for you to try, give me a coffee with two sugar, please. Black coffee with two sugar. Everything started to be very quick here. But I went there and I said, "Would you talk to me about the movie?" He said, yeah. So, James started to me about the movie and the parents and the boat and the whole thing, and he touched me so much, and I had a little tear the corner of my eye. And he said, "You're ready to sing. Go ahead." I said, "OK." I went there and I started to sing with my faster vibrato, and I never re-sang the song.

KING: That was it?

DION: The demo became the original song.

KING: That was the one we heard in the movie?

DION: That's right.

KING: And the record?

DION: And on the record. And they just built the orchestra around my voice after that.

KING: Did Cameron like it right away, one would assume.

DION: He went for it.

KING: Are you bothered by tabloid stories?

DION: Sometimes.

KING: There were stories about Rene, he gambled.

DION: Oh, you know, like couple of years ago they said that the incredible suicide of Celine Dion. So I called my mother right away and I said, "Mom, I'm still here." I'm expecting twins, and I was not even pregnant, I was having a hard time at the time. I was anorexic. The $9 million gambling of my husband. He's a gambler, by the way, I'm not denying that, and I'm glad he is. $9 million? Forget about it. That's not true.

KING: Why are you glad he is?

DION: I'm glad. He mortgaged his house to make me do my first album. I'm glad he's a gambler. That's great. He needs to be.

KING: Well said.

DION: But also now that -- I'm sorry to come back to this, but now that we have a child it bothers me much more. Because when it's only you, you know what's true, you know what's not true. I'm not going to say it's not right, it's true. I know who I am. But when you have a child, when somebody comes into your life and they say your son is in danger, things like this, I don't like that at all.

KING: Yes.

DION: I don't like that at all.

KING: You get mad?

DION: My husband gets mad. I give this to him. I'm mad at home. I give everything to him and then he goes and he...

KING: Because you have that French-Canadian...

DION: Oh! Oh, yes, yes, yes.

KING: Let's not lay back.

DION: No, no. I'm this little sweet girl sings ballads, yes, of course, yes, but on the other side I'm a mama, too.

KING: What do you make of the stories of kind of meltdowns of divas? Whitney Houston with drug problems. Mariah Carey.

DION: No matter what...

KING: What happens in people at the top?

DION: You know what some people think, because Mariah and Whitney Houston, we do pretty much the same things? We're young and we do some ballads and we're in show business. But I feel for that very much, and I think that's why I don't live with the show business. I do my job. I do my songs. I'm enjoying myself. Thank you very much. Goodbye.

I'm in show business, but I don't live with the show business world and people. They can eat you raw. It's very dangerous, and it's definitely not a healthy business to be in. It's wonderful, living under the spotlight, it's great, the limousines and the best rooms and everything you want for free, no problem for you. It's a very, very dangerous business.

So my mother, who was with me until I was 18 years old. Rene always want to make sure I was surrounded with the best people. And forget the parties. Don't touch the drugs. Don't touch the drink. Do your job, stick to your word, and go back home. Don't hang.

KING: So you never went show biz?

DION: I don't want to go show biz. I don't want to go show biz; I want to come to your show. I want to sing my songs; I want to go back home with my sons, fireplace, cook a little pasta and hit the road with all of them that I love.

KING: You ever want to do a Broadway show, act and sing?

KING: Are there ever nights where you're off to yourself, not A- 1?

DION: What do you mean when I'm not A-1?

KING: Not at your top, not at your best?

DION: Definitely. Definitely.

KING: I've had performers tell me when they have nights like that, they get the biggest audiences.

DION: The biggest audiences respond, and probably the best review comes out.

KING: Because?

DION: Your voice is not totally perfect. The technique will be very difficult. You don't feel good, like I don't feel like it tonight, and then you do the show. You forget everything, and the best came out of you that night. And that's the show you remember. Pretty wild.

KING: It's hard, isn't it?

DION: It's hard, but show biz is quite magic. It's great.

KING: You get nervous?

DION: Very much so. I get nervous. I get those, like an elevator inside of me going up and down. But I see myself sometimes when we do television specials and they film me backstage without me knowing. When I know the camera's there, it's one thing. But when they put me on film without me knowing, I'm a little bit -- it disturbs me, not disturbs me in a bad way. But it disturbs me a little bit, because I feel what I see is very like I was in a cage for a couple of hours and then I'm coming out of the cage. Like my breathing is faster, and I'm ready to hit the stage. And I'm like something in me comes out, something inside of Celine the performer comes out.

KING: Do you take special care of your voice?

DION: Yes. I train my voice. I train my voice a little less now...

KING: And you sing every day?

DION: ...because I'm busy at home doing...

KING: Do you sing every day? Do you do...

DION: ...playing with Barneys and Kaiou (ph) and Cheerios and Tweety Bird and Elmo to the rescue and all that. But when I'm on tour, I train my voice every day. Vocal exercises, nothing too complicated, but just a warm up.

KING: During the two years, did you?

DION: During the two years, my teacher told me don't stop training. It's very important. Sorry. I didn't listen to him, and I stopped everything. I did unplug everything.

KING: Didn't sing?

DION: Didn't sing, and when I went back in the recording studio, I was a little nervous. Because is my voice going to be like "UNRR"? Is it going to be there? And I was very surprised, because it got looser. It got loose. It got relaxed. I didn't sing as much with my vocal chords on this album. I sang even more with my soul and with my heart, even less.

KING: We're going to close the show tonight by going over to the center stage and have Celine sing the title song from the CD, "A New Day Has Come." We'll ask her a little more about it as well. We'll be right back. Don't go away.

KING: We've had a wonderful hour with Celine Dion, and what a way to end it. We're going to have her sing the title song of the brand new CD, which is released today worldwide, "A New Day Has Come."

I notice that it's listed twice on the back of the album.

DION: Yes.

KING: You sing two versions?

DION: Yes. There's a slow version and there's an uptempo version. So whatever you prefer. Isn't that great?

KING: Which one are you going to do now?

DION: I'm going to do the uptempo one.

KING: The uptempo.

DION: That's right.

KING: This song, as you mentioned earlier, has a meaning, for you especially, right?

DION: Yes. Aldo Nova and Stephan Moccio really captured the emotions that I went through for two years, and I'm very thankful for that, because nobody else could have done something more beautiful than that from my album now.

KING: Now, when you sing a lyric, as you mentioned earlier, you sing it as if you'd like to know it's the first time you're saying it.

DION: I'm trying to. Every time I get back into my emotion and I'm trying to bring as much emotion as possible into the microphone and for the people to receive it. I do my best every time to get into it. We're like actors, singers are like actors.

KING: Yes, that is acting, right? Of course.

DION: Yes.

KING: Is it an emotional high for you to sing a song you like?

DION: It is. It is definitely a wonderful...

KING: It makes you feel good.

DION: Every time is like you meet a song for the first time.

KING: Here's one we're going to meet for the first time. The lovely Celine Dion as we end it tonight.

DION: Thank you for having me.

KING: Thank you. "A New Day Has Come."

An Interview with Anne Geddes and Celine Dion

July 20, 2004

Q: Please talk about the Miracle project and how your collaboration began.

Anne: I first met Celine several years ago, when she was incredibly kind to an eight-year-old girl whom my husband and I were very close to, who has since died of cancer. Celine and I discovered that we have common values, and we both cherish the love that can be expressed in families. Our friendship grew, and we began to talk about how much we would enjoy working together.

Celine: I think it was meant to be. In my career, which really means my life, I had reached the point where I wanted to add a performance element that would complement my music. The Miracle lullabies and love songs, combined with Anne's images of these beautiful babies, is a unique project that means a great deal to us.

Anne: The combination is a perfect blend. We believe that each new life is truly a miracle. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to create Miracle with Celine, whose vocal artistry completely captures our shared love for children.

Q: In what ways did the Miracle project differ from your other work?

Anne: Initially, I was nervous about the shoots with Celine. On the first day, I couldn't help thinking, 'she's an adult,' and taking photographs of adults and designing attire for them is not really my line of work. Of course, it all fell into place beautifully.

Before the shoot, I told Celine what I tell everybody who's posing with the babies, 'This is not going to be like your normal work day, or any other photographic session you have encountered. You will get wet, and unexpected things will happen,' and she said, 'Stop, stop, nothing will be a problem.' She was right; nothing was a problem with Celine.

Celine: I'd been enjoying Anne's work for so many years, through her numerous books, calendars, her baby clothing line...and now we've had this wonderful time of being together and discovering a bit more of each other...

Anne: There are so few people who could come into this project and embrace the whole experience. I think Celine is a person with a very big heart, and with a lot of empathy for newborns. It is so plainly visible in the imagery.

Q: Celine, how did you feel about your work as a model in Anne's images?

Celine: I never previewed the images during the shoots because I wanted to discover the magic and the miracle when Anne had completed all her creative work. I had total confidence in Anne. I know she's the best at what she does. I wanted to give her the time to achieve her vision.

Anne: Celine has such a presence, a strong female aura. There is a photograph of her with a lotus flower that I just adore; she is so intense, feminine, and proud with the child. Through all the required set ups, including more than a hundred newborns, she remained completely poised, sensitive to the infants, and full of humor, which touched us all. At every step of the process, Celine was fantastic. (To Celine) Everyone relaxed as soon as you came in and started singing to the babies. I never had to worry about you.

Celine: Just as I told you not to worry once I started on my turn, bringing you into my recording studio, and asking you to sing; you could just trust me.

Anne: I had to politely decline your offer because I couldn't wait to get home to select the images for the book.

Celine: And I went to the recording studio because I couldn't wait to sing those love songs, which became part of the Miracle project.

Q: Celine, tell us about selecting the songs for the Miracle CD.

Celine: I have to say that another thing that was meant to be is the song, "Who Could Ever Love You More?" that was written for me by the incredible songwriter, Linda Thompson. It was supposed to be on my most recent English recording, but it didn't make it for whatever reason, and was perfect for this project. For the CD, we re-titled it "Miracle" because of the miracle of new life.

Anne: I've listened to it countless times... it's always brand new and gorgeous. (To Celine) It could be something to do with your voice.

Celine: The other pieces we recorded have special meaning to me, and address the deep and universal connection between a mother and child. We chose the other songs, including a favorite lullaby, for the Miracle CD because they express this bond of love so eloquently.

Q: How do you convince new mothers, sometimes first-time mothers, to allow you to work with their child?

Anne: Truly, the parents select me. I owe a huge amount of gratitude to the parents of every baby in Miracle, who so willingly entrusted their tiny newborns to Celine and me. I feel very honored. It's an incredible responsibility; each baby is a totally vulnerable human being. People are aware of what I do and what I am about. They come because they trust me, and Celine was an added bonus. No one outside my studio team knew she was part of the shoot.

Celine: The parents are also fragile; all their emotions from seeing their baby for the first time just a few days or weeks ago, it's all right there.

Q: Anne, is it true that many mothers were surprised you were personally involved with their babies, changing diapers?

Anne: Babies keep me real. I've changed thousands of diapers. I love to see little naked newborns; they're just so divine.

Celine: I think people are surprised because you could easily be concentrating on the technical aspects of the shoot, positioning the babies, and asking your studio team to do this and place that. I feel the moms and dads are very impressed that you talk to them and cuddle their babies. You pose their infants, whisper sweet words to them, and then you change their diaper. The shoot becomes more than your work, because you care so much.

Q: What would you like people to take from Miracle?

Anne: Miracle is my way of sharing the great sense of joy these babies give me, and the awareness of the wonderful potential of each child. All of these babies that Celine has posed with, in truth, all babies, are so very precious, so valuable and deserving of all the loving care and respect we can give them.

Celine: It's very moving, when you hold an infant and are so close to purity. The best thing to do is enfold them in your arms and show the world that, this is the only thing that matters.

Celine Dion funny Interview

Libby

Bonjour!

Celine

Bonjour.

Libby

That's French for hello.

Celine

I know.

Libby

Oui. That means yes.

Celine

Oui.

Libby

Yes. Well other than voulez vous couchez avec mois, that's about it for me and French. You're from Canada right?

Celine

Yes.

Libby

I have a friend who moved from LA to Vancouver, Gene Astor--do you know her?

Celine

No...

Libby

Think...shoulder length brown hair (although she's really gray as a rat) long face, not as long as yours but normal long. Blue eyes, drives a BMW breeds chows...

Celine

I'm sorry, no.

Libby

Kind of stocky, although she doesn't think so, has a what she calls a birthmark on her cheek although I'd say it was a mole.

Celine

I'm sorry, I don't know her.

Libby

Well, when you get back if you run into her tell her Libby says 'hi' and if she could get back to me about the chinchilla that would be great.

She was going to sell it to me because of the fur activists here but now that she's in Canada with all the trappers and all she may have changed her mind.

You started singing in Canada when you were 12 is that correct?

Celine

Yes.

Libby

And I read that you are the youngest of 14 children?

Celine

Yes.

Libby

You Canadians are just like the Irish! But I guess it's different in Canada, you have to do something to make time pass.

Your first single was a hit and you caught the eye of your current husband.

Celine

Yes, that's true.

Libby

You were 12 and he was 26 years older.

Celine

Yes.

Libby

Uh huh. Probably things are different way down in Canada but here--well we have laws and all-- anyway you became a big star in your hometown of Quebec. Which no offense, isn't that big a deal. It's kind of like being a big star in Twinkle Toes Iowa, but then Humbert Humbert was able to make you a big star in the US! That took some work!

Celine

I did the title soundtrack for Beauty and The Beast and it was very well received.

Libby

I've got to ask you something Celine.

Celine

Yes?

Libby

What's with all the yelling? I mean in my day we had the greats, Judy, Billie, Doris, Edie and they could sing a song that would curl your toes. But girls these days. Jeez! You start off soft and reel everyone in, then a few seconds later your hollering your fool heads off.

I guess there's more of an excuse for you to do it considering where you're from. I'm sure you need that kind of vocal range to shout for a neighbour in an emergency but you got your Whitney and what's her name and then there's that other one.

That duet you did with Barbra and don't get me wrong I love Barbra but it shattered three panes in my china cabinet!

Celine

Everyone has their own unique style I guess.

Libby

You've got a brand new....what do they call them down in Canada? Papoose?

Celine

Baby.

Libby

That's what we call them!

Celine

Yes, his name Rene-Charles.

Libby

Bobby's a good name for a child. You never hear of a Bobby in a shoot-out.

Anyhoo, I hear that you have a home in Palm Springs. What do you miss most about Canada? The igloos, the snowshoes, the Mounties? What?

Celine

My family.

Libby

Oh that is just so darn sweet. Tell you what, I'm planning a visit to Toronto-- I think I pronounced that correctly--in July. I'm really excited I just bought a beautiful parka--red, I don't want any of the natives shooting at me! And if you give me a message I'll pass it along to them, how's that?

Celine

Uh... that would be fine.

Libby

Well, you are a lovely young woman and it was a pleasure to interview you. Voulez vous couchez avec mois!