Celine Dion Biography and Profile

Biography

Nama : Celine Dion
Birth Name : C�line Marie Claudette Dion
Birth Date : 03/30/1968
Birth Place : Charlemagne, Quebec, Canada
Height : 5' 7�"
Sex : F
Nationality : Canadian
Occupation : Pop singer
Father : Adehmar Dion (d. Nov 30, 2003)
Mother : Therese Dion
Spouse : Ren� Angelil (her manager, since December 17, 1994)
Claim Fame : Hit duet with Peabo Bryson "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)

C�line Marie Claudette Dion (born March 30, 1968) is a Quebec vocalist.

She was born to a catholic family in the small town of Charlemagne, Quebec, with a singing voice that her mother encouraged. By the age of five she was performing for anyone who would listen.

In 1980 her mother brought her to agent/manager Ren� Ang�lil, who so believed in her voice that he mortgaged his home to help finance her career. In 1981 they released her first record in her native French language, "La Voix du bon Dieu" ("The Voice of God"), which made her an instant star in Quebec. The following year she competed and won the gold medal at the Tokyo World Song Festival. Her career continued to blossom, and in 1987 she produced the album Incognito, which became a huge success. Approached by Swiss song writers Atilla Sereftug and Nella Martinetti she was chosen to represent Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest singing "Ne partez pas sans moi". By winning the contest in Dublin, Ireland on April 30, 1988, she received a large boost to her career in Europe. Her first English-language album, Unison (1990), expanded her international recognition with the breakthrough single, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now".

Many of the hit singles that followed over the next ten years ("If You Asked Me To", "Water from the Moon", and "Nothing Broken but My Heart") were written by Diane Warren, a composer best known for power ballads. However, C�line Dion finally showcased her talents as a songwriter when she co-wrote "Don't Save It All for Christmas Day" for the 1998 Christmas album, These Are Special Times and "Treat Her Like a Lady" on her Let's Talk About Love album, 1997.

In late 1993, she indicated to the public for the first time that she was in love with her manager, Ren� Ang�lil. In the dedication section of her third English-language album, The Colour of My Love, Dion named Ang�lil "the colour of [her] love". Eventually, they were engaged, and she married him in 1994. The wedding was broadcast on television across Canada and was very highly rated. The couple also has a son, Ren�-Charles Ang�lil (born January 2001).

Dion's work has featured heavily in the soundtracks of a number of hit films. In North America, and working in the United States, her song for Disney's Beauty and the Beast (written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman), "Because You Loved Me" (from 1995s Up Close and Personal, another Diane Warren composition), and a cover of Nat King Cole's "When I Fall in Love" (from 1993's Sleepless in Seattle), added to her growing stardom. By 1997 her records and her rendition of James Horner and Will Jennings's song "My Heart Will Go On", written for the motion picture Titanic (but making its debut on her album Let's Talk About Love), made her the top-grossing star of the music world, with more than 50 million records sold. One year later, she performed "The Prayer" for the 1998 animated film Quest for Camelot. Her last movie song before her short two-year hiatus to have a child came in 1999 with "Then You Look at Me" (from Bicentennial Man, also written by Horner and Jennings). The song "I'm Alive" from her A New Day Has Come album was featured in the second Stuart Little motion picture. In 2004 Dion recorded the title track for the Anglo-French-Canadian movie Nouvelle-France, titled "Ma Nouvelle-France", written by Luc Plamondon and Patrick Doyle and produced by Christopher Neil.

Dion is also no stranger to participating in tribute albums, such as a 1995 collection of Carole King songs called Tapestry Revisited, In My Life (a collection of Beatles songs in tribute to producer George Martin), and a 1997 double-CD set commemorating Diana, Princess of Wales. In 1996 at the Olympics, she performed the theme song, "The Power of the Dream".

Dion has covered several popular songs in her time, including Jennifer Rush's hit "The Power of Love", Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", Roy Orbison's "I Drove All Night" and Eric Carmen's "All by Myself", John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy", Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", Ray Charles' "If I Could". Dion also covered one of Anggun's song "Tu Nages" in her latest French album.

Some of Dion's own songs have been covered: "My Heart Will Go On" by Claire Sweeney and Neil Diamond, among others, "These Are Special Times" by Christina Aguilera, and "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day" by Clay Aiken.

In 2000, Dion began a two-year hiatus from the music industry. In that time, she mothered a child and prepared plans for her biggest show to date, A New Day... Live in Las Vegas.

In 2002 after her two-year hiatus, she returned to the music world with a new album A New Day Has Come. The album debuted at number one across 17 countries all over the world and it sold over 600,000 copies in the United States in its first week, being the highest selling album of the year in the first week. She had a contract to perform in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In March 2003 Dion was everywhere: on 25 March her A New Day show opened in Las Vegas and her album One Heart was released. The album has been certificated as 10th-best selling album of the year, according to IFPI.

She also released her own perfume line, which was well received and was advertised on commercial television. It was one of the top-ten selling perfumes of 2003.

In 2003, moviegoers once again heard C�line Dion's voice in the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" on the soundtrack to Mona Lisa Smile.

In October 2003 her French album 1 fille & 4 types was released. The album is yet again a collaboration between Dion and Jean-Jacques Goldman (joined by three of his friends, Gildas Arzel, Eric Benzi and Jacques Veneruso), who had previously worked with her on S'il suffisait d'aimer and D'eux (also known as The French Album, which sold nine million copies worldwide, making it the most sold French-language album of all time). Critics have called it Dion's best and most natural album. Dion herself has referred to it as "the album of pleasure". The first single from this album, "Tout l'or des hommes", established the record for becoming the highest charting Francophone single on the National (English) CHR Audience chart in the BDS era. "Tout l'or des hommes" reached number five on the English CHR Audience Chart.

In July 2004, "You And I", the promo song for the new Air Canada ad campaign, actually hit No. 1 in the Canadian mainstream adult contemporary category, according to Nielsen BDS. Difficult though this may be to credit, the song, included as a "bonus track" on her A New Day... Live in Las Vegas album, has cracked the Top 100 most requested singles on Canadian radio stations for 23 weeks.

In October 2004, Dion released her first concept album, Miracle, produced by David Foster, as part of a multimedia franchise conceived by both Dion and photographer Anne Geddes. The theme of the album is centred around babies. The project was available in three different versions: the CD with a 20-page booklet featuring photos by world-renowned baby photographer Anne Geddes; the Limited Edition CD/DVD Box Set includes a 60-page version of the Miracle book, the Miracle CD and a "making of the CD" DVD; the 180-page book with the Miracle CD and the "making of the book" DVD.

According to the Canadian Recording Industry Association, C�line was the second highest selling Canadian artist in 2004. Her album A New Day Has Come went six times platinum (600,000 units).

On January 2005, Miracle was certified Platinum by RIAA in USA.

On March 25, 2003, Dion began a three-year engagement to play five nights a week at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The show is put together by Franco Dragone.

Dion first conceived the idea for the show after seeing O by Dragone early into her break from recording. The show is described as a combination of dance, music and visual effects. It includes Dion performing her songs against an array of dancers and special effects. Even though the show did not get the best reviews from some critics it has been very well received by audiences, selling out every night since opening in March 2003.

On September 2004 the contract was extended into 2007.