In 2014, Celine Dion first announced that she was going to have a concert in Manila, unfortunately it was cancelled due to the serious illness her husband, Rene Angelil.
Its been four years and last night the DIVA finally stepped foot on Philippine territory and amidst the sudden downpour, Celine gave a sample to the eager TV reporters who welcomed her, singing “She’s Ready!”
The Canadian pop superstar Celine Dion will be having her first of two concerts tonight at the SM Mall of Asia Arena brought to you by Ovations Productions, AEG Presents and sponsored by PLDT Home and Smart Music
Tickets sold like hotcakes since it was made available with the most expensive ticket priced at P35,380 for SVIP (Super Very Important Person); P32,210 for VIP; P19,540 for Lower Box A; P16, 370 for Lower Box B; and P7,920 for Upper Box. General admission is priced at P2,640.
Dion’s songs have been a favorite among singing competitions—“To Love You More” for example was Sarah Geronimo’s winning piece at the finale of “Star For A Night” which launched her into superstardom and Jake Zyrus, the singer formerly known as Charice Pempengco performed with Dion’s at the pop diva’s Madison Square Garden in New York on September 15, 2008 and sang Because You Loved Me.
Dion has had an illustrious music career with more than 220 million albums sold worldwide over a span of 30 years. She has won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year; 12 World Music Awards; seven Billboard Music Awards; seven American Music Awards; 20 Juno Awards of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Science (CARAS); and 45 Felix Awards of the French province of Quebec. She remains the best-selling Canadian artist and one of the best-selling artists of all time.
Here are 7 more facts about Celine that will make you scream Love “her” More
- CELINE IS THE YOUNGEST OF 14: Born Celine Marie Claudette Dion on March 30, 1968, in Charlemagne, Quebec, to Therese and Adhemar Dion, and was the youngest of 14 children. Her mother thought she was done having children after her 12th and 13th children who were twins. Her father worked as a butcher while her mother stayed home with the children, and wanted to find a paying job to help out after her twins were born, but at 41, she found out she was pregnant again, with Celine. From the young age of five, Celine’s entire life was dedicated to becoming a singer, and she performed with her parents and siblings in her parents’ piano bar
- IT WAS ONLY A DREAM: Celine recorded her very first song, “Ce N’etait Qu’un Reve,” which translates to “It Was Only a Dream” at the age of 12. She worked on the song with her mother and Jacques to write and compose it. Her brother then sent the recording to Rene Angelil who managed Canadian star Ginette Reno. Angelil was so sure Celine would be a star, he even mortgaged his own home in order to fund her very first album.
- SHE STARTED YOUNG: Celine started performing at the age of five and was first signed when she was 12. But it took awhile for Celine to reach her international level of stardom. When she was 18, Celine saw Michael Jackson perform on TV and she told her manager that it was the kind of success and stardom she wanted. So in 1989, her manager had her take a year off, gave her a complete makeover, had her master English and she began work on her first English album Unison which was released in 1990. The following year she sung the title track for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, officially launching her career outside of Canada and the rest is history.
- SHE DIDN’T FINISH HIGH SCHOOL:Since Celine had to work for her family and started at such a young age, she never graduated high school. But in 2008 the singer received an honorary doctorate from Laval University in Quebec. She dedicated the award to her husband for creating her incredible career and said the distinction was “a very great honor for a little girl from Charlemagne.”
- BETTER LOVE STORY THAN JACK AND ROSE:Celine Dion’s love story has been well documented in Hollywood and its actually even more romantic than Titanic. Celine was was just 12 when she met her future husband and manager–Rene Angeli in 1980–he was 38. In 1987, when she was 19 years old, they began a romantic relationship but hid the relationship as long as possible because of perceived criticisms from those who would find the 26-year age difference inappropriate. They were engaged in 1991 and got married on December 17, 1994 in Quebec.
- ALMOST LOST HER VOICE: Celine Dion is known as one of the hardest working stars in the music industry, but did you know that her determination almost cost her career even before she became a star? While on tour for her first English album, Unison, in the very early ’90s Dion battled laryngitis. Along with stress and fatigue from her schedule, Dion refused to take a break and her vocal cords became inflamed and she was forced to cancel some shows. She was advised to undergo vocal cord surgery, but instead opted to get better by remaining completely silent for three weeks. Following the scare she has since had a strict routine in order to take care of herself and her voice.
- SHE DIDN’T LIKE MY HEART WILL GO ON: The theme song of the Titanic is probably Dion’s most popular song. “My Heart Go On” from 1997’s Titanic became one of the best-selling tracks of all time and it was also named one of the “songs of the century,” but it almost never got recorded. According to an interview, Dion said she didn’t really like the song and didn’t want to sing it at first. “I wasn’t sure. I did another song for a movie before and it was very successful, and I thought we were pushing our luck,” she told Jonathan Ross. As it turns out, she did such a good job singing the song, it was recorded in one take. “The demo is actually the real recording, I never sang the song again. Except three million times after that live,” she revealed.
PLDT Home and Smart are the main presenters of Celine Dion Live 2018 in Manila slated on July 19 and 20, 2018 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The two-night event is produced by AEG Presents and Ovation Productions.
Get a shot at watching the world-renowned singer belt her hits like “My Heart Will Go On,” “Because You Loved Me,” and “The Power of Love” by following the official social media accounts of PLDT Home (www.facebook.com/PLDTHome) and Smart (www.facebook.com/
Celine Dion Live 2018 follows a string of groundbreaking acts backed by both PLDT Home and Smart in their push to give customers a one-of-a-kind total music experience through awesome digital content and exclusive perks.
This long list includes the recent Manila concerts of Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, and Niall Horan, as well as last year’s performances of Britney Spears, Fifth Harmony, Shawn Mendes, David Guetta, Liam Gallagher of Oasis, and In the Mix’s 5SoS, Dnce, Two-Door Cinema Club, Dua Lipa, Daya, and Zara Larsson.
Follow the hashtags #SmartMusicLive, #SmartCelineDion and #PLDTCelineDion for more details.
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