CELINE PACKS UP FOR YEAR LONG WORLD TOUR OF OVER 120 SHOWS AROUND THE GLOBE
World superstar singer Celine Dion has completed one month of Vegas rehearsals for her new world-tour, and today winds up packing to leave from her Lake Las Vegas home for the start of her year-long travels.
Members of her family have already left Vegas to finalize all the advance preparations in South Africa where she kicks it all off exactly a week from tonight on Valentine’s Day. First to hit the road was Rene Angelil’s eldest son, Patrick, who celebrated his birthday last week. He’s worked on Celine’s tours since 1994.
I’ve been told that Celine, Rene, their seven-year-old son Rene-Charles and Celine’s mom and sisters will make up a global group of up to 100 roaming the world in a private super-luxury 747. Sound equipment, musical instruments, props and wardrobe, the cast and road crews will make up as many as two other private jets in Air Force Celine! Young Rene will be home-schooled on the global trip by his own tutor.
Says the Canadian songbird, “It’s going to be pretty hard to leave Vegas behind but I’m not sad because Rene has said we’ll be back. This new chapter of my life has me energized and happy.”
Celine won’t be too far from the influence of Vegas when her new Taking Chances World Tour, propels her into Sheldon Adelson’s new Venetian resort Arena in Macau, China one month later on March 15.
She plays in stadiums across South Africa until March 1 and then flies off to Dubai, Tokyo and Osaka before landing in Macau—where she’ll probably find some of her former Vegas show friends now working! After two shows in the Seoul, Korea Olympic stadium she arrives in Australia for concerts through April 4. Then she plays both Shanghai and Beijing in China. In May she criss-crosses Europe with concerts in Britain, Belgium, France and Ireland before taking on the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland and Germany in June and July, winding up with the Royal Family of Monaco in their Sporting Club arena in Monte Carlo. In August, en route to Canada for month-long shows in hometown Montreal and Toronto, she will play a one-night gig in Boston. She returns to the States from Sept. 3 until Oct. 16 and then returns to Western Canada on Oct. 20. Then from Oct. 30 to Jan. 30 it’s coast-to-coast American arena dates.
“It’s a grueling schedule and highly ambitious,” I was told. “But she wants to do it. She’s up for it and she thinks she’ll be able to make an adventure out of it to show her son and her family the whole world on one long trip. But on March 30 she’ll turn 40 and celebrate that milestone in Sydney, Australia. So she’s also thinking that after it’s over she’d like to have another child and give little Rene a baby sister or brother.”
Celine leaves our valley as her “Taking Chances” single hit the no. 1 slot on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play charts. Her five-year-run at Caesars Palace ended last month after 717 shows that attracted an amazing 2.8 million ticket-buyers and grossed a staggering $385-million plus. Her commercial juggernaut just doesn’t stop—this spring she’ll release her newest fragrance, “Sensational.”
(Click here for our Luxe Life interviews with Celine and Rene on the final night of her Caesars Palace run when he told me they would be back and we would see her and hear her sing again at Caesars.)
“She is welcome back anytime—she’s family,” says Gary Selesner, Caesars’ President. Bon Voyage, Celine. Safe journey and God Speed!