GLOBE AND MAIL

March 1, 1984, p. E4

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Front teeth were the issue when she was 13.
When she appeared on stage clutching a microphone, her long brown hair caught in a pony tail, she always made sure not to smile.  But her prominent canines quickly became a Quebec showbiz joke.
Céline Dion, one of the province's most acclaimed singers, was known as the kid with vampire fangs.
"I used to cover my mouth with my hand on stage," she recalls, laughing.
"No, seriously, it was a big problem then, with my public, with photographers.  I would listen to some comedian making fun of my teeth on television and I used to cry."
Today, at the ripe age of 15, Dion, the youngest of 14 children, all singers and musicians, takes a break from rehearsing for a television show and shoves two fingers in her mouth to reveal a tightly-screwed set of braces.
"Many 15 year-old girls have to fix their teeth," her mother Therese says.
"But for Céline it was a real problem, all these people laughing at her.  You know how young girls are."
This young performer, who dropped out of school to pursue her career, rarely goes to the movies or out dancing with friends.  She goes to bed early - "it's better for my voice" - and rises early to rehearse or to study video cassettes of herself.
Her ambition?  "I want to be a star by 30.  I'd like to stage a musical comedy with my family, give my brothers and sisters a chance to act out their fantasies."
From the surroundings of her early childhood in rural Charlemagne to the stages of Japan and France, the small-town Quebec girl who never leaves home without mother is praised for her candid performances and a voice described as a cross between Barbra Streisand and Edith Piaf.
It all began when she sang her first solo at her brother's wedding.  She was 5 - a real kid wonder, the older Dions would say.  In those days, the 16 member family would entertain friends and guests with their music, mostly Quebec folk songs.
But fame didn't come to the Dion ensemble until Céline turned 12 and her mother wrote her the song that opened the gates: Ce n'etait qu'un reve (It Was Only a Dream).  The Dions sent a tape of the song to impresario Rene Angelil.
"We found his name on a record cover," recalls Céline, "after which I waited and hoped.  And then it all happened. It's been a dream ever since, a fairy tale."
Impressed by her voice, Angelil arranged for an audition - "It was like nothing I had ever heard before" - and took her to France to meet Piaf's former lyricist Eddy Marnay, who agreed to write most of her songs.
Angelil knew he had a winner and Dion soon gained a place in the hearts of French Quebecers.
"She's considered an established star here today," says Jean-Claude Aubin of Trans-Canada Records. "French people love those kinds of songs.  When she'll want to sing in English, she'll have to change her style.”
Aubin says Montreal-based Trans-Canada invested $1.5 million three years ago to build Dion's career, but Quebec radio stations still would not play her records.  To program directors, Dion was just an obscure vocalist whose songs would delight an old folks' meeting.
Last year, however, she became the first Canadian singer to receive the coveted Disque d'or award after her album D'amour et d'amitie (Of Love and Friendship) sold more than 700,000 copies in France.
"That's when we succeeded in convincing radio stations here to promote Céline," says Aubin.  "She did what every Quebec singer dreams of.  She won a Disque d'or."
“Today, France and Quebec, tomorrow the world,” says Dion.
"I want to be an international star with a house in every major city, but Quebec will always be home," she says.  "It's the title song of my new album, Les chemins de ma maison (The Road Back Home).  When I come back after a trip, I feel so good to be back in my province, with my family."  

HARMONIOUS NOTES

Time - October 20, 1997 (by Belinda Luscombe)

At this year's Academy Awards BARBRA STREISAND was conspicuously missing from her seat when her Oscar-nominated song I Finally Found Someone was sung by another diva: CELINE DION.  When speculation rose about why Babs stepped out, she insisted that only an ill-timed trip to the ladies' room caused her to miss the performance of the Canadian chanteuse, who is sometimes touted as the new Streisand and currently reigns as the world's bestselling recording artist.  Now, as if to prove the point that no rivalry exists, the two singers have joined voices on a new single release, a soaring ballad called Tell Him.  The resulting harmony is likely to double the pleasure of diva lovers everywhere and set up an inevitable competition: the song will appear on upcoming Streisand and Dion albums that will soon be battling it out at the top of the pop charts.

S'IL SUFFISAIT D'AIMER

Dag Allemaal - September 15, 1998

The success of ‘My Heart Will Go On’, the love theme from ‘Titanic’, was for Céline Dion the crown on her young but already extensive international top career so far.  On her second French language album we find her working together for the second time with the French supertalented Jean-Jacques Goldman.  Their cooperation has once again resulted in a sequence of beautiful songs Céline sings with all bravura and a style that is unique to her.  Not only do the songs contain so much more feeling then her English hits do, but Céline also sounds more authentic and more lived through then ever.  Not only her fans will enjoy this.  Highly recommended.

JUDICIAL CASE CONCERNING UNDERWEAR CELINE DION

Infotainment (Ear&Eye) - October 5, 1998

THE LAST

De Streekkrant - November 19, 1998

CELINE DION REFLECTS THE PAST BEFORE TAKING A BREAK OF AT LEAST 2 YEARS

www.celineonline.com -  November 1999

... I've been given wonderful songs by the best songwriters in the world, and I've had the opportunity to perform these songs on virtually every continent. I've had the privilege of working with many of the greatest producers and artists of all times and I've had the good fortune to be part of some of the biggest projects in the entertainment business. So much has happened and I feel so very fortunate that I've been able to live this dream. There's still a lot more that I want do in music and I have many more goals and dreams which I hope to pursue in time. For now, I want to step back a little bit from the spotlight. I want to enjoy the simple things in life for a change. I want to spend more time with my family, my friends and especially with René.

All The Way... A Decade Of Song
This album reflects many of the highlights that I've enjoyed throughout my English-language recording career. The familiar songs are ones that have become the biggest favourites among the fans. Songs that people know me for...songs that recognise the past. The new songs are ones that I received this year and felt very excited about recording and including on this particular album. In a way, the new songs represent the present and future. All of the songs are dear to me, but perhaps one song has an extra special place in my heart. You may already know that René and I have our special song...like most couples do. Ours is "All The Way," made famous by Mr. Frank Sinatra. You can imagine what a great honour and thrill it was for me to be able to record this song with the amazing voice of Mr. Sinatra. What he gave to music will always be timeless...and I feel privileged to be able to pay him a tribute in my own little way. "All The Way" sums up the way my husband and I feel about each other, and in a different way it describes a feeling that I have when I think about all the love and support that's been given to me by many dedicated people who have made all of this incredible journey possible.