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Celine Dion returns to Las Vegas with a new residency, following her "Celine" show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace from 2011-19. (Photo: Andrew Whelan)<\/span><\/p>\n Question: After more than a year of no concerts, why does now feel like the right time to return to Las Vegas?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Celine Dion: <\/em>We have an amazing opportunity to start in a brand-new place. I haven’t seen it in person yet, but this theater is state of the art and all the technology is the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me. Everybody is super excited and we’re all working really hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n Right now, here in the United States, things are starting to happen again, slowly but surely. It\u2019s hard\u00a0because as we\u2019re creating this show and moving forward, at the same time, we\u2019re seeing what\u2019s going on in other places of the world\u00a0like Canada and India and Brazil. COVID is still part of us and there\u2019s a lot of places that still don\u2019t see the light yet. Of course, I\u2019m thrilled and excited and nervous for the premiere, but I\u2019m also very proud because we\u2019ll be giving all the profits from the first show to COVID relief. And the hotel and our show partners are joining us in that.<\/p>\n India COVID cases escalate: <\/strong>How to help, donate, show empathy<\/span><\/p>\n Cher talks activism<\/strong>, ‘Moonstruck’ and her pitch for ‘Mamma Mia 3’: Meryl Streep ‘as a ghost’<\/span><\/p>\n Celine Dion performing during her Courage World Tour in 2019. (Photo: Jacques Boissinot, AP)<\/span><\/p>\n Q: Given that it’s the 25th anniversary of “Falling Into You,” could you see yourself incorporating even more of that album into the setlist?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dion: <\/em>We’re still working on which ones\u00a0will be part of the show, but I will be singing the songs that got me to where I am today. The challenge for me is, how can I freshen them up and present them in the newest way possible? I don’t want to go on stage and change the whole song because I don’t want to disappoint the fans, but there’s probably a way to perform them in a way that’s surprising as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Q: Jim Steinman, who wrote “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” from that album, died last month. What do you remember about him?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dion:<\/em> He was a very emotional person. (Whether)\u00a0he was playing the piano or proposing a song, he believed in what he was doing so much. I found that Jim had something in common with my husband:\u00a0Ren\u00e9 cried a lot and Jim cried a lot. They would sing something happy? They were crying. They would sing something sad? They were crying. So he was just fragile and sensitive and beautiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n Q: This year is also the 30th anniversary of “Beauty and the Beast.” If I’m correct, you were initially hesitant to record the title track\u00a0after your experience with “An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.” (Dion recorded “Dreams to Dream” for the latter film, but was ultimately replaced by Linda Ronstadt.)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dion:<\/em> “An American Tail” was quite an adventure. I loved that song very, very much and I still do. But Linda Ronstadt did amazingly and I’m glad she got to sing it. My husband, though, he took it hard. Ren\u00e9 couldn’t believe it. And I was like, “It’s OK, it’s OK, don’t worry. It’s fine.” But he was very sad and he was crying. But then another song came to us and it was “Beauty and the Beast.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A poster for Celine Dion's upcoming Las Vegas residency. (Photo: Courtesy of Resorts World and AEG Presents)<\/span><\/p>\n Q: As a then-rising star in the U.S., what did “Beauty and the Beast” mean for your career?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dion:<\/em> It introduced me to my fans and opened up so many doors for me. It definitely became part of the beginning of the rest of my journey as a singer. When I think about the first song of my career (“It Was Only a Dream”), which my mom wrote, and then “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Power of Love” and “Because You Loved Me” and (“My Heart Will Go On” from) “Titanic” \u2013 these are songs I can sing the rest of my life. These are classics. There are some times when I’m like, “Oh, my God, I wish I could sing other songs.” But every time I sing them, I look at people’s eyes and the way they sing with me, I’m like, “Wow, it got me here.” So I’m very, very thankful. I’m glad to have that problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n Q: Has the high note in “All By Myself” gotten any easier to hit?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dion:<\/em> No, sir, it was not easy from the first day. David (Foster, the song’s producer) and I talked on the phone I don’t know how many times, and we finally agreed on one note. I was comfortable with the key and I flew to California (to record), and David said, “Before I play the song, I just want you to know that I have a surprise in it.” I’m like, “OK…” Is it a choir? I didn’t really know to what expect, but something big from David Foster. He gave the song to me and it was almost a key and a half higher than what he had\u00a0proposed and what I had agreed (to).<\/p>\n I didn’t think it was funny at all. He said to me, “Don’t worry. If you can’t hit it, Whitney (Houston) is just next door and she can come and do it.” I was like, “Oh. My. God.” But I guess that was all I needed to hear, so I went into the studio and I had no choice but to do it because I really wanted to sing that song. And it worked out. But from Day One, it’s been a hard one.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg> View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n A post shared by Ce\u0301line Dion (@celinedion)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/05\/10\/USAT\/dd9895c0-8222-4db7-b1c8-41d46edb4190-Celine_Dion.JPG\")
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