Celine (concert residency)

Celine was the second concert residency by the Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was performed at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, beginning 15 March 2011, with an estimated 70 performances per year. The residency ranked 26th in Pollstar's "Top 50 Worldwide Tour (Mid-Year)", earning over $20 million. Being seen by over 200,000 people, the residency became the number one show in 2011 (for North America). It made Dion the top earner in Vegas, earning $500,000 a show, and made her the "most profitable music act in Las Vegas" since Elvis Presley.

According to Pollstar end of year data (2011–13), the residency has grossed $116.5 million, playing to 726,346. In March 2013, Dion's manager and husband, René Angélil, announced that the residency contract had been extended to 2019. Due to a statement made by Dion and Caesars on 13 August 2014, all planned shows through 22 March 2015, had been cancelled due to Angelil's battle with throat cancer. On 24 March 2015, it was announced that Dion would resume the residency on 27 August 2015 with new theatrical and musical elements, along with a brand new look and feel. Around the same time as the announcement of the return, Dion's management released a statement announcing the departure of the singer's longtime touring band members consisting of musical director Claude "Mego" Lemay, guitarist André Coutu, keyboardist Yves Frulla, bassist Marc Langis, and violinist Jean-Seb Carré. The new band members consist of musical director Scott Price, guitarist Kaven Girouard, bassist Yves Labonte, and violinist Phillippe Dunnigan (taking on the main violin solos). On 14 January 2016, Dion cancelled the rest of the January performances due to her husband's recent death from cancer. Dion later resumed the residency on 23 February to a sold-out crowd garnering rave reviews. Dion celebrated her 1000th Las Vegas show (overall) on 8 October 2016. The residency has been seen by more than two million spectators since its inception. The show concluded on 8 June 2019, as announced on 24 September 2018.

Background
"I'm coming back home to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and I'm very excited about it. With the orchestra and the band we're going to be able to perform our songs like never before. The repertoire is going to be extraordinary...a mix of timeless Hollywood classics, along with all the favorites that my fans like to hear me sing. It's going to be a very beautiful show, and I think we'll be raising the bar higher than we've ever done before. There'll be some truly wonderful moments......I can't wait!"

On 15 March 2011, Dion began a three-year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The new show features 31 musicians, consisting of a full orchestra and band. The residency was Directed and Produced by Ken Ehrlich with the creative production from Dion's long time Lighting Designer Yves Aucoin and Sound Mixer/Designer, Denis Savage. Moment Factory will be producing the visual elements for the residency (the company previously worked with Nine Inch Nails and DJ Tiesto). The residency does not contain the dancers and Cirque du Soleil style choreography seen in Dion's previous show at the Colosseum, A New Day.

Dion announced her Vegas comeback during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Tickets went on sale that same week with extremely strong sales. The opening night show on 15 March was sold out within minutes. Rehearsals began on 17 January 2011, in Florida, and at the Colosseum starting on 17 February 2011 when Dion moved back to Vegas to begin preparations for the new show.

Additionally, it was reported in January 2011 that ticket sales for the residency had already passed the $10 million mark, marking the fastest sale in the history of the venue. Caesars Palace President, Gary Selesner stated that the first lot of shows through 17 April will be completely sold out.

Broadcasts and recordings


Several concerts have been professionally filmed for both television and promotional use. The premiere concert on 15 March 2011 was filmed in its entirety. Excerpts from this concert were shown in the documentary "Celine: 3 Boys and a New Show", which was broadcast in early October 2011 on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and also various advertisements for the residency. The documentary included excerpts from rehearsals of "Open Arms", "Man In The Mirror", "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)", "Declaration Of Love", "Love Can Move Mountains", "All By Myself", "It's All Coming Back to Me Now", "The Reason" as well as from the premiere of: "Open Arms", "Goldfinger", "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)", "All By Myself", "River Deep, Mountain High", "My Heart Will Go On" and "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", "The Reason", "Ne me quitte pas", The Power of Love", "At Seventeen", "Ben/Man in the Mirror".

"Open Arms" from the concert of 26 March, was broadcast on American Broadcasting Company during the 2011 MDA Show of Strength telethon on 4 September 2011.

On 19 June 2011, "Because You Loved Me" was broadcast at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. The song was filmed 15 June.

On 15 January 2012, Dion held a special concert supporting "Play without Pain: Children's Sickle Cell Benefit." The entire concert was filmed and excerpts of "Open Arms" and "Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel)" were shown in the behind the scenes video of the event. A 47-second excerpt of "My Heart Will Go On" from this concert was sold to various news outlets following Dion's sudden announcement that all future concerts would be cancelled in August 2014.

A live video of "My Heart Will Go On" was leaked on YouTube on 12 July 2012, and was officially released on 31 July. The footage in this video was filmed on 1, 2 and 3 July 2011 and shows Céline Dion performing inside a circular water curtain created by the French company Aquatique Show.

Dion's performance of "Loved Me Back to Life" on 30 December 2013 was filmed and was broadcast on Entertainment Tonight Canada during their New Year's Eve special on 31 December.

After her husband's death on 14 January 2016, Celine resumed her residency on 23 February 2016. A special video tribute as well as "With One More Look at You/Watch Closely Now" and "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" were live streamed on Facebook. Later on, also an excerpt of "All By Myself" from that night was shown during various TV programmes as Celine struggled to finish the song.

On 23 May 2017, following a terror attack in Manchester, Celine paid homage to its victims. The tribute was streamed on her Facebook.

On 24 May 2017, the first live performance of "How Does a Moment Last Forever" was recorded and uploaded the following day on Celine's Facebook.

Following tragic hurricane season, on 20 September 2017, Celine's speech and excerpt of "Recovering" were released on Facebook encouraging people to donate money for the victims of the natural disaster.

Following Vegas mass shooting, Celine decided to continue her residency and resumed performing two days after the events. She opened the residency with a speech that was streamed online. Celine paid tribute to the victims and donated all the proceeds from this show to the victims' families.

On 31 December 2017, a short via satellite interview and an excerpt of "Because You Loved Me" were shown on CNN's New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Moreover, Fox's New Year's Eve with Steve Harvey showed "River Deep, Mountain High". However, this performance was prerecorded on 25 November 2017 when Dion did not change the costumes throughout the whole show as she was wearing a corset after having cancelled the previous show because of lower back spasms.

On 22 May 2018, the first live performance of "Ashes" was recorded and an excerpt was shared the following day on Celine's Facebook. Another excerpt of the song was posted on 10 February 2019 on the occasion of the Grammy nomination for the Deadpool 2 Soundtrack.

On 7 June 2019, the first live performance of “Flying On My Own” was recorded and shared the following day by Céline's team.

Critical reception
The residency received many positive reviews from music critics. USA Today wrote, "Dion isn't here to perform. She's here to kill it. Again… she isn't aiming for applause. She's looking for rapture." Las Vegas Sun wrote, "A magnificent masterpiece! Celine has single-handedly redefined class and elegance in onstage performances. Her voice is sent from the angels." The Montreal Gazette wrote, "Dion magnificent in new Las Vegas show. One hell of a show!...Jaw-dropping... Grandiose, yet intimate…Pure entertainment of the highest order. Worth every penny!" Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star headlined his article as, "Celine Dion's Vegas show more spectacular than ever," and claimed, "If her last show sold out for five years, this one should make it for ten."

Pollstar data
At the end of 2011, Pollstar announced that Celine was #10 on their Top 25 North American Tours gross of $41.2 million.

At the end of 2012, Pollstar announced that Celine was #29 on their Top 50 Worldwide Tours with a gross of $36.5 million.

At the end of 2013, Pollstar announced that Celine was #23 on their Top 25 North American Tours list with a gross of $38.8 million and #25 on their Worldwide Tours (this included the number from the Sans attendre Tour.)

Pollstar announced during their 2014 Mid Year Tour Gross that Celine was #7 on their Top 100 North American Tours List and number 28 on the Top 100 Worldwide tours list with a gross of $21.1 million.

Celine was #47 on the Top 100 American tour List and #77 on the Worldwide Grosses in 2015 with a total gross of $22.6 million, lower than previous years due to taking a year off to look after her sick husband.

Celine was #10 on the 2016 Year End Top 100 Worldwide Tours with a total gross of $85.5 million. She is #14 on the 2016 Year End Top 200 North American Tours with a total gross of $61.1 million.

Celine was #11 on the 2017 Year End Top 20 Worldwide Tours with a total gross of $101.2 million. She is the highest grossing female artist of 2017.

Celine was #15 on the 2018 billboard's year-end boxscore charts with a total gross of $76.5 million.

Set list
Notes:
 * 1) "Ashes", a new Deadpool 2 song, premiered on 22 May 2018

Band

 * Musical Director, Piano: Claude "Mégo" Lemay (2011-2014), Scott Price (2015-2019)
 * Drums: Dominique Messier
 * Bass: Marc Langis (2011-2014), Yves Labonté (2015-2019)
 * Guitars: André Coutu (2011-2014), Kaven Girouard (2015-2019)
 * Keyboards: Yves Frulla (2011-2014), Guillaume Marchand (2015-2019)
 * Percussion: Paul Picard
 * Background Vocals & Tin Whistle: Élise Duguay
 * Background Vocals: Barnev Valsaint, Dawn Cumberbatch
 * Violins: Jean Sebastien Carré (2011-2014), Philippe Dunnigan, Jenny Elfving, Laraine Kaizer, Rebecca Ramsey, Svetlin Belneev, Lisa Dondlinger, Lenka Hajkova, John Arnold, De Ann Letourneau
 * Violas: Jerome Gordon, Kaila Potts, Dmitri Kourka,
 * Cello: Lindsey Springer, Raymond Sicam III, Irina Chirkova, Judy Kang, Élise Duguay
 * Woodwinds: Eric Tewalt, Philip Wigfall
 * Trumpets: Daniel Falcone,Matt Fronke, Kurt Evanson, Nico Edgerman, Donald Lorice
 * Trombones:Nathan Tanouye