Janine and I went to Las Vegas on September 23rd, together with our mums.  They both are huge fans of Céline, just like us. We knew it would be our last time in Vegas and we wanted to make it a special week. We had tickets for the 26^th and 27^th of September. The first night we would be at Orchestra 4, row BB; the second night at Orchestra 4, row AA, so that’s front row and we would be sitting exactly in the middle of the theatre! We were really exited about that and we decided to make special t-shirts for this occasion. We made a message for Céline and the members of her team and put this on our shirts:

Shirt 1 (me): Céline and your team…

Shirt 2 (my mum): You all touch our hearts!

Shirt 3 (Janine’s mum): So proud to be your fan…

Shirt 4 (Janine): Un grand merci from HOLLAND!

We wanted to mention the members of Céline’s team in our message as well, because we think there would not be a show without them. They are such a big part of the show, they put so much energy in this, they gave up part of their lives for it and they gave us so many wonderful memories during the years in Vegas, they deserve a big bow for that! It was out of the question that they had to be put in our spotlights as well.

We arrived Sundaynight and we just could not wait until it was Wednesday, when we would visit the show for the first time. That day we had lunch with other fans, including some members of the Céline Dion-forum (Wendy and her husband Steve from England and Parvin, a fan from Thailand who would see Céline for the very first time). We had a great time, it was wonderful to be able to talk with people who understand how amazing it is to be in Vegas and see Céline’s show! Wendy had seen the show the week before and could tell us all about the changes.

After our lunch we spent some more time in Caesars and after that we went back to our hotel to get ready for the show. We went to Caesars really early. When we walked into the Colosseum, it felt like coming home. It was so wonderful to be on second row and see Céline again! When ‘A new day has come’ started, I was feeling goosebumps everywhere… It is such a beautiful start of the show! Céline did look at us at the beginning of the show; it was almost like she recognised us (we have been backstage 2 years ago). The show was great, but I think Céline did not have much interaction with the crowd. She did her thing, did give some winks but she did not really talk to us, apart from the usual stuff. There were some funny things, though. There was a guy a few rows behind us who was completely in love with her. He whistled at her, the way you do when you see someone beautiful. He did not do it just once, I think he did it about 6 times.

Céline reacted the way she reacts more often when someone is shouting or whistling at her. She said: “Are you my neighbour?”. This man was very enthusiastic during the whole show, it was nice because a lot of people in the crowd were pretty boring. When Céline asked “Wanna try that chair?” after ‘Seduces me’, he was the one shouting “YEAAAAHHHH!!!!” the loudest of everyone. It made Céline laugh, because most of the time women react to that, not men and definitely not as enthusiastic as he did. There was one more funny thing, when Céline started singing ‘I’m alive’, she had put her arm on her chest but her arm got stuck in her suit. She did start to sing: “Hmmmmmm hmmmmm hmmmm, hmmmm hmmm…” and then said: “I’m stuck!” (meanwhile trying to pull her arm back) “Hmmmm hmmmmmm hmmmmm, hmmmmm hmmmmmmmmm” (she managed to free her arm) “I’m ok now! I get wings to fly…” Hahaha, it was so funny!

It was the first time we saw ‘Pour que tu m’aimes encore’ with the flying frames (the last time we saw it you just saw Céline on the big screen) and it was the very first time we saw ‘River deep, mountain high’. And that is SO GREAT! Céline rocks, she is swinging the whole Colosseum down, shaking it with that wonderful dress, it was amazing! It was the first time we saw the new costumes and I have to say that they look so much better in reality than on pictures. The dress from ‘My heart will go on’, WOW! And even the black suit with the red belt was great! When I saw it on pictures I thought I would not like it so much, but when I saw it, with the high (tight) black boots, amazing! It was a wonderful night, but I did miss the interaction with the crowd. I was hoping things would get better when we were at first row, the day after.

And what a night that would be! I have to tell you guys that my mom first wasn’t too excited about our plans with the t-shirts. But she had to wear it, because we all did and it would look strange if she was the only one not wearing the same shirt. She had no choice! We were staying at Treasure Island so we had to walk a little while before we got to the Colosseum. And on our way to the Colosseum, we got very much attention. The shirts were black and the letters on the shirts were kind of silver-coloured, reflecting the light, so we could not hide. Everyone that was walking by looked at us. It was funny, because lots of people reacted. One man said: “Well, I don’t have to ask where you girls are heading!” and I said: “Yeah, Toni Braxton!” Hahaha!

In Caesars and in the Colosseum we still got lots of attention. When we were in line in front of the entrance of the Colosseum, people were standing backwards looking at us, trying to read what was on our shirts. It was funny, because you could see they did not want to stare, since the letters were on chest-height, but at the same time they were so curious that they could not stop looking. At the end we decided to stand in line for a while, so that they could read it. A woman gave us a thumbs up for it! ;-) Inside the Colosseum we went to our places and we decided to have our picture taken there. It was kind of stupid, we were so excited that we did not think about our shirts anymore and we were standing in the wrong order, hahaha! So now we have a picture of us together but we have to read the text backwards… Luckily Parvin took some pictures of us after the show, in front of the big sign at the Colosseum. On these pictures we are in the right order! ;-)

When the show started, the cameraman showed some people in the audience, as usual. He showed a man and then, there we were, on the big screen! The cameraman asked us to stand up and so we did. He took close-ups of all of us to show the text on our shirts. I think some people must have been happy, because they finally could read our message! The crowd cheered for us, it was so nice! The audience was very good this night, they did some funny things on the screen, it was really enjoyable. Time went by really fast because of that and before I knew it, the first notes of ‘A new day has come’ started playing. I could not wait to see Céline’s reaction. Would she notice us, give us a sign or anything? Céline slowly walks to the audience when she sings this song and when she was coming closer we started to shout. It was so nice, because there happened to be 2 women behind us who were also from Holland and they were screaming as well.

The people around us were quite boring, the people next to me did not shout or anything, they just applauded now and then. And the 2 seats next to Janine were still empty. After a while 2 guys came up and sat there, I think about 10 minutes after the show started. I was so annoyed by them, because how can you show up too late at Céline’s show, especially when you are at first row? And it got even worse, both of them went away during the show, to come back a little later. I think they got something to drink or something like that. Unbelievable! But anyway, Céline looked at us and smiled, you could see she noticed us and our t-shirts. The show went on and in her first talk with the audience, she did not say anything about us. After that I did not expect she would say anything about it anymore. She did wave at us and smile at us, so I thought that would be it. She gave us much attention during the show, which was really nice. During ‘I’m alive’ she shouted the well-known: “And so are you!” to my mum, pointing at her. And after ‘Seduces me’ she asked the “Wanna try that chair?” at Janine’s mum. It was really funny, because usually people shout “Yessssssss!” when she asks that. But Janine’s mum said: “NOOOOO!”, almost indignant, and she added: “This chair is better!”, pointing at her own chair. Céline was laughing out loud when she saw her saying “NO!”.

Then Céline sat down for ‘If I could’. Instead of the usual talk she does here, she started to talk about ‘teleprompters’, did we ever hear of that? I did not have a clue that she was going to talk about us soon… She explained that teleprompters are screens with letters where they put the news on and things like that. And then she said: “Well, I was looking that way (pointing at us) and I was thinking: Hé, I have 4 teleprompters in the audience tonight!

So I think I have to go and see what’s on it!” And before I knew it, she was standing up, walking down the stairs on her high heels and coming up to us. I could not think anything anymore, I was completely blown away! She first walked up to me, because I was wearing the first t-shirt. She was standing in front of me and she was reading the text out loud… I can still hear her say it: “Céline… and your… team…!” When she was in front of my mum, she said that it was a bit weird because she had to look at our chests, but it was the only way she could read the text! And my mum said she also added that it would not be a problem to read the text if she was wearing such a shirt, because she did not have much chest and the text would be going straight down. Hahaha!

I was too much in shock to hear that, I think I did miss some things. When she told the audience what was on the last shirt, she repeated: “From HOLLAND! WOW!” And then she came walking back and gave all of us a high five! It was so amazing! When she was in front of me I managed to say: “Thank you for being an inspiration!” but that was all I could say… She went back to the stage and kept talking. She asked a man and a woman that were also sitting on front row: “Are you guys married?” and to her surprise they answered: “Uhm… No!”. She started laughing and so did the audience. She walked back on stage and said that she wanted to talk about love and started singing “Let’s talk about love baby, let’s talk about you and me” (free interpretation from the Salt ‘n Pepper-song). Then she said that she loves René, but they do have some arguments sometimes and when they do, René does not always tell her that she is right. At these times, she always says to him: “René! Remember! Happy wife, happy life!”. And now that she saw our t-shirts, we gave her an idea. She would make a t-shirt with ‘Happy wife, happy life” and when they had a discussion again, she only had to show her shirt at him. While she said that, she pretended like she was showing the shirt, you should have seen the look on her face when she said and did that! She is so funny! A little while later there were some people shouting a few rows behind us. It appeared to be some people from France and Switzerland who brought a big sign with a text for Céline.

She looked really happy, first the t-shirts and now this? She could not believe it and asked them how they got this in? Because the security is checking everything, so where did they put that? She was looking a bit naughty when she asked that! She said: “Well thank you for that, and thank you for the security-member who did not see it and let it go through!”. She then started to talk about the security in the Colosseum. She told us that the first night she did a show in Vegas, she was expecting flashlights everywhere, people taking pictures. As an artist, she loves getting attention, people looking at her, taking pictures. But nothing happened that night. She said that at first she thought that people did not want to take pictures because of her short, blonde hair, because people did not like it (the audience was laughing really hard at that). But she found out there were many security-rules and not allowing cameras in the theatre was one of them. The stage is pretty dangerous, with slopes and holes where the stairs come out. And there are many people on stage, including the dancers who have to do dangerous things now and then. If people are allowed to take pictures, the people on stage could be blinded by the flashes. She said: “It would not be very nice if you take a picture of me falling into a big hole, you know!” She was talking very much this night, so much that the show lasted longer than normally. I enjoyed it so much, it felt like the old Céline was back, the one that talks a lot, reacts to the crowds, acts funny! I love the Vegas-show but sometimes it bothers me that she seems to have pretty standard scripts here. I miss the spontaneous reactions that she had when she still toured the world. This night she showed us her old self, the Céline I became a big fan of many years ago.

It was an amazing night and the best show I have seen in Vegas. It was my 10^th and last show and I could not imagine it would be so great! The show went on and I was having mixed feelings, because I knew it would be the last time I would see these songs in this show. But I did not have time to think about that a lot. Not only Céline gave us loads of attention, also her band and dancers gave us the time of our lives. Elise blew kisses to us and waved, André Coutu could not stop smiling when he looked at us, Barnev was having so much fun, the dancers were winking and waving, we almost felt like VIP’s that night! Us, 4 pretty normal women from Holland, were treated like VIP’s! When Céline started singing ‘My heart will go on’, it was a sad moment for me and I wanted the night to last forever. But at the same time it felt good, because new things are coming our way. And it will be so good to welcome Céline in our countries again, to join with true fans, not just people who happened to be in Vegas and thought: why not buy tickets for Céline. And it is an amazing idea that people who could not afford to see Céline in Vegas, will be able to see her again.

It will be fantastic to share this together with real fans again and to make Céline feel at home in our country! After the show we stayed in the theatre for a little while and it was unbelievable, but people came up to us to talk with us! There was a handicapped woman with a help-dog who came up to my mum and said that she really enjoyed what we did. My mum asked her if her dog was allowed to join the show as well, and she said that he indeed joined her for the show and that he really enjoyed it! There were also people from Holland coming up to us and some other people who wanted to say they liked what we did. WOW! Outside the Colosseum we took some more pictures and there were people taking pictures of us! It was so funny, it was a night we will remember forever! After the show we talked a while with one of the dancers and he told us that we will be pleasantly surprised by Céline’s new tour. It will not be a show like we are used to, it will be different, “funky and edgy”. He also told us that everyone is very sad that the show runs to an end. Céline did pick some dancers to go on tour with her, but only about 6 of them. He said that December will be very hard for them, he looked so sad when he talked about it. They truly are one big family. 

Now we are home and we have to get used to the idea that this was our last time in Vegas. But at the same time we have wonderful memories and no one can take them away from us. In 2003 I attended the premiere of the show with my mum, together with many other fans including Estevam. In 2004 I went to Vegas with a group of friends, including a good friend of me, José. In 2005 I got to meet Céline backstage with Janine, my dear friend. And now all of this… Thank you Céline, for your kindness and grace, we truly are proud to be your fan. And a big thank you for everyone who works in Céline’s team, you deserve a standing ovation for all of your hard work. And to all the other people who were in the audience that special night: you also made it a memorable night for us! It was GREAT! See you in Europe!

Laura

The Netherlands