It isn’t just the title of her new CD and TV special, it’s a fact: For Celine Dion, a new day has come.
The Grammy-winning music superstar is ending her two-year career hiatus — during which she had her first child and cared for her husband and manager, Rene Angelil, after his cancer surgery — with a new album and a CBS special airing Sunday. In addition to showcasing some of her newest tunes, the hour offers a digest of Dion hits, including the movie theme songs “Because You Loved Me” (“Up Close and Personal”) and “My Heart Will Go On” (“Titanic”). Destiny’s Child and Brian McKnight will perform with Dion.
A two-year break always was the plan for the Quebec native. Dion says the special, taped at Hollywood’s new Kodak Theatre, is meant to show people that “I haven’t changed so much. I’ve grown up some and have a child now, and we went through some difficult times, but I’m the same person. This will be the first time I’ll be performing a bunch of songs from the new album (for an audience). I know the music industry can change a lot, but I’m not ready to make a big jump into a rap album.
“I still want to do the kinds of ballads I did before, and I think they’re even more in demand now. There will always be a place for them, and I can’t become another person with another soul. I have to be able to really feel what I’m doing, and ballads are best for my particular style.”
Dion acknowledges that many radio stations have “kept me alive” over the past two years by continuing to play her material: “Fans talk to me about songs I recorded years ago, and some people are still getting married to them or being helped by them. That tells me I should keep going with what I’m doing.”
The lushly orchestrated yet contemporary tune “A New Day Has Come” has been all over the dial since its early-March release, and Dion considers some other songs on the album very modern, including “Ten Days.”
“I’m doing my Britney Spears kind of thing,” she says. “I think many of the new songs are much more up-tempo, which I appreciate because I want to have a very visual show. Those will help. I’m glad to have Destiny’s Child with me, because they’re very talented. I’ll sing ‘Emotion’ with them, then they’ll join me on ‘When the Wrong One Loves You Right,’ one of my new songs.”
Getting back into a television mode isn’t a big worry for Dion, who made two earlier specials for CBS. “I’m surrounded by people I’ve been working with for a long time (including veteran variety show producers Pierre Cossette and Ken Ehrlich). They want the best from me and for me, and they bring the best out of me, so I trust them tremendously. I’m just going to sing my songs the best I can, knowing that the rest will be taken care of.”
Though she participated in last fall’s multinetwork telethon “America: A Tribute to Heroes” (which yielded her rendition of “God Bless America”), Dion had her first big “homecoming” as a presenter at the Grammy Awards in February. “It was a very pleasant night,” she recalls. “I didn’t have to worry about anything because I wasn’t performing. I usually get very nervous when it’s time to go on, because I’m concentrating on my voice and on my positioning. I loved just being able to relax and enjoy that show.”
