BBC Radio 2 Interview Transcript

                             Christmas with Celine

                    Broadcast: December 25, 1998 (5:00 p.m.GMT)

                       Transcript added on: December 25, 1998

Interview by Richard Allinson

Transcript by: David Tsang

[Intro credits begin] 

RA: Hello, this is Richard Allinson, welcome to "Christmas with Celine Dion" on BBC Radio 2. Over the next
hour, I'll be talking to Celine Dion about her music, her family and her golf. 

[Segues into "These Are Special Times"/THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES:1998] 

RA: We're in the company of Celine Dion in her very own private West End hotel in London. Happy Christmas. 

CD: And Merry Christmas to you too. And, that's why you're wearing a red shirt today. 

RA: And my red nose. 

CD: You're into the Christmas spirit, right? 

RA: And my funny antlers? 

CD: Wonderful, suits you. 

RA: Thanks, thanks Celine. [Celine laughs] It's been a heck of a year for you, hasn't it? 

CD: It's been a heck of a year, it's been a heck of a two years, it's been a heck of a life. It's been a very hectic
one, but an amazing one. But, especially, this year -- it's been extraordinary. 

RA: Can I give you one more present to take out of your stocking today because "My Heart Will Go On", the
theme tune to Titanic, is officially -- 

CD: I've heard that song before [jokingly] 

RA: You have? 

CD: Yes. 

RA: You've probably sung it a few times before as well. 

CD: I think I did. 

RA: And Leonardo sends you his love too. 

CD: What a, oh, what a treat. Thank you. 

RA: What is it about that man? 'Cos I know women who think he's really, really gorgeous. 

CD: I think he's the new James Dean. 

RA: Really? 

CD: Yeah, I think -- 

RA: But, he looks about three! 

CD: Well, maybe that's why we love him! We love kids, we're mothers. 

[Segues into movie dialogue of Titanic with intro of "My Heart Will Go On"/LET'S TALK ABOUT
LOVE:1997] 

CD: First of all, I think he's very talented. I think this is my opinion, I'm not trying to… you know. But my opinion
is I think he's very, very talented. He has an edge and I think we like that. He has kind of a
not-completely-polished, like it's rock-and-roll a little bit so he has an edge -- that's what we like also. And, I
think he's a great actor. I just think he's very talented and, you know, he's gorgeous too. 

RA: Now, had you seen the movie before they asked you to sing the song? 

CD: Uh, no, I did not. I sang the song before seeing the movie. Normally, I do see the movie first but the way
they talked me into it, they explained the movie to me. And [with] tears in my eyes, I was ready to hit the song. I
was in the studio and James Horner was trying to explain to me the story and I was cut by emotion and I wanted
to sing and… I love the song so much and I knew it was the best theme and I knew the movie was going to be
spectacular so I had no doubt. But, actually the song of the Titanic, "My Heart Will Go On", is the demo. I didn't
really sing it after. I just went, we recorded, the track was not even finished and I sang the song and that's the
demo. 

RA: So that's just the demo? 

CD: And then I saw the movie, I was just like…phew… on the floor, just like everybody else. [Richard
laughs] 

[Segues into the Oscar-winning "My Heart Will Go On"/LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE:1997] 

CD: I didn't want to sing another movie song. 

RA: Yeah. 

CD: I didn't want to be again. I would love to be acting in a movie but not singing another movie song. Anyway,
I'm glad I did. I think it's the best movie we've made - for a while. It's great. 

RA: Do you know, when you're singing it, that that's the one that you want to record? 

CD: I think you know how far you can go with a song, so you know if it's good or not. You know yourself very
well. Normally, you do a few takes for sure, but when you sing and people are dancing on the other side of the
glass in the studio or they're crying or... you know you must do something right. But the most important thing is to
feel the song as much as you can, and just covering the song as the same time as the people, for example. You
need to be cut by the emotion. I need to have tears in my eyes myself before asking you to be moved by it. So
you know pretty well if you have a good take or not. 

RA: 'Cos that's the one thing thing about the songs that you choose to sing: there's the whole lifetime in every
song, isn't there? 

CD: Yeah, you know, the songs I pick singing, they're full of emotion no matter what kind of songs I do. I not
only do ballads but I think I've been known to do romantic and songs to make people cry. I think I've been
known to sing [such] songs and that's my favourite thing to sing about: emotional songs and romantic songs. But
you know when you have a good song because… you feel it, and you sing it, you want to do it and you enjoy it
and then… you never know what's going to happen with it, though. You love the song but is it going to be
successful? Will the people like it? This you never know, we're not that smart. We never know what's going to
happen but you do this song because you love it and then you release it and then whatever happens the song will
have the life it deserves. 

[Cut to "Call The Man"/FALLING INTO YOU:1996] 

RA: There must be a queue of -- and I know there are some famous songwriters who have give you songs
already and there must be a queue of equally famous songwriters who are waiting for you to sing one of their
songs. How do you pick? 

CD: I have to tell you that the problem we have now, and it's a good problem to have, is that I receive about a
thousand songs a year. And I only have to pick like ten or twelve or thirteen or fifteen at the most, and I fall in
love easily with these songs and I want to record like twenty five songs every time I do a record but we have to
pick much less than that. People send me songs -- known people, unknown people -- from everywhere so I
have a great team working with me helping me to pick the songs because I don't listen to every song; the people I
work with, they listen to everything, every single tape or CD we receive, they listen to it. And, we know each
other very well, so they know if I'm gonna like it or not and so they pick maybe 50 or 60 songs for me and I
listen to all those songs but it's difficult to pick only like 12 or 13 songs. But, I'm very lucky because I remember
ten years ago, you knock on people's doors and you want to work with those producers and those writers and
you say, you know, "Would you write for me? Can I work with you?" And now it's like, it seems that some
people come and knock at my door, so we knock on each other's door and it's like teamwork and it's wonderful
because when you do have success… you know, the writers, they want to make money -- it's normal. 

RA: Yeah. 

CD: It's their work. So [when] they write a song, they think it's a hit, so they want to give it to somebody who's
going to sell records. So, when you're not known at all, they don't want to give it to you. Who is Celine Dion?
They're not going to give it to me, it's my first record so they're going to give it to somebody who sells records so
now what happens is -- I'm knocking [on] wood right now -- but, without sounding pretentious with this success,
people write me songs and they give me their best songs so it's… I'm very, very fortunate, I don't write my music
so when you receive a song, then it's just amazing. I'm just very thankful for that. 

RA: I was going to say that the tables must have turned brilliantly 'cos in the early days you're saying, "Give me
that song". I was saying no. And now -- 

CD: Uh-huh. 

RA: -- a hundred million albums later, "I'd like that one please, thank you very much." 

CD: Well, it's not exactly the way it works out, "I'd love that one, thank you very much", but I think there's a
beginning for everything. When you start, you cannot expect to work with the very best and to have… because,
even at the very beginning of my career, I've been very lucky. I've been lucky all my life. I didn't have like bad
songs or bad producers or a bad team, not at all. I've been lucky all my life, but the songs were not maybe that
that great but now it's just… with the years, slowly but surely, the table didn't turn like [snaps fingers] from one
day to another but, slowly and surely, things started to be like really much more interesting and it's great. It's
normal also. 

RA: Have you been working with your heroes now? Because you've been working with the Bee Gees, and
Barbra Streisand -- 

CD: Uh-huh. 

RA: -- and so many other people as well. I mean everybody's got some Bee Gees records. 

CD: Luciano Pavarotti, Carole King, Sir George Martin and… 

RA: What was it like working with the Bee Gees? 

CD: The Bee Gees were absolutely like, [along with] all the others, were very special experience for me and this
is definitely something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It's experience, you meet people, they've been in
showbusiness all their lives, they know what they're talking about. They have charisma, they have so much talent.
You meet your favourite stars. 

[Segues into "Immortality"/LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE:1997] 

CD: I'm a fan, and you're in the studio with them, singing with them. And you keep looking at them from head to
toe and it's like you talk to yourself and you say like: "Stop staring at them", you know. [Richard laughs] Stop
being a groupie, just do your job. And, you get very impressed when you meet people like this and they're just
normal people and funny. It's just, it was just amazing -- when I think about that, I'm just very amazed that by
chance I have great management because I really wanted to take a year off, I really wanted to cook and play
golf. But, when I think back and I look at this, it wouldn't have happened to me if I would just, you know, stop
and it's just amazing. I'm really glad that I stayed in showbusiness and [that] I did record that album [LTAL]. 

[Segues into the final part of "Tell Him"/LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE:1997] 

RA: Well, the last time we met at the beginning of this year, you were going to take a year off. And you were
going to do an album in French and then this other album comes along called "These Are The Special Times"
[original title to TAST] so you done two albums on your year off. 

CD: Why not, eh? [Richard laughs] Merry Christmas. [Both laugh] 

RA: And a Happy New Year. This new album [TAST], this has the big hit with R.Kelly on it. 

CD: Yes. 

RA: Who's another big R&B star. 

CD: Another duet. 

RA: Yep, another duet. 

CD: Yeah. 

RA: And, it's got "The Prayer" with Andrea Bocelli, that's the duet you do with him. 

CD: "The Prayer", yeah. 

RA: How do you get to meet these people. How do you actually phone them up and say, "Come and do this
record"? 

CD: Mmm. Well, R.Kelly -- let's start with R.Kelly -- I'm a fan, of course. "I Believe I Can Fly" was a song I
was singing everyday. Never met him but I was singing his song and, one day, I was in Paris and Tommy Mottola
-- president of Sony in the United States -- called in Paris and talked to Rene, my manager, saying that he just
got a great song, R.Kelly just had a song, would like to a duet. The song was great, [but] we didn't want to do a
duet -- too many duets, that's it. 

["I'm Your Angel"/THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES:1998 starts in the background] 

CD: Finally, to make a long story short, they send us the CD. I listen to the song, I looked at Rene, can't refuse.
It's too good. You can't say no, the song was too good. I love R.Kelly, why not? Three duets, five duets, what's
the problem? You know, we're singers, we love our work, we enjoy it; why can't you just sing with another
person who enjoys singing as much as you? You have a good song, just go for it. 

["I'm Your Angel"/THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES:1998 continues] 

RA: So R.Kelly came to Montreal, I wanted the duet, so R.Kelly came to Montreal and we recorded the song
together. We didn't spend as much time as… I didn't spend as much time as I would love to with him. He came
one day, you know, a great guy. Talented, we all know that, but full of life. Plays the piano, sings everybody's
songs, do impressions of Stevie Wonder. Funny, funny, great… really, we had a great time. We did that song
and I'm really happy and my English album was [already] out so we said, "Let's put it on the Christmas album." 

[Cut to "Christmas Eve"/THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES:1998] 

RA: You're listening to Christmas With Celine on BBC Radio 2. 

[Cut to "The Prayer"/THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES:1998] 

CD: I did meet Andrea Bocelli not too long ago in Italy, in a restaurant. But the way it happened is, David Foster
wanted us to be singing together, it was kind of his dream to have Andrea and myself singing together. I met with
Andrea, I knew him -- I mean [through] his music -- and I met with him and we had a great time and magic
started to happen again. And, why not? Did the song and enjoyed the moment as all the others and actually
Andrea and I have just did a Christmas Special ["These Are Special Times" on CBS Network] and Andrea and
I was part of this show and he's wonderful human being -- very, very touching. And he's, I don't know if you
know, but he's a blind person and he's full of emotion -- it's really impressive when you see saying, it's really
something special. 

RA: You've got your family on here as well -- 

CD: Yep. 

RA: -- 'cos you're one of fourteen children. 

CD: That's right. 

RA: And your mum and your dad, and all your brothers and sisters, are singing on one song. 

CD: "Feliz Navidad". 

RA: That's right. 

CD: Mmm-hmm. 

RA: Have they been pestering you all year long? 

CD: Oh no, no. 

RA: Let me sing with you. Celine, Celine, I want to be on your album! Or did you just…? 

CD: If there was a person that does that, it was probably me [Richard laughs] Come sing with me, come sing
with me! I grew up singing with them, you know, all my childhood. I was singing and hearing them, in the
basement of my home. I was the one who was going after them, "Let me sing with you" But, everybody, they
have music in their soul and it's part of everybody's life at home. I've been the luckiest one, but it's part of their
lives -- music is part of their lives -- and, you know, for me recording a Christmas album is just a gift that I do for
my family and friends really because [it's] whoever wants to be part of it. Christmas is a very intimate moment;
emotional and sharing things with the people you love. I did my latest Christmas album. The only [other] one I
recorded, I was twelve, so I think I needed to record a new Christmas album and I said to myself, "If I have to
do a Christmas album, let's do some Christmas songs, like classics, that people are used to hearing and that they
need to hear and that they want and that's alright. But, what do I want for Christmas? What do I really want… is
to be emotional, singing classic songs, yes, it's good but [really] to be with my family. So I asked my family if they
could sing with me, if they wanted to and it didn't take them long to jump on the bus and just come to the studio.
Believe me, they loved it and I was very happy to see every single one of them with headphones and singing the
song. My both parents trying to say "Feliz Navidad" [Richard laughs]. It was just a very funny and a very
wonderful moment. And, it was lots of fun and I'm glad they're part of this. 

[Segues into "Feliz Navidad"/THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES:1998] 

RA: So, when you get together for Christmas, how many of you are there? 

CD: More than a hundred. [Richard laughs] That's right, it's true. 

RA: There isn't a turkey big enough. 

CD: Uh-uh. My mum's not cooking for all of us anymore, unfortunately. She'd love to but, yeah, I mean the
fourteen kids -- all married -- there's about... I stopped counting at 37 nieces and nephews so don't ask me...
maybe there's 41, maybe's there's 39, I don't know. 

RA: Lots. 

CD: But there's lots of nieces and nephews; some of them are married, they have children. I'm grand-aunt. It's
like -- [Richard laughs] -- forget about it. It's a big, big, big family, yeah, but it's the only thing you have really
at the end of it all, you know. 

RA: Let's talk about a little bit about you. When are you happiest? [Celine laughs] 'Cos you've got like five
seconds off a year, haven't you? 

CD: You really want to know that? 

RA: Yeah, when are you happiest? 

CD: I'm not necessarily saying it in order, okay? 

RA: Yeah. 

CD: So don't get me wrong here. 

RA: No, right. 

CD: When I'm on a golf course. 

RA. Golf course? 

CD: Yes. And I take my driver and I hit a drive of 200 yards, I'm very happy; when I do pars and birdies, I'm
very happy -- I didn't do a lot of birdies but I did a few pars. 

RA: Every golfer listening to this will be very happy [Celine sighs] if they could do that as well. 

CD: Yeah, I know, it makes me happy too. It makes me very happy when I'm on stage and my voice is at its top
shape and I can sing my songs without thinking about techniques and all them, just singing when I enjoy every
moment, then the people are happy. The fans are happy, it makes me happy. When I'm with my family, it makes
me happy. When I go shopping, oh, it makes me happy. [Richard laughs] A hot bath, then I can I do my nails
and just relax with a big green mask on my face, I'm happy. When I have days off, I'm happy. When I'm having ?
in England, I'm happy. So, there's a lot of things I'm happy, it's true. 

RA: Do you sing in the bath? 

CD: Probably, this is the place I sing the most. 

RA: Yeah? 

CD: Yes. 

RA: Because it sort of echoes, doesn't it? 

CD: That's my favourite thing, everybody sings good in the bathroom. It's perfect sound, it makes everybody
sound good. 

RA: And what got you hooked on the golf? 

CD: My husband, he's been playing for 25 years and he started to be really good. So, I said to myself, "Let me
try to find a way here to beat you." The real reason is, I'm making fun now, but the real reason is I wanted to do
something with him. I want to do something else than... "what am I gonna do if I take a month off?" or okay, you
go shopping, you cook a few meals then you clean your house and then you give your old clothes to your family
because you don't want to wear these any more so it's like instead of throwing them [away], you share them and
then what? I needed to go outside and not spend all my life inside between four walls but go outside and have a
contact with nature and see flowers and the sky and play. And, you know what, golf is really the best thing; it's
really similar to showbusiness, when you sing a song, you have to concentrate, you have to focus. And then you
focus and then... you just have to hit this note and when it goes it goes forever hopefully and then it makes you
happy, because at the end there's a result, you know? [Richard laughs] So the golf course is the same thing:
focus on the ball, take the backswing slowly and then when you come down, you just accelerate and you just
keep your head there and the sound is -- [Celine makes a whacking sound] -- just amazing and then the ball
goes. And it makes you so happy. Do you play golf? 

RA: No. 

CD: That's why you can't understand. You look at me so weird. 

RA: No, I'm thinking, I've been talking to people who play golf and they wear those really funny trousers with the
checks on. Do you know? 

CD: I'm trying to wear not funny things. [Both laugh] 

RA: Good, but they say "it's all in the buttocks". 

CD: It is? 

RA: It's all in the bottom. 

CD: So I've got plenty, it's okay. 

RA: Yep, if you've got that, then the swing is perfect. Shopping. Your shopping sprees are legendary. Have you
been doing any shopping since you've been in London? 

CD: I always take time for shopping. 

RA: Because there are great shoe shops in London. 

CD: Oh, I know that, it's amazing, the best probably,. 

RA: Mmmm. 

CD: Shopping is probably the most expensive sport that I do, maybe that's why I started to do golf to -- 

RA: It's cheaper than shopping. 

CD: -- come down a little bit. But, you know, [you] lose a lot of balls but anyway. 

RA: What are these? These are boots, are they? 

CD: These ones? 

RA: Yep. 

CD: That I'm wearing? Yep. Do you like them? 

RA: They're great. 

CD: Okay, good, I'm glad I'm wearing them. 

RA: They're probably a bit small for me, though. 

CD: Yeah? 

RA: Yeah, I think so. 

CD: You know this is the thing for me, when I like a pair the guy says to me, "What size, ma'am?" I say, "No, no,
you don't understand, I love that shoes. Whatever size you have, I'll take. From five to ten, it fits me - no
problem. [Richard laughs] I'll make sure it fits, sometimes my toes are like that, sometimes my toes are like
this. I know you can't see because I'm on radio now, but I make sure it fits. When I like something, it doesn't
matter if it's too tight or too loose. 

RA: You're listening to "Christmas with Celine" on BBC Radio 2. Celine has just released a Christmas album
called "These Are Special Times" and, from it, this is "Ave Maria". 

[Segues into "Ave Maria"/THESE ARE SPECIAL TIMES:1998] 

RA: Do you have a pre-stage routine? Because you really get into every song you sing And your voice has to be
perfect and the stage has to be perfect. Do you go though a special… maybe a ceremony, maybe a routine
where you make sure...? 

CD: Oh yeah, I mean, nothing's perfect. I'm not trying [to say] that my voice is perfect, the stage is perfect but
we work with the best people. And, I'm trying to be [in] as much shape as possible vocally and I've been very
involved in the stage and the lighting and [for] the new tour I've been involved a lot. 

RA: Yeah. 

CD: This tour, I wanted to do something different. You know, when you start you do theatres, you do small
places so you're close to everybody. I love intimate moments. And then, with time, we started to do arenas and
stadiums and big places. It's great but I mean, at the same time, it's difficult to have intimacy. I really wanted this
tour to be intimate and as close to the people as possible. So, what we did is we put the stage in-the-round and
that's the first time and, believe me, this is the best thing that I could have done. It's so amazing. There's people all
around. Instead of having people, you know, very far, they're all closer to the stage -- when I talk, I can see
them. I can see their reaction, I can see if I'm talking too much and I should stop and start singing. You know
what I mean? Really, I feel them and they give me all the energy that we do have on-stage, they give it to us, they
are feeding us. And I really feel that, and it's just amazing but we have a very, very spectacular stage. It's the
first [of its kind] in the world; the whole stage… I won't tell you everything but, because you're wearing a red
shirt today, I'll tell you. 

RA: Okay. 

CD: You're probably Santa Claus and you're not telling me. 

RA: Ho-ho-ho 

CD: But the stage is a heart shape. 

RA: Right. 

CD: And the whole stage is like a television set so you can shoot whatever you want. You can put any image you
want on the stage. If I want a blue stage, [clicks her fingers] we have a blue stage -- [in] one second -- if we
want to write "Faith. Trust. Love." on-stage [clicks her fingers]… it's amazing. An amazing stage. And there's
elevators -- I won't tell you, you should come. 

RA: Gonna get your tickets. 'Cos you're doing stadiums. You're doing the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield in
July on the 6th, on the 8th it's Murrayfield in Edinburgh and, on the 10th, it's Wembley. 

CD: Yes 

RA: In London. And they sound pretty hostile places for somebody who is looking after their voice. 

CD: You don't know my people! You don't know my manager! They're the best. 

RA: But they're cold and open air. And how do you take care of your voice? 

CD: Well, we take one day at a time. So I'll make sure, in the afternoon, if it's cold, people will let me know. I'll
dress well and with the lights, they'll warm up and you know hopefully the show will be warm and we'll put
warmth, you know, in our voices and in our gestures and all that so people won't be freezing. And, you know,
we take care of ourselves. We've done some cold places before but when the show starts, the adrenaline goes,
the spotlights are on us, you don't feel it [the cold] and then people dance with us, they sing -- I make sure we'll
keep ourselves warm. 

RA: So this is the European leg, pretty much, of the tour. And you've just completed the North American leg, is
there another of it? 

CD: One section. There's many legs. Many legs of that tour! I thought I had two legs and two arms, believe me
[Richard laughs] but there's many more legs than that [Celine laughs]. I'll be touring for another year and a
half. I'll be going to Asia, we'll be going to Hawaii, we're going to Hong Kong. We'll be doing some shows in
Canada, they're keeping the little girl busy, so golf won't be that great this year maybe. 

RA: What's your handicap? 

CD: 24. 

RA: Not bad. 

CD: Not bad. I started… I keep saying a year, but it's already been a year and a half, almost two years now but
I didn't play for almost three, four months now -- unfortunately. But, one thing at a time. Now, I'm touring, I'm
having the best time, I'm happy. 

RA: So the last time we met, this was going to be your year off, and it hasn't happened. Are you going to take
some time off? 

CD: Hopefully. But now I'll be on tour for the next year and a half. After that, maybe we can chat again and I'll
let you know what goes on. Because everytime I said something, it never happens [Richard laughs] so I don't
know. I prefer not saying anything, I don't know but I want to take a break for sure. I want to… I would love to
have a family and we need to stop for that, you know. 

RA: Listen, Celine, it's been great to see you again. 

CD: Hey, nice talking to you. 

RA: Thank you for popping in. 

CD: And, Merry Christmas! 

RA: And to you. 

CD: And, red shirt, this is the thing. 

RA: This is my lucky shirt. 

CD: I'm telling you. 

RA: Next time we do this, I'll wear this. 

CD: You got it. 

RA: Good luck with the album, good luck with the tour. 

CD: Thank you so much and see you seen. Hope you come and see the show. 

RA: Take care. 

CD: Take care. 

[Segues into "The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Us Everyone)"/THESE ARE SPECIAL
TIMES:1998] 

Transcript by David Tsang