Céline Dion

[izzarina]

I did not vote. None apply to my feelings on said Dion. I do think she has an amazing voice. Any time I've heard her I am wowed by the voice. I don't like the music though and do not like to watch her perform. I don't hate her.

This is pretty much where I stand on the issue. As someone who was trained vocally, I can absolutely appreciate her talent (as I said above). And I do like to sing along with the music when I do hear it (some of it...I don't own even one cd by her, and honestly, I don't think I know most of what she sings when I think about it), but it's not something I go out of the way to listen to. Most of the time, when I do hear her, it's on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack. I do like that song

[fearfaoin]

Y'know, I was thinking about Celine



and another Canadian singer, Loreena McKennitt



and I thought that maybe Canadians valued voice over physical
attractiveness (which I would totally respect). Then, I remembered
Shania Twain

[CHasR]

cropped out the pole on that last picture, eh?

[Nanohedron]

It feels
like she is deperate to keep your attention, as if it feeds her, and
she is starving.

That's what I couldn't put my finger on. Good catch.

For my money, it's safe to say that any performer - in the sense of an "act" - gets emotional gratification from attention and appreciation for one's efforts (why perform, otherwise? C'mon, you Chiffy buskers and performers: admit it. ), but it's better for me as an appreciater if the performer isn't so obvious about that part of the performer's raison d'être. It bespeaks a lack of equilibrium, of being out of control of oneself somehow, and that is something painful to witness. In Dion's case, it also arguably says something of her talent that such a genuine stage liability, in my eyes, was of little hindrance to her success. That talent hasn't been enough to make an impact on myself, though; like many others here, I've been divorced from the pop genre for a long, long while, and Dion has made no difference in that any more than the rest.

[Wombat]

It bespeaks a lack of equilibrium, of being out of control of oneself somehow, and that is something painful to witness. In Dion's case, it also arguably says something of her talent that such a genuine stage liability, in my eyes, was of little hindrance to her success.

I don't think that the performance a diva gives is an attempt at communication; I think it's ritual spectacle. I don't think it much matters what they do with their hands or faces or arms so long as the show is BIG, gawdy, action-packed and self-consciously theatrical. Much of it is stylised; rather like the car chase in an action movie. The songs trigger a recognition factor in the audience and the performance is just something to do with your eyes because people have forgotten how to just listen. All of it screams: pay attention to me. Even movements once rich in symbolism soon lose their meaning: divas like Madonna and Mick Jagger used to do things that meant something but not after the fifth time you've seen the clip. If you see them live, they'll give the people the gestures they expect. It's all just part of the show.

Remember how people used to watch the Rocky Horror Show every week for years? Remember how they had memorised every word, every nuance, every gesture and would sing along? That's not communication; that's ritual. Mass for the secular. I don't think that's entertainment in the ordinary sense and it doesn't seem to have much to do with music or art. I saw bits of a Kylie Minogue concert recently and she really seems to understand this stuff. She knows her audience and she knows what they want.

[Nanohedron]

It bespeaks a lack of equilibrium, of being out of control of oneself somehow, and that is something painful to witness. In Dion's case, it also arguably says something of her talent that such a genuine stage liability, in my eyes, was of little hindrance to her success.

I don't think that the performance a diva gives is an attempt at communication; I think it's ritual spectacle. I don't think it much matters what they do with their hands or faces or arms so long as the show is BIG, gawdy, action-packed and self-consciously theatrical. Much of it is stylised; rather like the car chase in an action movie. The songs trigger a recognition factor in the audience and the performance is just something to do with your eyes because people have forgotten how to just listen. All of it screams: pay atttention to me. Even movements once rich in symbolism soon lose their meaning: divas like Madonna and Mick Jagger used to do things that meant something but not after the fifth time you've seen the clip. If you see them live, they'll give the people the gestures they expect. It's all just part of the show.

Good point. I guess Dion's style didn't fall within my preconception of "diva" in any way whatsoever, so I didn't consider that. But my preconception is changed for the better, thanks to you.

Still, if that's divahood, the genre has fallen from command, to "demand".

[fearfaoin]

Huh. I didn't think about it before, but I suppose "diva" didn't
always have the negative connotation I give it now. I think it's
gone the way of "prima donna".

[Jack]

Y'know, I was thinking about Celine



and another Canadian singer, Loreena McKennitt



and I thought that maybe Canadians valued voice over physical
attractiveness (which I would totally respect). Then, I remembered
Shania Twain

I don't know what you're getting at, but even though she is super talented, I happen to think that Celine Dion is also physically attractive.

[BrassBlower]

I just see her as a sort of cultural artifact. Sort of like ABBA and Sweden, I suppose.

Of course, being what we are, we can't knock ABBA too much. They at least kept playing small woodwinds when most of their counterparts were pulling out the trumpets.

These days, when I think of Sweden, I more think of Väsen and Swåp on the Trad side, and Yngwie Malmsteen and the Flower Kings on the rock side.

But back to Ms. Dion - I liked her until I was forced to endure repeated exposure to that "Titanic" song, so it's the industry's fault, not hers. It's a wonder I didn't give up the whistle at that point.

[fearfaoin]

I happen to think that Celine Dion is also physically attractive.

I certainly don't. I think she's up there with Sarah Jessica Parker,
whose face, in the immortal words of Peter Griffin, looks like a
foot. But my point was that she and Loreena don't fit the youth-
obsessed, Western view of beauty the way many US pop stars seem
to.

[Scott McCallister]

I thought Shania was Alaskan...She was born in Ontario? And yes, comparatively Celine is a bit "horse-faced", but then, so is Helen of Troy, or Venus herself for that matter.

At any rate as luck/fate would have it, I own several of Celine's albums. ( ). It's weird though, I don't think of myself as a collector of her music. Kind of like the surprise I had when going through my DVD collection and finding a preponderance of Tom Cruise movies. I never really thought of myself as a big Tom Cruise fan. But some things he does, could not be pulled off by any other leading man in Hollywood.

As for Celine "The Crusher" Dion, I think she hales from an era where over singing ballads was common place. Between her and Michael "The Destroyer" Bolton I don't think they ever met a song they couldn't pulverize. The evolution of music popularity has left them with a slightly older fan base which makes them "so yesterday".

Is Celine talented? Yes, very much so. She's a good singer. I also think that the magnitude in which she was acclaimed was due partly because of the other talent (or lack thereof) that was making the charts when she was producing records. She was unique among them and quite a bit better. Is she the best there ever was? That is pushing it a bit, but compared to the field she ran in, she was probably the best there was.

From a talent standpoint, I would put her in the same class as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and include Christina Aguilera in that group as well. All of these women can sing... well. About every 5 years or so it seems a new Diva rises in the charts and the old ones seem to self implode. Celine has done so in a rather graceful manner compared to Whitney or Mariah. Performing for $Millions a year on a custom built stage at a landmark casino in Vegas, is a whole lot better than being a burned out ex-wife of Bobby Brown, or the star of "Glitter", no?
?

That said there are some songs that she should stay away from. Covering Aretha Franklin tunes should be strictly off limits for The Crusher. It's about like Pat Boone doing heavy metal.

Ah! Holy Hell!

It just doesn't work, but there are some songs she covers that belong to only her. And it will be a long time before any can hold a candle to her performance.

[Dale]

She's got a solid voice, obviously, and is technically a good singer. But, I think she displays dreadful taste in music. It's sort of like owning a beautiful writing instrument and then using it to write bad poetry.

[Jerry Freeman]

Interesting comments.

I think she has an awesome voice and vocal technique, but her music, for the most part seems overproduced and soulless to me.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[rh]

As for Celine "The Crusher" Dion, I think she hales from an era where over singing ballads was common place.

A lot of popular singers overdo ballads. They should be locked in a room for a week with nothing but Sarah Vaughn and Shirley Horn records IMHO.

That said there are some songs that she should stay away from. Covering Aretha Franklin tunes should be strictly off limits for The Crusher.

I saw that "Divas" special with Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, etc, and in the finale there was a whole bit in which Celine Dion tried to out-sing Aretha. And, sure, she could match Aretha note-for-note, but her delivery was so excruciatingly WHITE that the end result just made me cringe, again MHO.

[Jack]

And yes, comparatively Celine is a bit "horse-faced"...

I happen to think that Celine Dion is also physically attractive.

I certainly don't. I think she's up there with Sarah Jessica Parker,
whose face, in the immortal words of Peter Griffin, looks like a
foot.

It really makes me sad that people would feel it necessary to comment on Celine Dion's, or Shaniah Twain's appearance. Perhaps I live in an ideal world, but to me if you're ugly that doesn't stop you from being talented.