To Love You More

We arrived in Las Vegas on July the 4th… after settling in our hotel, I went to Caesars to meet up with fellow Céline fans, Angela and Ramona. I had known Angela for a while, we met because she was also one of the fans that took part in Céline's biography, "Céline Dion: For Keeps" by Jenna Glatzer. Jenna asked several fans to help her out with questions among other things, and Angela and I ultimately met because of that experience. She was really great friends with a fan named Ramona, and they happened to be visiting Las Vegas the same time as me! We met up at the Slice Bar. Upon meeting them, Ramona was kind enough to wish me a happy birthday, because I was not only there to see Céline this time, it was also my 21st birthday! It's always a pleasure meeting fellow Céline fans, because more often than not you instantly hit it off because of the connection you share with Céline.

The next day, the 5th of July was very lucky. Earlier in the afternoon, I had been invited to Lake Las Vegas Resort to visit Ramona and Angela. Ramona has a condo there, and invited us out for the afternoon! It also happened to be the same lake Céline lives on! I had so much fun with both of them. Ramona also took us all to Tutti Gelati, the place Céline and René-Charles always go to have Italian ice cream!

Later that night, I arrived at Caesars attempting to score a front row seat. Thanks to Ramona's shared knowledge (She had seen the show over 50 times!) of how to get a front row seat. I didn't think I had a shot, not on my first try! And surely not the day after the 4th of July holiday. I made my way to Caesars, not thinking in a million years this would be possible, but giving it a shot none-the-less. What harm could it do? I walked up and Ramona said, “No front row tonight, maybe tomorrow.” I said, not shocked in the least, “Ok, no problem.” Then the lady at the box office said, “Wait, I have two seats that just popped up, it’s right next to them! Do you want either of those?” My head started spinning… I turned to my mom and she said, “Just get your ticket, go with them!” I told her I wanted her to go, she told me to just get my ticket. Thinking fast I said, “Ok, I‘ll take one!” The rest is a blur… it was 7:30pm, I had an hour. I wanted to change, but would I have time? Ramona said, “Go ahead, go change, you have time! We‘ll meet you in there.” So I did… dialing Ashlee’s phone number at the same time. “I GOT FRONT ROW! Ashlee, I got FRONT row!” I don’t remember the rest of the conversation, but I can assume that most of it was incoherent! I changed my clothes so fast, I had to stop and check to make sure everything was on correctly, it was. Just to be sure Ashlee did a little checklist with me on the phone, including, “Do you have pants on?“ Then I bolted across the street again, and back to the Colosseum entrance.

I went to walk into the Colosseum, not believing that I was about to sit front row. Upon entering I took a quick glance around at Céline’s wax figure and then I figured I should get to my seat, my front row seat! I went to the door and handed an usher my ticket. As I was being led to my seat, I could feel the eyes staring at me. Just like I had done to people so many times before! I sat down, and realized they had given me a ticket a seat away from Angela and Ramona. I sat in my actual seat 412 until 8:30, then moved over to 411. I would move if necessary, I would just rather be next to someone I knew in case I, you know, passed out! Some woman came in and the usher went to sit her down, looked at me, and then nonchalantly just sat her in my actual seat without saying anything. As if it mattered anyway, because less than a minute later the woman got on her phone and then ran out of there. One bad thing I can say about front row, is that the seats are tilted, and you kind of have to lean back and look up. But that’s the one and only complaint I have! Ramona and Angela were cracking me up as they recited along with the message at the beginning, “Welcome to A New Day… the taking of pictures is strictly prohibited…“ Before the show started, Ramona leaned forward and asked, “Dream come true?” I said, “Oooh yes, if I can stay conscious, this is the best birthday ever!” I was trying to remember to breathe… Angela and Ramona were telling me, “Breathe!” about every thirty seconds. Partially because of my labored breathing and also because they both promised my mom they would make sure I got a steady flow of oxygen! I warned Angela, “Ok, if I grab your hand, I apologize in advance!” She laughed and said, “Ok, no problem!” Sure enough when the glass broke and the music began, I grabbed her hand… then Ramona grabbed our hands. What a sight that must have been, all of us holding hands in anticipation of our Céline, both of them trying to remind me to breathe. When Céline appeared, I could not believe I was in the front row! What a surreal feeling to have absolutely no one blocking your view. There was no one in front of me, no one separating me from the stage… well, aside from the very large and scary security guards, but you get my point. When she walked to the center of the stage, so close to me… we finally let go of each other’s hands to applaud, scream, and cheer! You could tell Céline definitely knows who Ramona is, she blew her a kiss! She went through her first few songs like a total blur…I could tell it was taking her a minute to get into it. I was astounded when she kicked her legs up I could actually see birthmarks on her legs. I was THAT close. After “To Love You More”, I wasn’t going to let tradition die. I yelled, “I love you Céline!” and I was the very first one. Several other people yelled it too. Then I was the last with an “I love you!” She smiled, visibly touched. Found my voice with her eyes, and said, “I love you too!” My heart melted. Then she sang us the Barney song, 'I love you, you love me!' What a great way to start Wednesday night!“ She then went on to get the party started with “I’m Alive”. She started the first “Mmmm..” and I went, “Wooohoooo!” then she shook her leg, and I went “Ou! Ou!” She was sooo close, it was beyond overwhelming. I was fighting the urge to just pass out right there! She sang parts of that song to me, and I right back to her… it was all just soo overwhelming and surreal. I never thought I could get front row, never. Then came “Seduces Me”--- hello! When the guys slid down the stairs… their feet were practically at my feet… I nearly kept my promise that I would capture one of the guys and take him home to Ashlee, thankfully I restrained myself. After the song, Céline did her usual stumble across the stage asking if anyone would like to try “da chair”. I yelled, “I’m next!” Then she sang “If I Could”… and I saw “All the Way” for the first time. She was very emotional during both of those songs. Then during “I’ve Got the World on a String”, the bellhop guy nearly fell in my lap! I wasn’t even looking at him, I was looking at Céline… and all of a sudden he was literally in my face! I knew that part of the show, but forgot momentarily, so it caught me off guard! I started laughing hysterically! Then she sang “I Surrender” which is always sooo amazing, that note is just out of this world. Soon it was time to get down with “I Wish”, which I got a lot of eye contact! Her as well as the dancers were into the fact there were three people actually chair dancing and clapping in the front row, it’s rare unfortunately. And then “Love Can Move Mountains”… this was funny. Céline starts off still sitting on the steps, she was directly in front of us. As soon as the first notes of this song began, all three of us instantly slid forward in our seats ready to get up and dance. There was no communication between us, we just all did it simultaneously. We all started laughing at each other, as we held the "ready to get up and dance" stance! Céline saw us all do that and she grinned. We were the first to get up and dance… and we were ready to dance! Céline then looked at us, and said, “Everybody up!! Dance with us c’mon!“ Céline was into it. Everyone danced the whole song, even through “I Drove All Night”, which has always been rare at the shows I’ve been to. Then before I knew it she was singing “My Heart Will Go On”… it was like I blinked and it was over. She was so passionate, and of course got a huge standing ovation! We stood all throughout her final speech and when she tried to begin “What A Wonderful World”, she began to cry. Her watery eyes darted all over the audience, looking at all the people who remained standing, while starring at her in amazement. “Awwww. You can sit down. Awww, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so very much.” As we all sat down she wiped her tears, and the music began again. She sang her final song and of course, there was another huge standing ovation, and Céline visibly wept again. Then came time for the rose. I knew Ramona was going to get it, she already had half a dozen of them! Sure enough she walked towards me, my heart stopped as it was the closest I'd ever been to her. She winked and smiled at me, and then turned slightly and smiled at Angela! Both of us couldn't move, literally frozen, but did manage to smile back at her. Céline then quickly turned and walked to Ramona and gave her the rose. “It’s been a while!“ was all she said. Ramona grabbed her face in her hands while she gave her a kiss on each side of her face. Ramona gave her a gift, a little heart shaped box with a necklace in it. Céline made a boo-boo face and looked at us all around her, and held it up to her heart. The whole time I couldn't believe how close she was to me. Angela scooted almost behind Ramona, and I scooted right next to Angela, so all three of us were kind of creating a small circle surrounding Céline. I could’ve easily reached out and touched her. I just froze, completely froze. I swore if I ever had that opportunity, I would take it. No, not to touch her, that's weird, but to do something, anything! But I guess in the end, it wasn’t meant to be. That wasn’t when it was supposed to happen. Before I had the chance to comprehend the fact that she was inches from me, she was already back onstage saying her goodbyes. She was walking off stage, waving and blowing kisses to us all.

I stood up and gave Ramona an evil face and jokingly went, “Ramona, I love ya --- but right now…” She held up her hand and said, “Don’t talk to you, right?” I said, “Exactly!” I asked, “Can I at least smell it?” She held it out and Angela and I smelled the rose. Ramona said she didn’t think she was going to get it tonight. I told her I knew she would. She asked, “How did you know?“ I replied, “Because you always do!“ The people behind us were laughing at us fighting over the rose, and as Angela and I joked we should have tackled her! Ramona did say something very sweet to Angela and I as we walked out of the Colosseum, “This is our rose, because we were together tonight. I’ll always remember it as our rose.”

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After the show, we went to say hello to a few dancers and musicians. We saw Yves right away, and I got a picture with him. He said hello to Ramona, in fact almost everyone we saw that night knew her! One dancer said, “How many times have you seen the show?” When she said 60 times, he said, “Oh my God, you are so not right! Something is wrong with you honey! We should pay you to come to the show!” We also saw Amber Sorgato who I’ve met twice before, and a dancer named Sandi Croft who was with her. They were sweet. I went back to the hotel room shortly after, I was so emotionally drained… front row, are you kidding me?!

The next day wasn’t so great, I didn’t feel well… I’m not sure why but I'd felt it coming on since we'd arrived. I stayed in the hotel room most of the day. I ordered toast from room service. I must say it made me feel better to have someone carry in a tray, lay it on the bed, and lift the thingy off the plate! I'm easy to please, I guess. Luckily, by that night, I was feeling better. I went over to Caesars about the time the show was letting out, so I thought I would go see if I could catch anyone. Almost instantly one musician after another came out, it was Yves, André, Marc, and Jean-Sebastian! They all filed out and went up to the Slice Bar! If I was going to get a picture I would have to do it before they ordered food or anything, I didn't want to be rude or intrusive. But I had to go find my photographer, otherwise known as my mother. By the time I did that, and we ran up to the Slice, Yves and Marc were eating. I took a deep breath, as I am always nervous for some reason, and said, “Would you mind taking a picture with me real quick?” They all said, “Oh, not at all!” “No problem!” as they all held their arms out! I went to André first, as he was the closest. He hugged me soo tight, and smiled so big! Then onto Jean-Sebastian, so sweet! I proceeded to walk away, and my mom said to Yves and Marc, “We’d get pictures with you guys, but we don’t want to interrupt your meal. Next time.” Yves and Marc both said, “Oh, it’s no problem at all!” and motioned for me to come over. I skipped over there, and said, “Aww, are you sure?” Yves put his arm tightly around me, bless him as he was still chewing, and said, “Of course, of course!” So I got my picture with him, and then scooted back by Marc to get my picture with him. I was super excited about meeting Marc, as I never had before! I thanked them all so much. Just as I’d turned around to leave, there was Mégo! Can you believe my luck? So I went over to him and asked, “Would you mind taking a picture with me?” He said with a smile, “Sure!!” He has such a sweet, gentle voice, I love it. A woman came up to him speaking French, kissing him on both cheeks. I felt like an intruder there… and went to say, “It’s ok! You‘re busy!” But he held me tight with his arm, as he told the woman in French to move please, because someone was trying to get a picture. I heard the words, “prend” and “photo”, plus his hand motions to the woman… I put it all together! We took our picture, and I said, “Thank you so much, Mégo!” He said, “You’re very welcome!” I skipped down the stairs and back over near the Céline store, that was where I was supposed to meet another Céline fan soon. I was waiting there and I saw Elijah Brown walk out, my mom saw him before me though. She went, “Awwww! Elijah!” He grinned and walked over to her, kissing her on both cheeks. My mom kept going, “Aww! Elijah! I’m so glad we caught you!” My mom is in love with Elijah, she wishes to adopt him! Literally! We took a picture, I love my pictures with Elijah, he’s such a sweetheart. As usual, although we gave him the opportunity to be on his way, he wanted to chat! We told him I was there for my birthday, that I’d be there Sunday night and possibly another night that week if I could get front row, he said he was excited about vacation although it wouldn’t exactly be a vacation he was going to New York to do a play. We talked for a while, and then said our goodbyes. He is such a sweet guy! Then all at once my mom and I, as well as this other mother and daughter recognized Ben from 'So You Think You Can Dance' at the same time. We all zeroed in on him going, “Are you that guy?“ He grinned and goes, “Yeah, I’m that guy!“ We got pictures and talked to him for a while. He said how he’d gotten a backstage tour, I told him I’d had one before too! My photographer (a.k.a. my mother) had to use the bathroom, so I waited there for her. I was in a daze, replaying in my head all the people I’d met again, and how cool it was! I glanced over, and saw Michel walk out the doors, my mouth opened before my brain could catch up and I squealed, “Michel!!!” It had been an exciting evening, and well… I'm a dork. He looked over, I waved like an idiot, and he grinned and laughed as he waved back! I didn’t stop him… if I was going to stop him, I was going to wait on another fellow Céline fan Jen, because I didn’t want to stop him more than once. She’d never met him, and I told her I would try to introduce her at some point. I just hung my head in shame! My dad was standing there, and he said it was cute. I was like, “Ahhh! I’m such a fan!” Just then my cell phone rang, it was Jen. We all sat at the Slice and talked, me, her, her husband, and my parents. Some of the musicians and dancers were still up there, and as they went to leave throughout the night, they would wave at me. They’re so sweet. Especially Elijah, he waved and smiled, “See you Sunday!”

We basically hung out the next day, I still wasn’t feeling 100% but I was improving. We went back to Caesars that night, so I could try again for front row. However, even though Ramona was kind enough to go back into the offices to make sure, it wasn't meant to be. But she said that she would ask them about tomorrow’s show later on tonight, I told her I’d really appreciate that. I got a phone call, it was Jen she said, “Manny is in the Céline store, waiting to meet you!” We had been emailing for months, and I got to meet him for the first time! He'd driven four hours to spend three hours in Vegas, only to drive four hours back! We sat at a table at the Slice and chatted for a while. It was great meeting Manny, and watching him and my mom argue about whether or not a certain celebrity was gay! We walked over after the show to catch Ramona and Angela, they were near the Céline store. They told me Taro Hakase had performed “To Love You More” with Céline that night, and they were filming it! We saw Elijah again, and I also met Don Bellamy, who had me almost rolling on the floor in laughter! We asked him what he had planned for vacation! He started dancing around going, “I’m going to Spain, I’m gonna get drunk… I’ll be on a beach somewhere…” This is where he does what I like to call the “drunk dance” where he was almost on the floor acting as if he was slightly inebriated! “I’ll be drunk, and I’ll be like where am I? I don’t know where I am, but I’m feelin’ good!” He said more than that, but I was laughing so hard, I honestly don’t remember! Then I saw “the bellhop guy”, Jean-Christophé Dasse, fondly known as Titophé. He always plays with my hair, it’s so cute. Then Manny decided he wanted his picture with someone too, so he posed by Jean-Christophé, which had them both laughing as he obviously had no clue who he was, just that it had something to do with the show! Then Ramona came back after leaving to talk to the box office for me, long story short they didn’t have front row yet, they had second row. So we walked over there, but they were closing. They told me if I wanted second row, to come first thing in the morning. As we were walking back from the box office, I heard Ramona gasp. I looked up, and it was Taro Hakase! OH MY GOD! Now if you're not a die-hard Céline Dion fan, let me inform you of just how cool he is. In 1995, Céline recorded a song titled, "To Love You More" written by her often producer, David Foster. Taro Hakase, a famous violinist from Japan, collaborated with her on this song. They've performed it all over the world, he even accompanied Céline on her world tour in 1999. So, meeting him was exciting - and very rare. We all scurried over to him. Ramona first, then Angela… then it was my turn. I stood by him and put my arm around him. How cool is this? After the picture, I said, “Thank you so much!” He smiled really big and said, “You’re welcome!” Then Jen got her picture with him. Wow! Then he and his entourage walked away. That was such perfect timing! A group of people with a little girl yelled after him, apparently the little girl was a violinist and a big fan of his. I felt so bad she didn’t to meet him. Ramona and Angela left to go back to the condo. We stuck around for a while, and took some pictures with Manny by the Céline banner. Manny had to start his drive back home, so we said our goodbyes. I really wish he could have stayed longer. I went back to the hotel to immediately print a copy of my picture with Taro! Wow.

Saturday was my last possible night to get front row a second time. I was praying all day to get front row. I had opted not to get second row, if I was going to spend that amount of money, it was going to be for front row. Because I really shouldn’t be spending the money to begin with. We found my new box office friend, Neal* and he did everything in his power to get front row for me. I waited for two hours, and during that entire time he was checking on his computer every five minutes. He told me that if anything popped up, it was mine. The last two tickets that hadn’t been picked up yet, were being reserved by the casino for two millionaires. He said sometimes they don't show up, it all depends on how well they're doing at the tables. They were picked up less than fifteen minutes to show time. I was beat out because I wasn’t rich, unfair is a good word to describe that. Neal* didn’t want to give up though, he said that someone might still leave or get sick… so I waited. But once the show started, it was apparent that it just wasn’t meant to be. I thanked him profusely for going above and beyond in his efforts, and although I needed about an hour to cheer up at the hotel room, I changed, and we went back to Caesars to gamble on the two-cent slot machines!

The show let out and Jen and her husband came over to see us, they had been at the show. Jen told me Taro performed that night too! I wish I could have seen him perform, but if I had to choose to meet him or see him perform, I would have chosen to meet him, so all is well. People started coming out, including Barnev Valsaint one of her backup singers. Whom I didn’t stop because he’s was talking on his cell phone. But then I saw Kelby Brown! I love and adore him, and he’s always so chatty. We got a picture, and he asked me if I’d enjoyed the show. I told him I didn’t get to see it tonight because it was sold out, but I saw it Wednesday and I was seeing it the following night. My mom told him it was my 21st birthday, he went, “Oh my God! Happy Birthday! Vegas is the perfect place to come!” Just for the record, I disapproved the question but my mom then asked him if Céline would ever happen to give the rose out to someone in the 2nd row. He said she had, but only a couple of times to little kids. He went, “Aww. I’ll tell Céline to look for the cute little girl in the tiny glasses, in a purple shirt sitting in the…” I said, “Second row, dead center!” He continued, “…second row, dead center, and it’s her 21st birthday!” Then I saw Deon, who hugged me so tight, and called me "Darling." I told him I would see him Sunday night as well. I went back to sit at a slot machine. My dad and Jen’s husband were gambling, so we sat there and chatted. Don walked by and my mom said to him, "One more night until Spain!" He laughed, and yelled, "Mojito! Mojito! Mojito! Andale!!!" loudly as he continued to walk through the casino, he is so funny! Later on, I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw a familiar face, Lynne*! I said, "Lyyyynnne*?" She stopped, turned her head, and went, “AAAAAaaashleeeey!!!!!” She gave me a big hug! We chatted about the show, about the other Ashlee, and about my name being in Céline’s biography! It was beyond good to see her, I always see her at least once, but she’s always so busy… so it was really great to have a moment to talk. She squealed saying, “Oh! I’m so glad you caught me!!“ We talked about Michel and she said that he hurt his arm, he had it in a sling, but she didn’t get a chance to ask him what happened. We got a picture too, and she said she’d try to find me at the show tomorrow! Then we sat there for a while, waiting for the guys to run out of money. I called Ashlee to tell her I saw Lynne*, she was so touched that she had asked so much about her. As I was talking to Ashlee, I heard my mom say, “Michel!” I totally didn’t expect anyone to come out, much less him, it was after midnight. I hung up on Ashlee… grabbed the camera, all in record time. As I was doing that my dad (who has a special bond with Michel it seems) asked, “Hey man, what’d you do to your arm?” “I was playing ice hockey, now I have my arm in a sling! Totally f***ed up my golf game!” Michel casually replied. “Yeah, no shit. You play hockey, huh?” my dad asked. “Oh, yeah!” Like I said, he and my dad seem to have a bond! By this time, we had the camera ready, so Jen posed next to him. He had a notebook and a tape in his hands, and my dad offered to hold it for him. He let my dad hold it, even though he hesitated as if it were something important. Jen got her picture with him. Then I skipped over and Michel’s posture instantly changed and he grabbed me so tight, even with only one arm! Which is when I considered believing what my mom had been saying since last year, that he may find my face familiar by now. It’s still incredibly hard for me to grasp that, but I considered the possibility. I made a boo-boo face, and pointed at his arm. Then took my glasses off, as I always do before pictures. He said, "Non glasses, huh?" I laughed, because he had just taken his glasses off for the picture too! We posed, he smiled so big, as did I. After the picture I said, “Merci!!” He grinned so big at my thanking him in French and said, “Aw. You’re veeerrry welcome!” My dad handed him back his things, and off he went. My dad said, “Hope your arm gets better, man!” Michel said, “Thanks guys!” Afterwards, I called Ashlee back, apologized for abruptly hanging up on her, but she completely understood! It was Michel Dion after all! I went to the Céline store to look around before they closed. I was singing “Tout L’or des Hommes” to Ashlee on the phone because it was the only French song they ever play in the store, got a few giggles and a lot of funny looks! Soon after we called it a night, and I went back to the hotel to print yet another picture with Michel!

I spent most of the late afternoon getting ready for the show. My hair was perfection! I was sitting 2nd row, dead center at my second show of the year, seventh show altogether, and it was also the last show before their month long vacation. I knew they would be pumped, but I had no idea just how pumped they would be. We got there early so we could take pictures. I went to stand by the wax figure of Céline, it’s so tall. I needed a stepping stool! I argued with the photographers that she is not that tall, they assured me it was to her exact measurements. I wasn't buying it. But I wrapped my arms around it, and she took the picture. We took pictures on the other side too, of all three of us. My mom and I with our boas, and my dad in the middle! The photographers always seem to love the boas, one said, “Oh! That is sooo Vegas!“ And when one told me to pose putting my hand on my hip, I already knew what she meant before she finished, and I did it. She laughed, “You have that pose down!“ I said, “I’ve been here before!!“ After going to the bathroom, we took our seats… the camera play with the audience was funny. Three different people spilled their drinks onto the person next to them when they went to wave at the camera, it was hilarious! Then there was a guy in the front row, who was wearing shorts, and they kept zooming in on his legs!

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Finally the show started and I got that familiar nervousness, excitement, hyperventilation, etc. Céline came walking out singing “A New Day Has Come”, and compared to Wednesday night, she was into it before she walked out. I screamed, applauded, cheered, sang along. Just as the lights went down after “A New Day Has Come”, she used both hands to blow me a kiss. Usually she does this to the entire audience, but she locked eyes with me. Wow. I looked at my mom and said, “Eek! Did you see that?“ My mom said, “I sure did!“ During the next few songs, she was giving her all, and belting it like never before. Maybe because she knew if she ended up straining her voice, it wouldn’t matter too much because she had a month off, or maybe it was the excitement of going on vacation. But she was on fire! They all were. As someone who has seen the show several times, the dancers were throwing in their own freestyle moves, and Céline would just randomly do riffs and runs. Every night is different, and every show is different, but this was like an entirely new show, I loved it. After “To Love You More” which might I add - rocked. I even saw her give Elise a little signal as if to say, “I’m going with this one, keep up!” It was the best performance of “To Love You More” I had ever seen. And immediately following that last incredible note, the whole place stood on it’s feet, applauding for what seemed like forever! She had this genuine look of shock on her face, I’d never witnessed a standing ovation until either the end of the show, or after the well-known “My Heart Will Go On”. She was visibly touched, and surprised! I was waiting for my opening, waiting for the place to quiet down so I could yell my usual, “I love you!” to her, because I have always been the first one! Things were not getting any quieter, five songs in and the audience was already going wild! With no end in sight, and while everyone was still applauding I yelled as loud as I could, “I love you Céline!” She laughed, and put her hand on her heart. Then several other people began to yell it too. So I yelled again (being the last one to say it also), “I love you!” She looked at me, winked, pointed, and replied, “I love you too!” My heart soared. Once everyone settled down, and finally sat down, she went on to say, “Wow! What a wonderful way to start off Sunday night. Thank you so much! You picked a good night, this is our last night before vacation, we’re in a good mood!” She started chatting about her upcoming summer vacation, and told us she was "going home to see mom". Everyone went, "Awww." Céline nodded and smiled. Just as she went to continue, someone up high went, “You go girl!“ She made a funny face and said the classic, “Are you my neighbor?!“ Then a small voice from way up high yelled, “I love you!” Her posture instantly changed along with her voice and she said, “Hi bébé! How are you? Are you enjoying the show? You let us know, maybe if it gets too loud we can get you some earphones… I mean earplugs! And if you get tired, just tell mom or dad, and we’ll cut a few songs so you can get to bed. Ok?” Then everyone playfully booed! She laughed, crooked her eyebrow, held her hand out and went, “Ok, ok, calm down… I was kidding!” She went on to say how thankful she was for everyone who came, on behalf of the dancers, musicians, and technicians. She talked about how they’ve been having so much fun since the show started, and she cannot believe that there’s only a year and a half left to go. She went on to sing “I’m Alive”, she was in front of me, kicking her leg, flipping her skirt, and getting down going, “Mmmm… Mhmmm!” I went, “Wooooohoooo! Ou! Ou! Ou!” She gave me a funny look out of the corner of her eye, as is usual. The crowd was pumped, and she worked it all through that song, it was great. At the end before she walked to the chair, she blew me a thumb kiss. I melted. The absolute, most hysterical part of the show was after “Seduces Me” she did her usual stumble across the stage going “Wooo!” while she’s giggling. In the past I have come up with remarks to say to her after she offers the chair and tells everyone the guys are going to put a shirt on. I really didn’t have anything planned this time, even though Ashlee tried to help me brainstorm something cute to say. She looked at me while stumbling and giggling almost as if she was expecting a response from me! I didn't want to disappoint so I made a face and used my hand to fan my face, mouthing the word, “Wow!” and threw my head back! I have rarely seen Céline laugh as hard as she did at this moment, while laughing she pointed at me and said, “Yeah… hahahahehehe… exactly! I know, right?!” She continued to laugh as she leaned down as far as she could pointing to me and then over her shoulder saying, “You wanna try dat chair, huh?” She could hardly contain herself! I thought I would die laughing, but I managed to yell, “Yeah!!!!” Everyone was laughing… I couldn’t believe it. It was priceless. She went on to sing “If I Could”, so passionate. Then “All the Way…” which was incredible. My dad after that song went, “Awesome!!!!” And she giggled at him saying, “Oh, thank you.” She sang “I’ve Got the World on a String”…. then the unforgettable “I Surrender”… she sang her butt off. It was amazing on Wednesday night, but Sunday night, she held that note so long, I was wondering if she was ever going to take a breath! “Ammore Annascunnuto“ was phenomenal… she was so into it, playing along with Yves and Elijah a lot. At the end when she does her little “Ooooh…” (I‘m sure you know what I mean by that.) She went on and on forever before finally making the most passionate face at the end. “Pour Que Tu M‘aimes Encore“ is one of my favorites, because I love when she sings in French. Loved it. She introduced all the musicians, and did her usual “Where are da musicians?” speech. She talked with Mégo for a while, which was fun to witness. She did horse noises and leg kicks to him, and then said, “But no, we have no rehearsal tomorrow! But don‘t worry we‘re still on for a year and a half! No worries. It‘s ok.” The woman is crazy, but I love her! “I Wish” was great… she sang a little bit to me when she was on the stairs, I sang back of course. Then she went into “Love Can Move Mountains”, I got a bit carried away. I was standing before anyone else, I was ready to dance! I probably looked like a complete idiot, I’m sure. Once everyone else stood up to dance.. the two guys in front of me were really tall, but Céline kept peeking down at me purposely. She was doing hilariously funny dances and goofing around with the dancers and musicians, especially André and his hair! “I Drove All Night” was so much fun! I was excited that once again the audience stood up, I saw out of the corner of my eye some people on my far left had sat down, but in our section everyone was dancing. Céline loved it! She was running all over the stage like crazy! Hitting every note, it was perfection. Then all at once, she was saying, “Thank you! Good night!” I couldn’t believe it, only two more songs and no more Céline for the rest of the year, or maybe ever. Everyone remained standing until the music started for “My Heart Will Go On”. I remember holding my head up with my hands, just sitting back and trying to absorb it all. Trying to in some way slow down the moment so it could stay with me longer. She got a standing ovation, of course, after that song. She was beyond touched. It was quiet for a minute and everyone was calling out to her in both French and English, and Céline’s eyes grew wide with amazement. She would turn her head in all different directions trying to find each voice that she heard. “Je t’aime!“ “I love you!“ Then some French fans towards the back started calling out to her, and Céline replied, “Accueillir à Las Vegas!“ There were more “I love you!“s, and not wanting to be left out, I said, “You’re amazing!!!“ Her eyes found mine, and they smiled at me. Céline was so overwhelmed, just standing there listening to all of the voices expressing their love and adoration for her. She was in pure amazement. She went on to say her usual thank you speech, her voice a bit unsteady, and then she said something that she doesn’t always say during the show. I knew it was different, and more importantly I could tell she meant nothing more. “I hope so much that you believe me when I tell you, that I wish… I wish so much that I could sit down and talk to each and every one of you. I really do.” Everyone applauded, and went “Awww.” The thought was just going through my mind how much I wished I could just have a few seconds with her, to give her a hug. It warmed my heart, that although it isn’t possible, in a way she wishes it too. Then she said, “But I am so glad I was given the privilege of singing for you tonight, you were a great audience!” Then she walked over to the side of the stage to begin “What A Wonderful World”… she hesitated as if not wanting to start the final song, because she didn’t want to leave the stage. At this point I almost always find myself thinking about her as a little girl not wanting to get down from the kitchen table, because she adores her stage so much. Once Céline is up there, it’s the same thing, she doesn’t want to leave. But all at once she began, and the final note went on and on and on. She held it (no kidding) about twice as long as she usually does. It was as if she wanted it to go on forever. My mom and I were like, “Is she gonna breathe?” She spent a good amount of time saying her goodbyes… leaning down at people, waving, blowing kisses. She gave the rose to an elderly lady way off to the left. I heard my mom go, “Ack!” Like she was gonna lean over the tall guys and give it to me? Céline leaned down and said, “I love you too!” to someone, so I’m assuming they had said it to her. She turned around to all the dancers and said something no one else could hear, probably something along the lines of “Have a fabulous vacation!“ She then walked right up to the center of the stage… and immediately leaned down and peeked through the tall guys down at me! It was almost as if she didn’t want to forget to say goodbye. As soon as our eyes met I blew her kiss after kiss with both hands, “Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah!” She giggled, and proceeded to do the exact same thing right back to me, with both hands, making noise, “Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah!” The tall guys in front of me turned around and went, “Awwww!” Seems I always get an “Aww” at one point or another! As Céline was walking off the stage, she pointed, winked, and smiled at me. I smiled, waved, and blew kisses back. At the end of the stage, some audience members held their hands out, and she leaned down to touch them really quick, then made her way off stage. I saw someone put a towel around her neck, she picked it up and started dancing off stage with it in the air! What a show! All I can say is it was the most high energy show I have ever been to. Also, I didn't know it then, but I would later learn that was the last time she wore any of those costumes! On our way out of Caesars, as we walked past the Colosseum, Lynne* was walking out, we said hi real quick. She asked me if I enjoyed the show, I said through sleepy eyes, “Amazing!“ We went back to the hotel, and the last thing I remember is taking my heels off.

The following morning I woke up, fully clothed, jewelry still on. My mom had attempted to wake me up, but she said I was out! I have always been tired after a show, just because it’s so emotionally draining to see her up close like that! But this was like passing out! We went home a day and a half later, I hoped so much we would be able to return once more the following year before her show came to a close. As our plane took off Indiana bound, it helped to lessen the blow that Céline was flying home to Montreal, Quebec at the very same moment, so I knew I wasn’t missing a thing!

*Name has been changed to protect identity.