Las Vegas Weekly

February 17, 2010 · 11:02 AM

Celine Dion’s docu-movie opening today is a global, eight-day wonder

By Robin Leach

A still from Celine Dion's new movie Celine: Through the Eyes of the World.

Photo: Gerard Schachmes

International superstar Celine Dion is the first to admit that she doesn’t lead a normal life, but she wanted to let her fans have a glimpse of her off-stage hours to show them that her family and she try to be as normal as possible.

Originally, the video footage shot on her most recent Taking Chances world tour was just for their private collection. But Celine agreed to let husband and manager Rene Angelil release it as a docu-movie, Celine: Through the Eyes of the World.

“I don’t call it a normal life,” Celine said. “But we are normal people. For people to see we live as normal as possible makes my singing even more true, and it gives me an extra bond with my fans.”

The film -- in French and English -- culled from nearly 13 months of filming opens today, and there will be eight limited-run screenings in theaters around the world until the end of February. The cameras rolled when some of the most precious and intimate moments of Celine, Rene and their 9-year-old son Rene-Charles were captured during the travels to five continents and 25 countries.

Celine begins a new three-year engagement of 70 shows a year at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace on March 15 next year mixing a tribute to Hollywood musicals and her hits. Ticket sales for the first 54 shows have been “huge and incredible,” according to box office reps who also report that many of the first-run shows are sold out to fans from as far away as Australia and Europe.

The Canadian songbird says that until her return to Caesars, she is still hoping to become pregnant with a second child through in-vitro fertilization. She has admitted to four failed attempts, including one miscarriage.

She told talk show titan Oprah Winfrey last week: “It’s not a struggle. It’s life. When you think about it, Rene-Charles, my son, is a miracle child. For us, we were extremely lucky he came from the first take. Those are not normal odds. We got very lucky with that, so, for sure, when you try five times, and this is the fifth try, people think there’s something wrong, but when you look at the odds, it’s almost normal.”

Celine, who has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, turned down an invitation to sing at the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., which were last weekend, because she was pregnant at the time and before the loss of the baby thought she would be too pregnant to perform.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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