There are probably more details here than you'd ever want to know. But this is for my benefit in remembering every single detail since I don't want the memories to fade. So it'll be long. Of course it'll be long, this is me writing it.
Celine's management said they'd contact us on the day of the show with all the details, including whether we'd meet her before or after the concert. Prior to the actual day, we knew absolutely nothing, except that we were going to meet Celine on August 7th. With all the secrecy, I kinda wondered if that would even happen. So on Tuesday, Aug 7th, I turned my phone up really loud and held it everywhere I went, hoping that I wouldn't miss the call. Anyone who has tried to call my cell phone knows that it was a big possibility that I could miss the call. They called me around 10am and said we'd meet Celine before the show. They told us to meet someone from Celine's camp in front of the box office in Caesar's Palace at 6:45 pm. So YES! we would be meeting her, it was legit and it would be before the show. I was hoping it would be before the show so I wouldn't have to stress about it during her concert.
The girls and I started getting ready really early because we were so excited. They spent months before our trip trying to find the perfect dress and shoes. Fun! I even bought them coordinating dangling ear rings (they've only ever worn studs till now) and I let them wear makeup (mascara, lip gloss and blush for Anna, a tiny bit of blush and lip gloss for the rest of 'em.) They were in heaven! At 6:30pm we emerged from our hotel room at Caesar's Palace, all glam'ed up and ready to meet Celine!
We got to the box office and talked to the ticket people saying we were informed we needed to meet someone here (and hoping they knew what I was talking about). They had us wait and sure enough, someone Official showed up looking for us. (Phew!) We were really going to meet Celine!!! There was a really nice lady who traveled from Argentina who was waiting with us. I assumed she was there for a meet and greet as well, so I started talking to her and asked her if she was meeting Celine too. Turns out she wasn't. But once she heard we were going to, she tried to get in to see Celine too and gave the people a hard time. Ooops! From then on out, I kept my mouth shut. The security guards ushered us up a ramp to the side of the entrance to the theater. We felt like a million dollars being escorted up there while everyone else watched in envy. They brought us backstage through a bunch of concrete hallways. There were rooms off the hallway full of boxes and stuff, but mostly just hallways and concrete walls. It looked more like a warehouse than a meet and greet for Celine. We arrived at a back room with walls covered in heavy, dark brown curtains. There were couches and chairs and it was decorated nicely, but it wasn't as fancy as I would expect for Celine Dion, the Fancy Queen. I've seen meet and greets on her DVD's before though, and they all look like this so I wasn't surprised. They had us sit in a room with another couple who were going to meet Celine as well. We talked to them and learned their names were John and Kim. I was ecstatic that it was only us and one other couple there for the meet and greet! I didn't know how many people would be meeting her. I thought it would be a lot more, but secretly hoped I was wrong. They gave us the run down... Celine would enter through a door around the corner where the camera was set up. They told us "John and Kim will go first, just in case Celine wanted to spend more time with the girls". Ha! I felt bad they announced that to John and Kim, but I was so excited that we were "the chosen ones" and got to spend more time with Celine. Then we waited and waited for what seemed like an eternity. The lady who brought us back, named Talia, started looking anxious and kept checking her phone. She told us that Celine was running late. Boo! While we waited, we met Dave Patel, one of Celine's people. I don't know what he does, but I've seen him on Celine DVDs so I know he's a big shot. Apparently he knew the guy we were waiting with, John. They hugged and talked and said it had been a long time, blah, blah, blah. I learned that John is a big shot from Wal Mart and that he and Kim were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary so that's how they got to see Celine. Not as cool of a story as Katie and her video. I asked Talia how we managed to get a meet and greet with Celine. I told her about the 6 letters I sent out and also about the You Tube video that I sent out later. She said, "Oh yeah, I remember everyone here talking about that video about a month ago." (Cool!) I asked her how they ever connected the letter with the video since I made the video after I sent the letter. She said they have a whole team of people in Canada whose job it is to read Celine's fan mail. She said that Celine is particularly fond of children and of making dreams come true so she said that's probably why Katie got to meet her. Other than that, I guess we'll never really know the whole story of how we came to be there. I told her I was amazed that they linked the letter, email and video and she said they definitely do their research because there are a lot of crazies out there.
We waited some more and met a few more people. Patrick, Rene's son/Celine's stepson, came over and said hi. Thank goodness I did my homework and knew who he was. That was fun to meet him. He seemed really nice.
Celine finally came in and my heart skipped a few beats. I don't think I breathed for a long time either except to gasp. John and Kim went to meet her. We were separated by a curtain and the girls kept peeking around the curtain to catch a glimpse of Celine. They weren't there long and then it was our turn!!
There were lots of people behind the camera - guards, Celine's brother, Talia, a few others. They told the girls it was their turn. We went around the corner and there was Celine! Katie gasped and whispered excitedly, "It's Celiiiiine!!!!" Celine greeted Katie and gushed over the girls. She said they looked like princesses. She complimented them on their beautiful dresses and said how she loved all the sparkles. Of course, the girls loved that and they pranced in to meet her. Celine shook Katie's hand and then the other girls' hands, asking their names. I know Katie and the girls talked, but I don't remember what they said. I was too busy taking it all in. Then Celine said, "And you're mom?" and shook my hand. To which I replied something stupid like yep, I'm mom which explains why I'm smiling so big. I just couldn't stop smiling. Celine wore a short, ruffly black dress with a bow tied in front. Her hair was long and curled and she looked beautiful! She has very gentle brown eyes. She wore way more makeup than I expected. I guess I should have expected that because it's common since she is in such bright lights, but I was surprised anwyay. She looked older than she looks on camera too. Not to say she looks old, but she looked more like the 43 that she is rather than the pictures I've seen of her or the concerts I've seen her in from afar. I expected her to be a lot taller, but she didn't seem as tall as I thought she would be. I was wearing heels and was mostly watching the girls though, so maybe I just didn't notice. That's about all I saw of Celine because I was so excited that I couldn't think straight. After that I just watched Katie and the girls. I'm kicking myself now because I can see my girls any day, but I can't see Celine Dion in person. I should have spent more time watching her. But it was so magical to watch Katie and Celine interact that I mostly watched Katie. I can remember more details of what Katie looked like than Celine.
Celine asked us all to get some pictures together. I was smiling so big that I'm sure it looked like my face was going to explode. All I could think about was, "Don't smile so big or it will look like your eyes are closed." Duh. I didn't check to see if the girls were smiling or if my hair looked ok or if my shirt was hanging right. I didn't think of much really, except that I was meeting Celine and how amazing it was! So they took a couple pictures. I hope one turned out. They said they'd email them to me. I'm still waiting for them and will post them as soon as I get them. (They wouldn't let us take any other pictures or video anywhere. Darn!) Celine gathered everyone in and hugged them during the picture. I was too scared to even touch her. So I'm sure I'll look awkward with that as well. She put her hand on my back and I noticed she was shaking slightly. Apparently even The Great Celine Dion is human and still gets nervous, even though she's done a gazillion concerts. We took a couple pictures and then she started talking to us again.
Katie had her hands clasped together and kept smiling and looking up at Celine. She said to Celine, "I like your dress." It was so natural and I was amazed that Katie wasn't shy. Celine thanked her and Elizabeth said, "I knew it would be black." I explained to Celine that the girls were all taking bets before on what dress Celine would wear first. Celine laughed and said she was changing into another dress for her first song. She told the girls they would love it - that it was white with lots of sparkles and that the bottom kinda looked like a mermaid. This one:
The girls just ate it up. You could tell there was a lot of mutual respect going on. Celine loved telling the girls all about her sparkling dresses because she could tell they all loved sparkling dresses. She was so warm and friendly and genuine. She was more motherly than anything. She just gushed with motherly affection and you wouldn't even have thought International Superstar/Diva/Millionaire from talking to her. She was amazing!
Katie gave her the gift we brought. While we were in the waiting room I had given Katie the package to hold. I'm so glad I did because I totally would have forgotten to give it to her since my brain wasn't thinking straight at all. So Katie handed it to her. Katie wrote her a letter that said, "Dear Celine, I love your music. It makes me happy." She wrote it all by herself and then she drew pictures of Celine getting ready for a show. She drew makeup, a hair dryer, Celine's pretty hair, and lip stick. We also made a copy of Katie's You Tube video and attached it to the note. (Thanks Amy for helping me with all that!) Celine graciously took the gift and then asked if she could open it! I was amazed. Here she was late for her show and she took the time to read Katie's note. Did I mention how amazed and impressed I am? The girls told her they were worried that they would be late for the show and Celine laughed and assured them that the show couldn't start without her and it would be ok. It was cute. So she read Katie's letter and looked at each picture. She said that was perfect because that's just what she had been doing - she just had her hair done and did her makeup. I should have explained to Celine that Katie watches all her DVDs all the time and loves to watch her get ready for a show, and that's why Katie drew those pictures. But yeah, still not thinking. Duh again! Hopefully Celine figured that out. We told her that the DVD explains how much she means to Katie and just how much she influences Katie's life every day. (We thought long and hard about what to get Celine. We decided she could buy herself anything in the world she wants. So we thought it would be best to just tell her how much she means to Katie. That's not something she can buy and we hoped she'd appreciate hearing about Katie's love for Celine.) Celine seemed touched by it. She told Talia to put it in her purse because she wanted to watch it after the show. I don't know if that really happened, but she seemed sincere. The girls and I were all reveling in her presence, just taking it all in. Then suddenly a stage guy snaps, "OK, time's up." Everyone jumped, they sent Celine out one door, they moved us out another door into a hallway and it was done. Just like that. We didn't get much time with her, but I'm so thankful for the time we did get to spend. The whole thing lasted 5-10 minutes tops. It all happened so quickly, but was so incredible! I tried to take it all in, but it was such a short time and I wanted to watch the girls and Celine simultaneously so it was hard. Since then, I've watched other meet and greets and learned that most of them are short like that. In fact, it seems like we got more time than most people. And we did get a whole lot more time than John and Kim. So that's pretty cool. I just wish it hadn't gone by so fast. Still it was a truly incredible experience! I was so excited to meet Celine myself, and that would have been amazing. But to watch the girls, especially Katie, meet her was indescribable. It is truly a magical night that none of us will ever forget!
The security guard escorted us into the concrete hallways again and then to an elevator. We all were jumping up and down and hugging each other saying how amazing that was. The guard smiled at our ridiculous enthusiasm. He escorted us to our seats since we were "late". They informed us that Celine still had to change so we had some time, but you all know how fast Celine can change. We sat down and about 2 minutes later, the concert started. The concert started late because she spent so much time with us.
The concert was typical Celine... breathtaking, unforgettable and totally fantastic! It's one thing to hear Celine on a CD and a totally different experience to hear her live. Her energy is contagious and her voice is the most beautiful on the planet. The girls and I were captivated. Even though we weren't supposed to take pictures, I was sneaky and snapped a few before the usher saw me. I didn't get any of Celine on stage because Mr. Usher started looking my way.
After the concert:
YAY! I've been waiting for this forever! lol
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was a unbelievable time! What would of been more awesome? if they would of bumped you up to first row seats! ;) don't feel bad about not paying too much attention to Celine, Your KIDS were MEETING CELINE DION! you're gonna want to remember what Katie's face looked like, things she did or said, not what Celine looked like.. am I right? :) I sure hope the big boss guys send the pictures out! maybe you'll be on one of the meet and greet videos you watched someday.. that would be awesome. :)
What a fun trip! It is so exciting that she was able to meet all the girls.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you posted-it is amazing to hear the details. I bet you are excited for the pictures to arrive. I love that Katie's dream came true-with a lot of help from her mom. This is certainly the "feel good" story of the summer for all of us!
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