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THE ALBUM
"These Are Special Times" is a Christmas album by Celine Dion, released on October 30, 1998 through Epic subsidiary 550 Music. It was her first English-language Christmas album (and third Christmas album overall), her sixth English-language album, and her twenty-fifth in total.
...> About The Album
On "These Are Special Times" Celine balances popular carols ("The Christmas song", "Blue Christmas", "Feliz navidad") with new songs ("Don´t save it all for Christmas day", the R. Kelly duet "I´m your angel"), hymns ("Ave Maria", "Adeste fideles"), and Christmas songs with a distinct religious theme ("O holy night", the Andrea Bocelli duet "The prayer"). Celine is joined by her family on "Feliz navidad" and "Les cloches du hameau". The album was produced mostly by the singer´s longtime partners: David Foster and Ric Wake. One of the songs, called "Don´t save it all for Christmas day" was co-written by Celine. Another, "The magic of Christmas day (God bless us everyone)", was written by ex-Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider. "These Are Special Times" was recorded with help of few other artists, including Diana Krall (piano on "Blue Christmas") and Bryan Adams (guitars, bass and backing vocals on "Another year has gone by"). Two songs from "These Are Special Times" were previously available: "The Christmas song" (recorded in 1993 for "The Christmas Album" by David Foster) and "Brahms´ lullaby" (recorded in 1996 for the compilation "For Our Children Too" to benefit Pediatric AIDS Foundation). French version of "The Christmas song" appeared on Celine´s first two Christmas albums: "Céline Dion Chante Noël" (1981) and "Chants Et Contes De Noël" (1983). On November 25, 1998, one-hour CBS channel TV special, dedicated to Celine´s Christmas album, was broadcasted all across the United States. Celine performed songs from "These Are Special Times", as well as few other tracks, including duet with Rosie O´Donnell on "Do you hear what I hear?". The TV special received two Emmy Award nominations. One year later, O´Donnell added her vocals to Celine´s song "The magic of Christmas day (God bless us everyone)", and included this duet version on her "A Rosie Christmas" album. The album was re-released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in September 2007, under the title "Ihre Schönsten Weihnachtslieder", including the same tracklist as the original version, but a different cover picture. "These Are Special Times" was also re-released worldwide between October and December 2007 as a collector´s edition. This 2-disc digipak contains the original CD and previously unreleased DVD of Celine´s 1998 CBS channel TV special. The CD/DVD Tin Box Gold Edition was also released between October and November 2008 in Australia and selected European countries. On October 6, 2009 the Yule Edition of "These Are Special Times" was released on DVD. It includes classic holiday scenes with the music from the album in the background. "These Are Special Times" is one of the best-selling Christmas albums, with sales of over twelve million copies worldwide. Celine was nominated for two Grammy Awards in Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category for "I´m your angel" (1999) and "The prayer" (2000). The last one was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song from the "Quest For Camelot" movie in 1999. Celine performed it with Andrea Bocelli at the Grammys and Oscars. The album has spawned two international top 10 hits with the duets "I´m your angel" and "The prayer". Other unreleased songs have proven to become highly popular later on, notably the title song "These are the special times" which was covered in 2000 by Christina Aguilera for her album "My Kind Of Christmas", "Don´t save it all for Christmas day" which appeared in the multi-million selling 2001 collection "Now That´s What I Call Christmas!" and was covered in 2000 by Avalon for their album "Joy: A Christmas Collection" and in 2004 by Clay Aiken for his album "Merry Christmas With Love", and Celine´s version of "O holy night" which was voted as the 3rd favourite Christmas song of all time in a 2004 poll. Over the years, Celine recorded few other Christmas songs, not included on "These Are Special Times". In December 1994, "A Very Merry Chipmunk" by The Chipmunks was released, containing "Petit Papa Noël" with Celine on lead vocal. The latter recorded her own version of this song back in 1981 on "Céline Dion Chante Noël". In December 1999, "Happy Xmas (War is over)" was used as the lead track to the Target TV special called "And So This Is Christmas". The special featured an instrumental track of the song accompanied by a choir to the introduction to the show and also featured Celine´s new Christmas recording "I met an angel (On Christmas day)". The final track of the show used Celine´s version of "Happy Xmas" accompanied by Charlotte Church and Gloria Estefan. "I met an angel (On Christmas day)" was included as a B-side to the "That´s the way it is" single, and appeared on various Christmas compilations in the following years.
...> Track listing
1. "O holy night"
2. "Don´t save it all for Christmas day"
3. "Blue Christmas"
4. "Another year has gone by"
5. "The magic of Christmas day (God bless us everyone)"
6. "Ave Maria"
7. "Adeste fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)
8. "The Christmas song"
9. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ]
10. "Brahms' lullaby"
11. "Christmas eve"
12. "These are the special times"
13. "Happy Xmas (war is over)"
14. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]
15. "Feliz Navidad" [ ft. Dion family ]
16. "Les cloches du hameau" [ ft. Dion family ]
Japanese bonus track
17. "My heart will go on" [ instrumental ]
2007 DVD Bonus Disc [ features Xmas CBS Special ]
1. "The power of love" [ live ]
2. "Do you hear what I hear?" [ ft. Rosie O´Donnell ] [ live ]
3. "O holy Night" [ live ]
4. "Because you loved me" [ live ]
5. "Let´s talk about love" [ live ]
6. "The first time ever I saw your face" [ live ]
7. "My heart will go on" [ live ]
8. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] [ live ]
9. "Ave Maria" [ Andrea Bocelli ] [ live ]
10. End credits (featuring "Feliz Navidad" and "These are the special times")
...> Recording Sessions
The album was recorded during Celine´s "Let´s Talk About Love Tour" in 1998. It took only nine days for Celine to record the album at the Criteria Studios in Miami, USA. Directed by David Foster and Ric Wake, Celine recorded some traditional and modern tracks. Among them, six pieces are original. Celine sings in english, french, spanish, latin and italian. Footage from the recording session of the song "Feliz navidad", in duet with the Dion family was included on the bonus DVD called "One Year... One Heart", released in June 2004 included on some editions of "A New Day... Live In Las Vegas". The album´s booklet features a photo of Celine and her husband, Rene Angelil during the sessions of "Feliz navidad". Other photos from the making of "Feliz navidad", taken by photographer Laurent Cayla, were published on the book of Celine called "Au-Delà De L´image" in 2010. Footage from the recording session of the song "I´m your angel", in duet with R. Kelly, can be seen in one of the versions of the music video.
...> Album Photo Sessions
Celine posed for a photo session made by photographer Randee St Nicholas. The stylist was Annie Horth, the hair was made by Serge Normant and the make-up was made by Laura Mercier. The album´s booklet includes some photos from this photo session. The booklet of the collector´s edition of "These Are Special Times", released in December 2007, also includes other photos from this photo session. The cover photo used on the edition called "Ihre Schönsten Weihnachtslieder", released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in September 2007, does not belong to the original photo session of the album.
...> Chart Success
"These Are Special Times" became one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time, racking up sales of over twelve million copies worldwide. Besides being the overall best-selling Christmas album in the U.S. for 1998, it is the third best-selling Christmas album of the entire Nielsen/SoundScan era. "These Are Special Times" also became the first holiday album by a female artist to top the 5 million mark in SoundScan history, and has sold a total of 5.17 million copies in the U.S. according to SoundScan. On December 6, 2005, the album was certified Quintuple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of five million copes in the U.S. "These Are Special Times" is also the highest selling Christmas album by an artist born outside the U.S. In Canada, "These Are Special Times" has shipped over one million copies and has since been certified diamond. After selling over one million copies in Europe, the album was certified platinum by the IFPI. "These Are Special Times" went to number-one for two weeks in Canada, and for four weeks in Switzerland and Norway, while also reaching the top ten across the world. Although number-two on the Billboard 200, "These Are Special Times" reached number-one for nine consecutive weeks on the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart. The next year it went to number-one for seven consecutive weeks on the Top Pop Catalog Albums. Following a change in the rules of the Billboard 200, the album re-entered the chart in December 2009, as well as in November 2010.
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THE EDITIONS
| Cover | Edition/Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Japanese Edition | It featurs 17 festive recordings including an exclusive bonus track "My heart will go on" [ instrumental ] with picture sleeve with unique Japanese lyric insert and original obi-strip. |
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Japanese Legacy Edition | Released in 2007, includes 2-disc set, comprised of 17 tracks with bonus recording "My heart will go on" [ instrumental ], plus bonus Region 2 NTSC DVD featuring footage from the CBS TV special, filmed to compliment the release of the album, presented in fold-out card wallet sleeve with Japanese & English lyric booklets and obi strip. |
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Collector´s Edition | Sony´s 2007 CD + DVD. |
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Taiwanese Limited Collectors Edition | Released in 2007, includes 2-disc set comprising of a remastered CD album containing 16 tracks including previously unreleased Region 0 NTSC BONUS DVD featuring the entire CBS TV special from 1998, filmed to compliment the release of the album, presented in fold-out card picture sleeve and obi-strip. |
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USA Legacy Edition | Includes 2-disc set comprising 16 tracks plus DVD featuring footage from the CBS TV special, filmed to compliment the release ofthe album. Housed in a fold-out card picture sleeve which is still sealed in the original stickered shrink with a promotional sticker on the back. |
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Taiwanese Edition | ----- |
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Taiwanese Cassete Edition | ----- |
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Gold Edition | Includes 2 disc set, comprised of 16 tracks plus bonus DVD featuring footage from her CBS TV Special, superbly presented in sealed embossed tin box. |
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German Gold Edition | Includes 2 disc set, comprised of 16 tracks plus bonus DVD featuring footage from her CBS TV Special, superbly presented in sealed embossed tin box. |
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"Ihre Schönsten Weihnachtslieder" Edition | This is an exclusive German special edition released on September 28, 2007 only in Germany and under the title "Ihre Schönsten Weihnachtslieder" (meaning "Her Most Beautiful Christmas Songs"). |
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"Holiday Fireplace DVD" Edition | This DVD will turn any television or monitor into a warm hearth with a burning Yule log, bringing the joy and merriment of the holiday season into your home. Released in 2009. |
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"The Yule Log DVD" Edition | Featuring the world´s greatest Christmas music set to your choice of three heart-warming holiday scenes, "The Yule Log DVD" lights up the holiday season. Perfect for entertaining, these songs and scenes instantly bring the good cheer and magic of Christmas to any holiday home. Released on October 19, 2010. |
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"The Yule Long DVD" Special Edition | ----- |
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THE PROMOS
| Cover | Edition/Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Mexican Promo CD | Includes a 3 tracks CD promotional only radio sampler CD featuring "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ], "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] and "Blue Christmas", complete with a custom picture sleeve. |
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"These are special times album sampler" | "These are special times album sampler" is a promotional (not for sale) album sampler of "These Are Special Times" released by Sony Music and Columbia only in 1998 in Europe. It contains four songs: "These are special times", "O holy night", "Don´t save it all for Christmas day" and "The prayer" in duet with Andrea Bocelli. |
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USA Promotional CD | USA 16-track advance promo CD, title stickered card sleeve. |
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Canadian Promotional CD | Release in 1998 by Sony, features 16 tracks advance CD-R acetate issued exclusively to reviewers and radio stations. |
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THE SINGLES
...> "I´m your angel"
"I´m your angel" is a duet by Celine and R. Kelly from "These Are Special Times" album and Kelly´s "R". album. It was released on November 9, 1998.
The song was written and produced by R. Kelly. The single was very successful, reaching number 1 in the United States and was certified platinum by the RIAA. The single also reached the top 5 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The single was very successful in the United States and worldwide. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent six weeks at the top. It spent also twelve weeks at number 1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. The song also reached number 1 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales for six weeks and number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay. The single also became a top 10 hit in various European countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden. "I´m your angel" has sold over 1,000,000 copies in the United States alone and was certified platinum by the RIAA. In addition, the single was certified gold in Australia for 35,000 copies shipped and silver in the United Kingdom for 200,000 copies shipped. The single was nominated at the 41st Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, but lost to "I still have that other girl", by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. The song was included later on Celine´s greatest hits albums; "All The Way… A Decade Of Song" and "My Love: Essential Collection". It was also performed by her live during the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour" (included on the "Au Cœur Du Stade" DVD) and the "Taking Chances Tour". "I´m your angel" appeared also on R. Kelly´s compilation album, "The R. In R&B Collection, Vol. 1" in 2003.
| Cover | Description | Track Listing |
|---|---|---|
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CD single released in UK on November 9, 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]; 2. "I can´t sleep baby (If I)" [ R. Kelly ]; 3. "To love you more" [ Tony Moran I´ll be waiting... vocal mix ] |
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CD single released in Austria on November 9, 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]; 2. "I can´t sleep baby (If I)" [ R. Kelly ]; 3. "To love you more" [ Tony Moran I´ll be waiting... vocal mix ] |
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CD single released in Japan on November 11, 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]; 2. "I can´t sleep baby (If I)" [ R. Kelly ]; 3. "Cristmas eve" |
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CD single released in UK on November 9, 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]; 2. "I can´t sleep baby (If I)" [ R. Kelly ]; 3. "Je crois toi" |
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CD single released in Canada on November 9, 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] [ radio version ]; 2. "S´il suffisait d´aimer" |
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CD single released in USA on November 9, 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] |
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CD single released in Europe on November 9, 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]; 2. "Je crois toi"; 3 "My heart will go on" |
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Promo CD released in UK in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] |
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Promo vinyl released in USA in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] |
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Promo vinyl released in USA in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] |
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Promo CD released in Japan in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] [ Radio edit ]; 2. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] |
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Promo CD released in Europe in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]; 2. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ]; 3. "Blue Christmas"; 4. "Without you" [ Mariah Carey ]; 5. "Hero" [ Mariah Carey ]; 6. "Dreamlover" [ Mariah Carey ] |
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Promo vinyl released in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] |
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Promo CD released in USA in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] [ radio edit version ] |
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Promo vinyl released in Canada in 1998. | 1. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ]; 2. "I´m your angel" [ instrumental ] |
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...> "The prayer"
"The prayer" was originally composed in 1801, but is more commonly know as a duet between Celine and Andrea Bocelli. This duet is the second single from "These Are Special Times" and first from Bocelli´s album "Sogno", and was released as a promotional single on March 1, 1999.
"The prayer" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song from the "Quest For Camelot" movie in 1999, the second win in a row for a Celine song. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1999 and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2000. Celine performed it with Bocelli at both ceremonies. First, "The prayer" was recorded as two separate solo versions, Celine´s in English and Bocelli´s in Italian. They appeared on the "Quest For Camelot" soundtrack in May 1998. The duet was included on both artists albums, released a few months later. It was also featured on Celine´s compilation "The Collector´s Series, Volume One" (2000) and greatest hits "My Love: Ultimate Essential Collection" (2008). A re-recorded solo version by Celine (re-named "A mother´s prayer") appeared on her 2004 album "Miracle". Celine performed "The prayer" live during her "Taking Chances Tour" as a virtual duet with Bocelli on the screen. The song appeared also on Bocelli´s 2007 compilation "The Best Of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere". A live version by Bocelli and Heather Headley was included on his "Under The Desert Sky" DVD/CD and "Vivere Live In Tuscany" DVD/CD. A live version of the song, performed by Celine and Bocelli at the Central Park in New York, USA in 2011, was included on Bocelli´s "Concerto: One Night In Central Park" CD/DVD, released on November 14, 2011. "The prayer" was popular on the adult contemporary charts in Canada and the United States, peaking at number 8 and number 22 respectively. A promotional CD single of "The prayer" was released in Italy labeled as "Canta della terra & The prayer". Another promotional CD single of "The prayer" was released in Mexico labeled as "The prayer & El mar y tu". It contains the duet between Celine and Bocelli and a song from Bocelli called "El mar y tu": Although this single´s cover does not contains Celine´s picture or name.
| Cover | Description | Track Listing |
|---|---|---|
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Promo CD released in USA on March 1, 1999. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ]; 2. "The prayer" [ Celine Dion ]; 3. "The prayer" [ Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in USA in 1999. | 1. "The prayer"; 2. "The prayer" |
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Promo CD released in Germany on March 1, 1999. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in USA on March 1, 1999. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in USA on March 1, 1999. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in Argentina in 1999. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ]; 2. "I´m your angel" [ ft. R. Kelly ] |
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Promo CD titled "Canta della terra & The prayer", released in Italy in 1999. | 1. "Canta della terra" [ Andrea Bocelli ]; 2. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD titled "The prayer & El mar y tu", released in Mexico in 1999. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ]; "El mar y tu" [ Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in USA. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in Netherlands. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in 2000. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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Promo CD released in UK in 2011. | 1. "The prayer" [ ft. Andrea Bocelli ] |
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...> "Don´t save it all for Christmas day"
"Don´t save it all for Christmas day" is the third and last single from "These Are Special Times". The song was issued as a promotional single on December 4, 2000, two years after album´s release.
"Don´t save it all for Christmas day" was co-written by Celine and produced by Ric Wake. Christian group Avalon covered the song for their 2000 album "Joy: A Christmas Collection". Clay Aiken covered it for his 2004 Christmas collection, called "Merry Christmas With Love". For Aiken, the song has become the signature song of all his Christmas tours. There was no music video for the song. The promo CD includes: "Don´t save it all for Christmas day" [ album version ] and "Don´t save it all for Christmas day" [ radio version ].
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...> "Happy Xmas (war is over)"
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band. Celine recorded the song for "These Are Special Times" album. It was released as a promo single in few countries. This is one of Celine´s rarest singles. There was no music video made for this track. The promo CD includes only one song: "Happy Xmas (War is over)".
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THE MUSIC VIDEOS
...> "I´m your angel" [ version 1 ]
The music video directed by Bille Woodruff, premiered on October 19, 1998. This first version, features R. Kelly singing the song and footage of Celine during the recording sessions of the song (also with R. Kelly).
...> "I´m your angel" [ version 2 ]
The second version of the music video, also directed by Bille Woodruff, premiered in 1998. It features Celine and R. Kelly singing the song in diferent studios. This version does not includes footage from the recording sessions. It was included on Celine´s "All The Way... A Decade Of Song & Video" DVD.
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