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IN TOKIO
In October 1982 Celine Dion traveled to Tokio, Japan to take part at the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival. Celine visited the streets of the city and she was photographed at the Ginza Avenue. Celine traveled accompanied with her mother Thérèse and her manager, Rene Angelil. B.J Thomas, from the group Rain Drops, photographed Celine in Japan. There was a very funny anecdote about those days in Tokio. One night, in the restaurant at the hotel, Celine asked for a tea. Montreal showbiz legend, Ben Kaye stood up and started dancing and singing "tea for two". Celine joined him, and they put on a real show. Everybody was laughing. Since that time, every now and then, Ben would send a postcard with the words "tea for two" to remind Celine of this happy moment of their lives.
YAMAHA WORLD POPULAR SONG FESTIVAL
On October 29, 1982 Celine Dion performed, during the first round, at the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival, wich took place at the Budokan Hall in Tokio, Japan. It is the first time that Celine sings in front of an international audience. For the gala, each contestant chose a number at random to determine his or her singing order. Celine ended up with five, pronounced "go" in Japanese. Celine performed the song "Tellement j´ai d´amour pour toi", written by Eddy Marnay, could not travel with Celine due to a case of neuritis in his back. Celine wore a white dress and made of heavy cotton by Josiane Moreau, her stylist at the time, who used a pattern that her mother Thérèse and she found in a magazine. According to Celine, it was magnificent, but a little out of season. She performed well, received warm applause from the audience and good marks from the judges. There were 1907 contestants, and 30 finalists, the finals have been made in front of 12,000 people. For the final performance, she also drew number five. This time, though, because she was much closer to her goal, she felt tense and nervous. She stood as she waited her turn so that her white cotton dress that her mother made her wouldn't get wrinkled. She noticed a coin lying at the foot of the narrow stairway that she would soon climb to go onstage. She picked it up. It had the number five on it, so she decided to keep it, just for luck. But her dress had no pockets. Instead, she slipped it in her shoe just before she ascended the steps. And as she moved toward the spotlights to sing "Tellement j´ai d´amour pour toi", she could feel the five-yen coin, her good luck charm, under the arch of her right foot. Besides the twelve thousand people who filled the Budokan, there were tens of millions of viewers watching the Yamaha Festival on television. In reference to her performance, Celine has said "I sang well, without forcing my voice, though I performed a little distractedly. For the first time in my life, I found myself on an unbelievably vast stage in front of an enormous audience. I was accompanied by a large orchestra of more than fifty musicians with whom I'd rehearsed for only about ten minutes. I felt a little out of place and disoriented. I didn´t know where to look, and I couldn´t hear myself very well. It took me a while to gain full control of my voice" (from an extract of the book "My Story, My Dream").
YAMAHA WORLD POPULAR SONG FESTIVAL
On October 31, 1982 during the final day of the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival, wich took place at the Budokan Hall in Tokio, Japan Celine won the Golden Medal in the category Better Song with "Tellement j´ai d´amour pour toi". Celine ended up sharing the grand prize with Mexican singer Yoshio. But she earned another distinction. Impressed by her talent and charisma, the sixty-two musicians gave her the Orchestra´s Special Award. Celine was photographed with the singer Yoshio, the Yamaha president M. Genichi Kawakami, Canadian singer Bryan Adams, Celine´s interpreter Tomoko Hatori and with John Rowles. Celine´s manager Rene Angelil and her mother, Thérèse were with her in Tokio. The festival was televised for more than 115 millions of TV viewers. In reference of this day, Celine has said "after the last competition, the judges announced the names of the ten people who'd be in the grand finale on Sunday afternoon. I was one of them. This time, I ended up with number five again. And this time again we looked at it as a good omen. But I was still very nervous. In addition to the twelve thousand spectators who filled the Budokan Sunday afternoon, there were several million watching the event on television. Reason enough to feel weak in the knees. Waves of anguish washed over me as I thought of the moment when I´d have to go onstage and launch into my song. I imagined the crowd I´d have to face as a heartless monster capable of devouring me. And I tried to forget, to tell myself that this wasn´t so important, that I´d survive very well without taking home first prize" (from an extract of the book "My Story, My Dream"). Just like the young Rene Simard in 1974, the victory in Tokyo turned Celine into a major star in Quebec, Canada. The next morning, she was front-page news in the papers, and talked about on radio and TV.
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