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LES 9 HEURES TELETHON
In 1986 Celine Dion took part at Les 9 Heures, a telethon organized to to help raise money to the Maison Jean Lapointe, founded by Jean Lapointe in order to help alcoholics. The show took place in Montreal, Canada, it was hosted by Jean Lapointe and aired on TQS channel (Télévision Quatre-Saisons) in Quebec, Canada. Celine performed the famous song by Whitney Houston, "Saving all my love for you" and the final song of the show, "Les fleurs malade" in duet with Jean Lapointe.
INCOGNITO SHOW
On April 2, 1987 Celine Dion performed at a special show organized to celebrate the release of the new album entitled "Incognito", wich was released that day. The show took place at the Club L´Esprit in Montreal, Canada. The launch took place on April, and it was then the media discovered the new Celine Dion. Rene Angelil, Celine´s manager, had kindled the journalists´ curiosity by speaking of a new phase, turning a corner, and a new image and sound. The press was paying attention, but not the folk in radio, who didn´t have any time for Celine´s records. The with-it young stations like CKOI or CKMF never played her records, wich didn´t have the right "sound". So the whole Angelil and CBS public relations team undertook a vast campaign to convince them firt to attend the album´s launch at the Club L´Esprit, and then to air some of the tracks. When they saw and heard the star singing "Incognito" and "Lolita" during the showcase presented as part of the launch, several of the disk jockeys were astounded.
CBS ANNUAL CONVENTION
In June 22, 1987, Celine Dion took part at the Annual Convention of CBS Canada, wich took place at the Esterel, a big hotel in the Laurentides, north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Every year in June, the CBS staff gets together somewhere in Canada, usually in a resort with mountains, a lake and a golf course. They talk about their past year´s successes and their plans for the future. The president of CBS Canada, Bernie DiMatteo, a number cruncher originally from New York, told Celine´s manager Rene Angelil to bring Celine. The record company was giving her the chance to showcase her songs. That night, Celine performed two songs in French from the "Incognito" album: a rocker and a ballad. The audience applauded just a little more enthusiastically than what politeness demanded. They were professionals who knew how to recognize true talent. But what was a promotion person from Vancouver or Toronto supposed to do with a French song?. Outside of Quebec, there was practically no demand for that kind of music. Dan Hill was the featured star at the convention. He was a CBS singer-composer-songwriter who´d had great success with "Can we try", a duet with Vonda Shepard. That night at the Esterel, at the end of the presentation, when Dan Hill burst into song, the audience was surprised to see Celine walk onstage and sing with him. It seemed as though the song had been written for her alone. She sang so well that the room exploded in applause. Everyone rose to their feet. This time, the audience of professionals wasn´t just being polite. All 150 of them, from across Canada and the United States, gave this young unknown a standing ovation. In reference to the CBS Convention, Celine has said "At the start of summer, CBS-Canada had its annual convention at the Esterel, a big hotel in the Laurentides, north of Montreal. I was part of that record company, so I was entitled to a short presentation, what one calls a showcase. In the afternoon, I did two or three songs, which were politely received. Everyone knew they couldn´t go very far. The vast majority of industry people, who came from Ontario and from the western provinces of Canada, didn´t understand any of the words. And even if they had understood, even if they had found me interesting, there wasn´t any place for my songs in their market or on their radio stations. French songs were rarely played. The big star of that convention was Dan Hill with his hit song of the summer, Can´t we try, a duet he did with Ronda Sheppard. I don´t know why Ronda hadn´t come to the Esterel. A few days earlier, as soon as Rene learned that she hadn´t, he contacted Hill, Hill´s agent, and the president of CBS and proposed that I sing with Dan in her place. He asked them not to talk about it, so it would be a surprise. On the day before the performance, I rehearsed with Dan. Our voices went well together. And the song was in a range where I felt perfectly at ease. Rene had returned to his strategy of upping the ante. During the two or three days before the convention, he never stopped telling me that this would be a crucial moment, that I probably wouldn´t have any other opportunities to show what I could do for a long time. Maybe never. So that evening at the Esterel, I sang that duet as if my life depended on it. I did it with all the passion within me. And we brought down the entire house. They all leaped up to applaud Dan Hill and me. This time it wasn´t just to be polite, like the day before. It was a very small audience, about a hundred and fifty people, but they were the decision makers and executives of the recording industry throughout Canada, with some from the United States. From then on, the people at CBS knew who I was. Rene was waiting for me when I left the stage. He took me very gently in his arms. We held each other for a long time-out of pure happiness. Surrounded by all these people. We were both so excited that we stayed in the Esterel long after everybody had left. As if we didn´t want to leave the place where our future had hung in the balance" (from an extract of the book "My Story, My Dream").
LES 9 HEURES TELETHON
In 1987 Celine Dion took part at Les 9 Heures, a telethon organized to to help raise money to the Maison Jean Lapointe, founded by Jean Lapointe in order to help alcoholics. The show took place in Montreal, Canada, it was hosted by Jean Lapointe and aired on TQS channel (Télévision Quatre-Saisons) in Quebec, Canada. Celine performed "On traverse un miroir" and "Les fleurs malade" in duet with Jean Lapointe.
TÉLÉTHON DES ETOILES
In 1987 Celine Dion took part at the Téléthon Des Etoiles (also know as the Telethon Of Stars), organized to raise money for research into children´s diseases. The telethon was aired all across Canada by CFCF channel, and it was hosted by Don Mcgowan. Celine performed the songs "Lolita (trop jeune pour aimer)" and "Can´t we try", in duet with Dan Hill. Daniel Mercure was the orchestra director that night. In 1994, the Telethon Des Etoiles became the Téléthon De La Recherche Sur Les Maladies Infantiles.
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