By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
February 18, 1994
Candy-coated. Saccharine. Gaggingly syrupy. Celine Dion’s heard it all from critics who hate her music.
“I’m used to getting some critics who like me and some who can’t stand me,” says the French-Canadian singer, who was sweet enough to call us from Quebec. “Thank goodness there are more people out there who like syrup.”
Since 1990, when Dion released her first English-language album, “Unison,” Dion has won a loyal following of fans who fell in love with her smooth vocal delivery on such songs as “Where Does My Heart Beat Now?” After her duet with Peabo Bryson on the Grammy Award-winning “Beauty and the Beast” a couple of years ago, she became a bona fide star.
Now on a sold-out tour supporting her latest CD, “The Colour of My Love,” Dion took a breather from rehearsal to update the Beat on her career and reveal how she learned to speak perfect English in two months flat.
What do you say to critics who think your music is lame?
It’s OK that people don’t like my music because everyone has different tastes. It’s harder to know that someone doesn’t like me as a person. Then I wonder what they don’t like about me because I make an effort to be a nice person.
I think when artists such as yourself choose to sing songs written by other songwriters, some people view you as being a puppet rather than a true musician. Do you have any desire to start writing your own songs?
Not at this time. The songs I am offered are the most beautiful songs out there, and I know I’m not capable of writing on that level yet. I don’t want to take any credit away from people who do everything themselves, but I think singing is an art in itself and that’s what I’m concentrating on improving right now.
You have only a very slight French accent. When did you learn English?
Six years ago. Until then, I couldn’t speak a word of English. I grew up speaking and singing French. When I was 14, I sang “What a Feeling” (from the movie “Flashdance”) and couldn’t understand a word of it. I knew that I could learn songs phonetically, but I knew that if I wanted to have an international career, I wanted to be able to talk to people during concerts and understand what they were saying back to me. So I decided to study English. I took my studies intensely and took classes every day from 9 to 5, five days a week, for two straight months.
Two months! Who did you practice it on?
Anyone who would sit still. The only thing is I learned to speak proper English, but no one talks that way in real life. So I’d be like, “Hello. How are you?” And these Americans would say, “Hey, yo, mama. What’s u?” And that was a different language in itself. So I had to learn slang. Next, I’d like to learn Spanish.
How influential have the Disney people been in breaking your career in the United States?
Very. When I made my first English-speaking album, I didn’t expect anything to come from it, so I never really expected anyone to hear it. It was my way of breaking the ice. But, somehow, the Disney people heard “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” and loved it. They called Sony (Records) and asked about me and asked if I’d be interested in participating in a project they were working on. They sent me the theme for “Beauty and the Beast” and invited me to see the film, which at the time was unfinished. I cried at the movie because it was such a beautiful love story.
Were you a big Disney fan to being with?
I didn’t grow up with Walt Disney or any cartoons. I grew up with 13 brothers and sisters and music and my mom’s cooking. But after my experience with (Disney), I realized it’s never too late to enjoy their work.
