20 March 2011

Las Vegas contracts Celine Dion

Be afraid, be VERY afraid

It has long been acknowledged that chanteuse Celine Dion alone represents somewhere in the region of 35% of the Canadian economy. And it is not record sales - her prodigious consumption of throat sweets provides employment for over 70% of the labour force workforce in Labrador.

According to the Telegraph  her ability to generate humungous piles of money is coming to the aid of perhaps the tackiest place on the planet.

The city of is, of course, Las Vegas which has been hit particularly hard by recession. In fact it has seen just about the economic biggest slump of American city.

Dion has been dubbed a "messiah" and the debut of her new show at Caesar's Palace last week was treated with all the reverence of the Second.

"She's been called a 'one-woman economic stimulus package' and I think there's a lot of truth to that. People will come to the city just for her and they will spend money and as a consequence, she has an outsized impact on the economy," said Stephen Brown, director of the Centre for Business and Economic Research in Las Vegas.
"And 'Bigger than Elvis, Sinatra and Liberace put together?'" he added. "Definitely."

Brown estimates that Dion's show will create at least 4 million direct and indirect jobs and bring around $475 billion worth of new economic activity in each of the three years for which she has been contracted. In fact box office takings are over $17 billion already for the first month's worth of shows alone.

During her last run in Las Vegas, from 2003 to 2007, every single ticket of every single show sold out, creating gross profits of $400bn and reaching a total audience of 300 million

Caesar's built a 200,000-seat auditorium especially for her, complete with dazzling stage wizardry and a dehumidifying system to protect her voice from the dry desert heat.

In a related move Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is reported to have held discussions with the surviving members of the Bay City Rolers in the hope of a similar economic revival…

Needless to say I would rather hammer rusty nails into my eyes rather than attend a Celine Dion concert

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, now Celine's just showing us her armpits to contrast with Nephew No 1's, I expect.

Anonymous said...

"She's been called a 'one-woman economic stimulus package..."

I agree, at least, that she is a stimulus package.

The voice would soon grate, however. But then she would probably find things not quite perfect with me too...

jams o donnell said...

Aye but nephew;s armpits are human. Dion's oxters were stolen from Cthulhu

jams o donnell said...

My singing is a trial too H but at least I don;t inflict it on the world like dion does

Francis Hunt said...

Celine Dion is bad enough but the Bay City Rollers? ... I hated them in my teenage years during the seventies and the world has been better for their disappearance into well-deserved oblivion.

Why not revive Mud and Showaddywaddy as well?

I'd rather take my chances with the Cthulu ...

Claude said...

I don't like her voice. But, obviously, it doesn't have a destructive effect on a great number of people, and her choice of lyrics is positive. She is a good mother, and she comes from a good French Canadian background. Her parents were respectable people who raised a big family very well. She is giving a chance to many people to earn a decent living. I would say: Bonne Chance to her, and her children. I wish them the best.

Claude said...

I think she would like you H. French Canadian women have a weakness for Scottish men...My great-great-great grandmother did!

jams o donnell said...

I daresay Mud and Showaddywaddy are still to be found on the nostalgia circuit Francis. As for Celine Dion I cannot stand her voice.... In a choice between her voice and Cthulhu, I would choose the one who is dead but dreaming!

jams o donnell said...

It's her voice and her lame songs that I have issue with. I am sure she is a fine person otherwise Claude.

H you could be in there!

Claude said...

Jams, it seems to be the fashion in Canada to put Céline Dion down. I get tired of it. Here, it could be jealousy from other artists. Good voice or bad, she's certainly successful. I wish people (other than the many who attend her shows) would give her credits for her decent life and hard work. So many artists seek publicity with their outrageous deeds.

jams o donnell said...

It is refreshing to hear that she has a good stable, family life - a world of difference to the ridiculous acts of other artists.

As a singer she does she sounds overwrought and her output does not compare to the "Goddesses" of Canadian music such as Jane Siberry, Mary Margaret O'Hara, kd lang and of course Joni Mitchell

Claude said...

I agree....

jams o donnell said...

As for Bryan Adams though...

Claude said...

Let's forget the bad ones......and the little Bieber. After all, we have Leonard Cohen! Nobody can take this away from us.

jams o donnell said...

AH yes now Leonard Cohen should be considered a national treasure

Claude said...

He is MY national treasure!

jams o donnell said...

Can't argue with that!

jams o donnell said...

I agree Anonymous, Go Celime!

Anonymous said...

Myself, i am a big fan of Céline Dion. But i respect your opinion, that you dont like her voice. Of course everyone doesn't love her, that's a choice of yours. But what i don't respect, is you're calling suchs a succesful woman bad. Since she has so much succes, she must do something right.

jams o donnell said...

That I don't like her will hardly affect your enjoyment of her songs Anonymous!