Celine Dion Returns and Takes Her Chances

(Note to editor: this was declined for news twice, first because it wasnt current news anymore.. when the song JUST came out. I've written other timely articles similar to this. i.e. Kelly Clarkson's Never Again review. and then because of how it is written doesn't qualify as news. I don't know how to rewrite it to sound newsworthy. So I hope the general review is acceptable for this piece.)

Celine Dion is arguably the most successful selling female vocalist of all time. She's had a career that has spanned over 26 years, starting back in 1981 at 12 years old. In 2004 at the World Music Awards, she was awarded with the Chopard Diamond Award for selling over 175 million albums worldwide. Earlier this year SonyBMG announced selling over 200 million albums, a feat few have come close to but never outsold her. She has won every award available worldwide and has a successful 5 year run of her live A New Day extravaganza in Las Vegas.

During those 5 years she has recorded 3 low key records, released a live album of her hit show, and a compilation of her greatest French hits. Staying out of the major music scene during her Vegas run, little was heard of Celine elsewhere. Now she is back with a new sound, a new record coming out, and a song that is taking listeners by storm.

Newly released to radio, Celine's "Taking Chances" is impacting listeners in a big way. In researching the release on iTunes, in just the first three pages of reviews only one review gave her less than five stars. It's easy to see why. "Taking Chances" was written by heavy hitmaker Kara DioGuardi and David Stewart of the Eurythemics. (Dioguardi and Stewart released the song as their own in 2006 under the name Platinum Weird. It never took off.) Kara's partner in music John Shanks produced the song. The sound is definitely a new direction for Celine. It takes on a light pop rock edge that we've never heard before from her. There's no denying her powerful vocals either.