MATT LAUER, co-host:
Even by
Las Vegas
standards, last night was a pretty
big night
.
Celine Dion
kicked off a three-year run at
Caesar's Palace
in a 4,000-seat theater that was built just for her. TODAY contributing correspondent
Jenna Bush Hager
caught a preview and got to sit down and even, dare I say, sing with
Celine
. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
JENNA BUSH HAGER reporting:
It's not a great thing and it wasn't exactly a duet, but we mostly talked about her new show, her twin sons and how she's gotten into amazing shape after giving birth to them last fall. The show is simply called "
Celine
." The pop diva's new performance is reminiscent of old
Vegas
glamor, channeling the days of
Frank Sinatra
. It's
Celine
's return engagement after her last show virtually sold out its entire five-year run at
Caesar's Palace
. So what is it like being back on the stage?
Ms. CELINE DION:
A little crazy. It's a lot of work. It's intense. When I came back from the hospital after giving birth to my twin boys, I couldn't imagine myself on stage at this point.
HAGER:
Twins Eddy
and
Nelson
were born in October.
Ms. DION:
I really try to pace myself. When you start a new project, it's overwhelming especially when you breast-feed your, you know, your kids.
HAGER:
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Two.
Ms. DION:
Twins. But it's all that I wanted. I wanted to be a mother again and now I'm three-time a mother.
HAGER:
It wasn't easy; 10 years ago
Celine
and husband
Rene
had their first son,
R.C.
, then went through six disappointing rounds of fertility treatments.
Ms. DION:
I believe that every time that it didn't work for my pregnancy I thought the two angels that were supposed to be mine, they were not there yet. So when it didn't work for me, it's not that I lost an angel or I lost a pregnancy or a child was not born, a child was not ready to come in my life, it was just not ready. That's my way for me to cope with being disappointed.
HAGER:
Mm-hmm.
Ms. DION:
Because it's hard.
HAGER:
Four months after the twins were born, this was
Celine
at the
Oscars
.
Ms. DION:
I heard that some people thought it was like, 'Oh my God, you just had twins' and all that, but...
HAGER:
Because you look amazing. Was there exercise or you just shrunk back into your beautiful self?
Ms. DION:
I am very fortunate to shrink back. I do about four minutes of cardio, I have a little bike in my room.
HAGER:
Four minutes.
Ms. DION:
Yeah. I don't do too much.
HAGER:
Just four minutes and you look like that?
Ms. DION:
Well, first of all, don't get me wrong...
HAGER:
You've got to do -- you've got to do some sort of exercise
DVD
because that's amazing.
Ms. DION:
You have to wear the
Givenchy
.
HAGER:
Maybe this is the secret to
Celinercize
.
Ms. DION:
Ready?
HAGER:
I mean, it's like a 10 -- you only do a short workout, but you wear this thing.
Ms. DION:
That's why I don't work out, you see?
HAGER:
You don't need to work out.
Ms. DION:
The work -- that's my secret.
HAGER:
This is the workout.
Ms. DION:
Just wear heavy clothing.
HAGER:
I loved the dedication you gave to
Michael Jackson
.
Ms. DION:
He did change my life in a way.
HAGER:
Well, he inspired you to sing in English.
Ms. DION:
Very much so. And that's the reason why I went to school to learn English.
HAGER:
You don't sing at home very much except for in one -- in one place.
Ms. DION:
For sure the place I love the most is the shower because the acoustic in a shower is the greatest.
HAGER:
Mm-hmm. I like to sing in the shower. My case is because I don't think anybody wants to hear me anywhere else.
Ms. DION:
The shower's going to make you sound good.
HAGER:
One of your songs is my favorite.
Ms. DION:
Oh, yeah?
HAGER:
It's all coming back, it's all coming back to me now.
Ms. DION:
Try this -- try this with a scrub. It's all coming back...
HAGER:
It's all coming...
Ms. DION:
...all coming back to me now!
HAGER and Ms. DION:
Scrub me like this!
Ms. DION:
And if you scrub me like that!
HAGER:
It's all coming...
Ms. DION:
Scrub -- scrubbing back...
HAGER:
You just made...
Ms. DION:
Can you...
HAGER:
...my life. I've traveled
all over the world
and one of the things that I love is the
theme song
from the "Titanic." You can be anywhere in the world and that will come on the radio.
Ms. DION:
If you do......
HAGER:
Anywhere in the world.
Ms. DION:
...everyone knows.
HAGER:
Do you feel like you're slightly defined by that song?
Ms. DION:
To be part of a classic is rare. If I have to be remembered by the person who sang "Titanic," then it's great. Yeah, it's great. For my kids, I don't want them to remember me as 'my mom who sang that song,' I want them to be proud of me as their mom.
HAGER:
And
Las Vegas
is betting big on
Celine
, hoping she'll help the city recover from the recession. In fact, projections insist her show will bring 3 percent more tourism.
Celine
says she's a mom first and in fact the schedule revolves all around her son
R.C.
's school breaks, which is pretty cool.
LAUER:
That is nice.
NATALIE MORALES, anchor:
Wow.
AL ROKER reporting:
How about that song?
MORALES:
You know -- you know...
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, co-host:
Yeah, do you remember the words now?
ROKER:
Can you -- can you scrub up for us?
MORALES:
I'm sorry.
HAGER:
Do you think I can fit under that table if I climb under there?
LAUER:
You think you can just give us...
MORALES:
You've just given me -- you've just...
LAUER:
Take us to commercial singing a little of that.
GUTHRIE:
Yeah.
HAGER:
No, no. I thought you said you wanted to sing it.
GUTHRIE:
He loves "Titanic," that's the...
HAGER:
Matt loves to sing it.
MORALES:
Is it all coming back to you now?
