seeing celine... in vegas!

alright. so here i am in vegas for the first time. if it weren't dark, i'd be able to see a mountain range i can't name out the window. it was there today but now it's dark and i cannot see anything other than the homes across the street and the lamps that light the streets surrounding them.

however, ceaser's palace and the las vegas strip are a total different story. that's where i was earlier. it wasn't until craig woke up in a frenzy that we headed out the door to see celine dion in her always-sold-out show, a new day. he'd told me it was possible but not to count on it. however, his friend j-stan came through and invited us as his guests to the show.

admittedly, i am not a celine fan. however, having used several of her songs in gymnastics shows in high school and being a fan of titanic, i knew most of her songs. and then there are a couple that i know and which can bring me to tears at times because i'm the damn hopeless romantic i am.

still, i didn't know what the show would be like. john crowe of gsu fame would have melted. me... kinda indifferent but still excited.

i'm home now... and i am blown away. her... the accomodations... the show... the night altogether. one word - wow.

dreamed up by the creator of cirque de soliel, her show is a combination of her talent and the majesty of cirque. dancers are amazing and fluent througout with props flying through the air and dropping from the ceiling with a huge - the largest indoors in the world - video wall at backstage.

speaking of backstage... our perch was in the lighting booth above all the audience with a fabulous - did i just use that word - view! our own monitor kept a close-up of the canadian the whole show. take that ticket-payers!

following the performance, j-stan took us backstage and into celine's personal elevator equipped with her own portable heater to keep her vocal chords in check. then onto make-up, costume and other backstage rooms, including elton john's green room of sorts. i have pictures, which i'll upload at some point. one of which is craig and i outside her dressing room. the look on craig's face is priceless: about the time the picture was taken, you could hear celine inside. i'll post it. you have to see it for yourself.

afterwards, j-stan introduced us to many people, some of which we'd met prior to the show including celine's brother and band members as well as several of the dancers.

we shared - or had beers with him at the bar before leaving for a jaunt in vegas' gay nightlife, which i must admit pales in comparison to atlanta. it's wednesday night, though... atlanta wins here, hands down.

still, the night was amazing. it's something i won't get to do in atlanta and would not have been able to do here without having been craig's friend. he's something else. i'm gonna miss that fucker in atlanta. especially knowing he's out here rubbing elbows with all these people i met tonight. dimmit.