On Saturday, November 13, 2004, a Celine Dion fan, Jessica Grady met her idol live in Las Vegas.
The tv show "The Insider", aired on December 10, 2004, taped the joyful introduction.
Here is her review:
My name is Jessica and I'm 16 years old. When I was 15 I had a brain tumor and brain surgery, but I'm fine now. But, there is a special program called "Childrens Wish Foundation" that grants special wishes to children with terminal illnesses and they met me in the hospital. Well, they decided that since I went through so much at such a young age that they'd give me a wish. So...since Celine Dion is my favorite singer ever, my wish was to see her show in Las Vegas and meet her.
So two weeks ago "Childrens Wish Foundation" calls me and tells me that they're doing a TV show on ABC called the INSIDER and they want me to be on it. The topic is "Teens that have overcome deadly diseases"...so I said I'd do the interview. Well the TV crew comes to my house, we interview all day and then it was my turn to interview. So we talked about my hobbies and stuff and then the man asked his last question which was, "if you had one wish what would it be"? So I told him my Celine Dion wish and stuff and told him why I wanted to do it so badly. Then I thought the interview was over. Well to my surprise the interviewer goes "Well Jessica, guess what?!?! We're flying you and your family to Las Vegas next friday to see Celine in concert and to meet her!" I started flipping out! It was so cool.
Last Friday my family and I flew to las vegas. We stayed at the Tropicana. It was a nice hotel. So saturday was the big day...the day that I was going to meet Celine Dion. "Childrens Wish foundation" payed for me to get my hair and nails done before the show. I looked so pretty. After that I went back to the hotel, put on my gown, and we left to meet up with the camera crew at the hotel where the concert was. So we met up with the TV crew and they put a microphone on me, introduced the lady who was going to be on TV with me and blah blah blah. So we started. We walked in and the lady asked if I was excited and stuff and I was like "YEAH!!!!!!" lol. So then she gave all of us programs for the show and VIP passes. Then she said "so I hear you this wish to meet Celine Dion" and I said yeah. So she said "well we're going to make that all come true, we're going to go down to her special room right now, but first let's pick up your tickets". So while I was freaking out I picked up our tickets which were FRONT ROW CENTER! then we went into this special elevator down to a room to wait for Celine.
Meeting Celine
After waiting 30 mins. a lady came in and said the next person to come in will be Celine. I was so nervous. Then she came in. I stood up and she came right to me gave me huge hugs and kisses and it was wonderful. I cried. Then Celine and I sat down and she said "I have some presents for you". I opened them and it was her entire perfume line and her new CD/DVD "Miracle" and book that she made with Anne Geddes. She signed everything. She signed all of our programs and my jacket I bought. We took pictures and everything. It was amazing guys! We talked about me and her and stuff. When I find out what night it's going to be on I'll tell you, if you want to watch. So we said our goodybyes, she said how much she loved me and how much i've touched her heart and she left.
The Show
So we went to our seats. Front row center! Best in the entire place. And the show started. It was amazing. She came off stage at least 15 times giving me hugs and kisses while she sang. They put me up on the big screen a million times. Even the dancers came off stage to dance with me and give me hugs. It was sooooo cool! Okay, so at the end of the show a dancer gave her this beautiful rose...well she walked off stage, gave me the rose and said she loved me, gave me a hug and kiss and said goodbye and that she won't ever forget me. The show ended. She sounds better LIVE than she does on any CD she's ever made.
The people who took our pictures together when I was with her earlier, developed them while I was in the show and gave them to me right after the show. It was soo cool. I still have the flower she gave me and all the other stuff framed. I can't believe it was only a week ago tomorrow that I was hanging out with Celine Dion!
Guys, It was the most amazing experience of my life, and I'm never going to forget it. Just thought I'd share it with you because you probably love Celine Dion just as much as I do. She also gave me 2 more CDs, a pen, a keychain, and a sweatshirt. Man, she's darling.
Hope you enjoyed my story.
[Courtesy of Celine Smiles"]
