Celine Dion, one of the greatest, most powerful voices EVER, is the newest L'Oreal Paris spokeswoman, and if we had to sum up our feels in a gif it'd be something like THIS:
Ahead of the big announcement, beauty editors from the U.S, Canada and Europe met with Dion in Las Vegas, where she's wrapping up her residency. In an intimate conversation moderated by ABC journalist Deborah Roberts, the icon spoke candidly about her journey with self-confidence and why she was shocked to get the call from L'Oreal.
"Even when I was so young, [I struggled with] not feeling confident, not feeling pretty, having problems with my teeth. I was very, very skinny, and I was being bullied at school," she told us. "So I never thought that L'Oréal Paris was going to ask me at 51 years old to become an ambassador. It's a miracle."
Celine Dion also shared gems on things like age and feeling sexy, losing her husband, René, and acknowledging that her reality as a woman is different from most.
Loving her age:
"I would not go back. Seventeen, twenties, and thirties, and all that is wonderful. But I'm here to talk about how I feel and who I am. I've never felt this in charge, which when you do feel in charge, it gives you a sense of strength and power. It gives you an extra voice, an inner voice for raising my children, for making decisions. The world is changing and L'Oréal is part of that in a positive way because they're telling women you have dreams, and you have the right to speak. You have the right to do and to realize what you want. And it's about time... I've never felt as beautiful, as strong — and I really think that the best is yet to come."
How looking sexy changes her demeanor:
"Don't tell me that you don't believe that feeling good and looking beautiful is not helping you to walk sexy, and to have a focus and to have a vision and to say, 'This is where I want to go because I have something to say. And today I will be heard.' No one can say, 'It's just hair.' Hair makes you feel sexy. Hair, makeup, all that. First of all you have to feel confident and very sexy inside; it's inside-out. But the things we put on ourselves — the cream and the hair color and the conditioner and the nails and the makeup and all that — it changes my demeanor. Feeling beautiful makes you feel strong, and feeling strong makes you succeed."
And how gospel music influences her sound:
"I've always loved gospel music a lot. I will never forget when I got married I went to the Fiji island, and there was a little church there. And I have never seen and experienced anything like that in my whole life. They did not sing, they did not saaang either. They gave us a feeling of something stronger than us. They did not use their vocal cords. They were connected, and we were watching and listening. And at one point it was so powerful that I was like, This is not singing. This is something so spiritual. At that point in my life something clicked and switched, because I did not grow up singing in church. But since then I felt that my inner soul became connected with something stronger than me, and I will never forget that sound, that power, that commitment, that connection. Everybody was gone and I was stuck to my seat. And I became very, very spiritual, and I started to practice that more and more. Gospel is not a type like country, rock n' roll, or rap. It's an emotion so you cannot describe this as a type of music to me. Gospel music is not about trying to make notes perfect. It's to feel it."
Acknowledging her privilege as a woman and advocating for ourselves:
"To be honest, did I ever feel that I was not being treated appropriately and fairly? Maybe it did happen, but all my life I've been having so much protection. René always surrounded me with the best people in the world, and I've been so protected that it never reached the other side of the fence. But I know for sure, for a fact, that women were not treated appropriately for so long. And I think it's up to all of us to speak out. We cannot remain silent because we cannot be a prisoner of ourselves. And if we count on society to help us, it won't happen. I'm sorry. If you look at the society, do you think we're sailing well? I don't think so. I'm saying it; It's not pretty. The smartest people for us are ourselves."
Love, loss and what's next:
"My association with L'Oréal Paris is an amazing honor and journey for me. I'm finishing the shows here, which is bitter-sweet. When we started here they said, 'She's gonna die here. The career is over. The Titantic is going to sink again.' I thought I was going to be here in Vegas for a little moment. It's been, I don't know, 17 or 18 years.
I lost my dad during the journey of A New Day, my dad who is still my biggest fan. [I lost] my husband during that second chapter of Caesar's Palace, and he was so proud. He used to bring my parents and me here to Vegas. He was a gambler, and I'm so glad he was because no one was going to take a chance on a little girl who was thin and ugly.
And the rest, so much happiness. For the last couple of years I feel like I've grown in such a strong and happy way, through dance and through friendship, through my team, through motherhood. But I have a new album coming out. You think I'm done? Bye-bye! I'm just starting. I'm going on tour as well!"
If anyone needs us we'll be somewhere STANNING! Thx, bye.
