Dion takes "Chances" with harder sound as "Day" ends

"When people sent me all those romantic songs to make people feel better or to cry, I went there because I had to prove myself," she says. "Those songs are great and made me who I am today. It wasn't a mistake, but I didn't have a lot of choices. Do you think I wanted to hold those long notes forever and kill myself onstage every night? But everybody always sent the hardest songs to sing to me: 'If somebody can hit those notes, it's Celine Dion.' And I can do it; I can hit them, baby.

"Now maybe we're all tired of those 10-second notes -- the writers, the people -- and they've evolved, too," she continues. "Maybe no one thought I was capable of doing anything else, but I've got Heart and Doobie Brothers and Janis Joplin and Creedence Clearwater Revival inside of me, too."

IN JOPLIN MODE

An electrifying standout among the album's 16 tracks is "That's Just the Woman in Me," a song Dion has considered recording for 20 years. But she never felt it was the right fit for previous albums. Written by Kimberly Rew, it implores, "I need a man to love/Respect me, protect me, rule over, drool over/That's the woman in me, baby."

Dion says, "I was amazed that song waited for me, that no one had recorded it. But now I was scared -- I'm used to such control, and this needs to be sung like Joplin. I got myself into a character and put myself into abuse mode and started to sing through my soul and not my vocal chords. I sang it through twice; I didn't want to work on it, because its honesty needed to be felt. When we played it back, I began to tremble, because I could not believe it was me."

On the album's dramatic cover art, Dion wears her hair teased with extensions into a near-lioness mane, her facial expression curiously cryptic. The idea was all hers.

"Maybe there's a look that people expect, but this is show business. Come on, it's still the same me, but I decided that I don't have to paint on a smile to show what's inside," Dion says. "Don't look at my lips and my hair; look into my eyes and feel me, baby. I am smiling there and giving more than ever before. Come with me. Listen and imagine me however you want."

Fans will be able to do just that on the arena/stadium tour in support of "Taking Chances," which kicks off February 14, 2008, in Johannesburg with eight shows there that month. (Proceeds go to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.) Dion then treks to the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. The yearlong outing will cover five continents, 25 countries and more than 100 cities.

These shows will be far less intimate than "A New Day," which Caesars Palace president Gary Selesner says "reinvented how entertainment is perceived in Las Vegas."

Dion is primed for this next chapter in a stellar career.

"This is the best album of my life," she says. "If you have a child with all the potential in the world and you don't give him or her the chance to explore, it's a loss. My voice and my body are in the best shape ever. I'm more mature and grounded. I need to express myself and show that I feel great and beautiful."