Au revoir, Celine!
On June 8, Celine Dion performed her final Las Vegas residency show — a series of concerts that began 16 years ago back on March 25, 2003.
The French-Canadian music star delivered hit after hit on stage during her 1,144th show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, an end Celine described as "bittersweet," TMZ reported.
When she started, she was married to the love of her life, husband and manager René Angélil, whose vision made the Vegas show possible — and into a huge hit, first with "A New Day," which ran through 2007, then with "Celine," which just concluded. But when Celine wrapped up her run, she was a widow following René's 2016 death amid a terminal throat cancer battle.
At the end of her residency, Celine, 51 — who earned a lengthy standing ovation from the crowd — was joined on stage by her and René's three sons, René-Charles, 18, and twins Nelson and Eddy, 8, who came bearing roses for their beloved mother.
TMZ posted footage from the glorious final performance that shows Celine, ever the comedian, stopping her concert to wait for an audience member who was sitting in the front row to return from the bathroom. As he thanked her and tried to shake her hand, she quipped, "I love you too but I'm not going to shake your hand, not that I don't trust you [to have washed your hands]." She then bumped elbows with him instead.
"Of course [I waited]," Celine told the audience. "He's broke! I mean, two tickets to come and see this last show? Of course he's broke! Of course I'm going to wait for you, baby, to come back," she added.
In addition to singing all her biggest hits, the diva also debuted a new song, the aptly titled "Flying On My Own," which will appear on her upcoming album, "Courage," which is due out in November. "Flying On My Own (Live from Las Vegas)… Enjoy! To watch the full video, link in bio! -Team Celine," captioned a video clip of the dance track shot on the Vegas stage.
"I'm both proud and humbled by what we've accomplished at The Colosseum since we began 16 years ago, when René and I first shared this dream," Celine said, according to MailOnline. "This entire experience has been a huge part of my show business career… one that I will cherish forever. I have so many people to thank, but the most important thank you goes to my fans, who gave us the opportunity to do what we love."
Caesars celebrated the epic final performance with a fireworks display that Celine watched from a terrace at Mr. Chow restaurant at the Vegas hotel and resort.
During her final performance, Celine confessed to a crowd of 4,298 fans, "I'm supposed to know what to say," People magazine reported. "I am very excited and I am a little bit emotional at the same time… There are lots of wonderful memories, you know, but it's kind of strange at the same time, because when they started to put it together I was here and it was like, 'I don't know.' Then I must have misunderstood something because I thought I was going to be here for three months or something like this, and here we are 16 years later. Maybe we have saved the best for last."