Céline Dion Talks Touring the World

Céline Dion is bidding Vegas farewell and setting out on a yearlong world tour — kicked off by a star-studded concert, Céline Dion: That's Just the Woman in Me (tonight at 9 pm/ET, CBS). We caught up with the star to discuss where her career goes from here.

TV Guide: Are you trying to convey something specific about yourself by naming the new album Taking Chances and your CBS concert Céline Dion: That's Just the Woman in Me?
Celine Dion: Yes. Maturity, stability, strength. Comfort zone. The best is yet to come. I enjoy singing much more now than I ever did before because I don't need to do it — I want to do it. I don't need to prove anything. I'm not thinking of technique. I'm taking chances and trying different sounds.

TV Guide: During the concert, you tap into your hip-hop side while performing with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. Are there other performers you'd like to team up with?
Dion: There are many people I would love to sing with. Annie Lennox. Alicia Keys as well. Christina Aguilera. I wish I could do more duets. It's always fun.

TV Guide: In December, the five-year run of your Las Vegas show A New Day… came to a close. What stood out for you about your final performance?
Dion: It's been such an extraordinary journey. Five years passed so quickly. It was extremely emotional, and I'm surprised that I did not start to cry after the first note. My son, René-Charles, attended that evening, and my mom. My husband [René Angélil] was sitting in the audience instead of backstage or at the sound board. It was like a family reunion.

TV Guide: Would you say that your family always comes first for you?
Dion: When you're an artist, you don't perform alone, and you don't succeed alone. It's always as a team, and it starts in the family especially. My happiness, sadness, my worries, my concerns, my love, my dedication, my inspiration, it always comes from my real life. Show business is my passion but my husband and son are my life, and this is where it starts and ends.

TV Guide: What made you decide to take on a world tour, which kicks off Feb. 14?
Dion: I decided to tour because of my 80-year-old mom and 7-year-old son. It's a privilege to see countries and to see people living differently. I think he's at an age where he can understand, and I can give my mom the kick of seeing so many beautiful things in the world. To see the world through the eyes of my mom and my son will be, I'm sure, completely different perspectives.

TV Guide: Will you be taking a tutor along for your son?
Dion: Yes, René-Charles has been homeschooling for almost two years. It was a big, big concern for me, the school thing. My husband was extremely smart in school, but I wasn't. I didn't want my son to suffer my experience of school. He's started first grade, but he's in second grade in math. It's such a relief for me that he loves school, and he's succeeding. I couldn't ask for better.

TV Guide: Do you plan on having more children?
Dion: I certainly hope so. If we are lucky enough to have another baby, we will be thrilled.

TV Guide: Josh Groban performs in your concert, and he's credited you for support­ing him over the years. Do you have advice to offer other young singers?
Dion: It's probably the most extraordinary career you can have. It's crazy in a good sense. Very demanding, but amaz­ing. I would say that the most important thing is that it stays your pas­sion and doesn't lead your life. Young kids, they hold onto one dream and if it doesn't happen, they collapse. You have to remain who you are. You have to have a life and a pas­sion because, if my career stops tomorrow, I still have everything.

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