Celine Dion performs last show at Caesars

LAS VEGAS - Celine Dion called it a wrap at Caesars Palace, acknowledging in her final show that pregnancy and poor early reviews almost sank her titanic five-year engagement.

While the show was still in development in 2000, Dion, 39, became pregnant and told husband-manager Rene Angelil she did not want to continue.

“I had a life for the first time,” the French-Canadian chanteuse said in a video before her 717th show. “I knew then that I wanted to have more success as a mother than a singer.”

But Angelil told her that too much money and too many people were involved. Not only would the Colosseum cost $95 million to build, her initial three-year, $100 million contract broke records for a live entertainer.

So she pushed on, fighting through initial bad reviews to make it five years of filling a 4,100-seat arena.

Since opening in March 2003, Dion’s show, “A New Day … ” grossed more than $400 million and was seen by nearly 3 million fans. Dion said one fan had seen her Las Vegas show more than 100 times. Tickets for the final show were for sale on EBay for as much as $1,899.

Last month, Dion released “Taking Chances” her first English-language album in four years, and she sang the title song on the album during the extra-long finale. The album was most recently the 12th best-selling in the U.S., according to Billboard magazine.

“Tomorrow morning, it will be back to reality and back to (being) mommy,” Dion told reporters after the show.

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