Which of these two classics is Céline Dion’s best song? Vote now.

Céline Week continues here at Maclean’s. The final round of voting is in place: ‘My Heart Will Go On’ vs. ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.’ Which one is the ultimate Céline tune?

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LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 21: Singer Celine Dion performs during the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Céline Dion, Canada’s all-time best-selling artist, loved the world over and revered in Quebec, is winding down her long-running Las Vegas residency. Eight years after she first graced the stage at Caesars Palace, Dion is calling it quits on June 8. Is she retiring? No, not even close. She’s planning a show in London’s Hyde Park on July 5, and then an extensive North American tour this fall. Rest assured, your heart will go on beating for her.

But as one of this country’s premier songstresses sings her last Vegas tune, Maclean’s couldn’t resist making a big deal of it all. Do we really need an excuse? As Dion enters this new phase in her career, a campy new cool complete with carpool karaoke, we launch Céline Week. We asked readers to vote on Dion’s best song of all time. (More on that below.) We’ll also look at her best commercials, the very best photos spanning her long life in the spotlight, and so much more.

Maclean’s experts had devised a list of Dion’s all-time best songs, a legendary discography whittled down to a playlist of eight. Based on their popularity (according to Spotify plays), we seeded our picks from 1 to 8. Round One led to the elimination of ‘At Seventeen,’ ‘Ashes’, ‘Sous Le Vent’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Round Two saw ‘All By Myself’ and ‘Because You Loved Me’ exit stage left. Sorry, Céline stans, that’s the way it is. Now, it’s time to vote for your favourite in the final matchup below (you’ll see a poll beneath the write-ups). It all comes down to this. It’s the final showdown: Céline versus Céline. Vote away! Polls close at 6PM ET on June 7.

Here’s where the brackets stand now. Scroll down to vote in the finals and deem a winner!

(And here are printable versions of Round OneRound Two, and Round Three.)


My Heart Will Go On (1997)

I just watched the video for this song, intercut with scenes from Titanic, for the first time in forever. And do you know how I felt? I felt 17 again, utterly besotted with Jack, and his love for Rose, and the gorgeous, gooey, jankily CGI tragedy of it all. I defy you to listen to that song right now and not feel swoony. You cannot, for such is the power of that juggernaut of a ballad, especially in a world like ours, where we really need a break from cold, dark irony. If we are judging these songs on their indelible Céline-ness—and of course we are—can there really be another winner? Mais non!

And if, by chance, you are a hard-hearted sort who is unconvinced by any of this, hey, Céline hated the song too, so vote for it in solidarity with our glorious chanteuse.  —Shannon Proudfoot

—VS.—

It’s All Coming Back to Me Now (1996)

Our Sherpa to the perilously oxygen-thin reaches of Peak Céline is Jim Steinman, songwriter for Meat Loaf’s mega-ballads. Steinman fought in court to ensure Mr. Loaf couldn’t release this opus before Dion in 1996. Let’s talk about love? No, let’s embody its very essence, violently reject it then draw it close with every last nanogram of muscle. This torchiest of torch songs is in constant transition to extremes. Willowy piano to Wagnerian drums, Celine’s airy whisper to her C-note ultra-climax, moments of gold, flashes of light, “nights of endless pleasure/It was more than any laws allow.” Baby, baby, baby! —Jason Markusoff

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