Everyone's favorite Canadian singer and gesticulator may have risen in the esteem of even more people, as far as I'm concerned. Céline Dion has reportedly refused to perform at Donald Trump's inauguration, aka she's now reportedly also my hero. Dion is just the latest in a string of performers who have turned down the dubious honor, alist that now allegedly includes everyone from Andrea Bocelli to KISS to Garth Brooks to Elton John. In fact, the only person who's definitively off that no-thank-you list at the moment is Jackie Evancho, the 16-year old America's Got Talent alum who has agreed to sing the national anthem.
Even Kanye West has reportedly rejected the yuge, yuge opportunity to serenade the President-Elect as he becomes the President, but The Wrap claims that Trump had higher hopes for Céline Dion. According to them, Steve Wynn, who owns hotels in Las Vegas, where Dion currently has her residency, had allegedly promised his longtime friend Trump that Dion would agree to perform at the inauguration, but ultimately reportedly couldn't make it happen. Wynn, however, has denied claims that he was involved in the supposed attempt to recruit Dion, as one of his spokespeople released the statement:
Mr. Wynn was not asked to book specific performers for the inauguration, nor did he ever a make a commitment to find specific performers.
Trump's transition team is also insistent that the search for inauguration talent is going swimmingly, with Boris Epshteyn, communications director for the Presidential Inaugural Committee claiming, "First class entertainers are eager to participate in the inaugural events."
While Dion herself hasn't spoken either way about whether or not she was asked to perform, I'm confident that if Trump and his team had gotten a "yes" from a singer of her caliber, they'd be trumpeting it from the rooftops right now. It might look a little something like this.
I'm interested to see who they end up with at this late date. All I know is that, whether or not this story is true, I just gained a whole lot of respect for Dion based on this rumor alone.
