Celine Dion cancels all Vegas shows until June on doctor’s orders

[NelsonG]

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Celine Dion has been forced to scrap more of her shows at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace because of a virus causing an inflammation of her vocal cords.

The French-Canadian songbird has been ordered to rest her voice for six to eight weeks. She was intially thought to be well enough to take the stage again Saturday, but she won't be able to resume performances until June 9, she announced on her website Tuesday.

"I tried to sing at my sound check last week, and I had no control of my voice whatsoever," Dion said in a statement. "We thought that after a few days' rest I would improve, but it wasn't getting any better."

It was previously announced that Dion would shutter shows through March 3. The singer was diagnosed with a viral illness and weakness in her right vocal cord during an examination at UCLA Medical Center on Monday.

Dion began her three-year residency at Caesars last March, with tickets going as high as $250 a pop. In [url="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/03/entertainment/la-ca-celine-dion-vegas-20110403"]a Times feature previewing the show[/url], it was reported that nearly 1 million tickets were expected to be sold during the show’s three-year run. The casino spent $95 million building the Colosseum to house Dion's production in 2003.

Her previous run at Caesars Palace, "A New Day," drew 3 million customers from 138 countries between 2003 and 2007, sold out 723 times and grossed more than $400 million. After the five-year run, she went on a world tour before taking time off for family, giving birth to twin boys in 2010.

Tickets for the canceled performances will be refunded. Dion's next run of performances is scheduled from June 9 to Aug. 19.
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[i]Photo: Celine Dion. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times[/i]

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