the Record Plant in Los Angeles, and I at the Hit Factory in New York. When it was over, silence fell over the studio. We all were watching the telephone, which took an eternity to ring. David answered it.

"It's for you, Celine."

It was Barbra calling to say how much she liked my interpretation.

"You've succeeded in doing marvelous things with your voice. How did you manage to blend so well with the music and with my voice?"

I didn't dare tell her I'd sung with her hundreds and hundreds of times before in my bedroom on the rue Notre-Dame in Charle­magne. I just said I'd been working hard and I trained like an ath­lete.

"You'll have to teach me," she said.

"Teach you what?"

"To have discipline."

"But there's nothing I can teach you, you're the greatest singer in the world."

"We can all learn from each other. But you learn more quickly than all of us because you have a fantastic voice and a great spirit. I'm really proud of you."

I was paralyzed. She was so self-assured, she said such lovely things to me and so simply. I wish I'd been able to tell her how important she'd been in my life, and how thrilling it had felt to blend my voice with hers. It was as if our voices, after having sought each other for such a long time, had finally found each other. But I told myself that Barbra must have known she was a role model for me and that I'd learned a tot from her. You can hear it in my voice.

When I couldn't speak on the phone, I began to cry.

Rene, who was also very moved, took the telephone.

"For Celine, you've always been a role model and an idol. She's very touched by what you just told her."

257

"I know," said Barbra. "I felt the same thing the first time I sang with Judy Garland."

She insisted on talking to me again.

"I want to know you better. Come see me in Malibu as soon as you can. Tomorrow, if you want."

But the next day I was recording "I Love You, Then I Hate You" with Luciano Pavarotti.

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