Elvis Presley & Celine Dion – If I Can Dream

About The Song

Do you remember when the King of Rock & Roll and the Queen of Pop performed a duet on the American Idol stage in 2007? Yes, it did happen. The late Elvis Presley and Celine Dion sang Presley’s 1968 hit, “If I Can Dream.” (Interestingly, Dion was born in 1968.)

It is one of the few duets in history that utilized technology. It was a technological feat that allowed Canadian diva Celine Dion to have a duet with the late Elvis Presley. Many fans were amazed while others freaked out. It was a night of wonder and speculation.

Reaction from the viewers and couch critics was mixed. Many weighed in on the unusual televised duet, which showed a statuesque Dion and a realistic-looking Presley. Their voices harmonized together on stage while singing the 1968 hit.

Blogger Lady Starblade wrote,

“That Elvis/Celine thing was too creepy. I had to leave the room, it freaked me out that bad.”

Meanwhile, other spectators invented a new word just to describe the performance, especially Presley’s image: “creeptastic.”

On the other hand, others were mesmerized. 32-year-old Maddie from Alabama wrote on her blog,

“My body became one entire chill bump. It was the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

After the unusual duet between the two stars, questions were raised and speculations were sought. How did they do it?

Hologram expert Steve Wilson from London explained,

“(Presley’s) been edited on there and I’ll very, very much guess that the crowd couldn’t see him.”

After scrutinizing and reviewing the duet on Youtube, Wilson said Presley’s image was most likely lifted from a previous taping, digitally remastered and inserted next to Dion. Also, he pointed out that Presley appears more “real” in some camera angles than others. Most likely, Presley’s image was taken from a 1968 comeback special on NBC. He sang “If I Can Dream” in the same white suit.

Wilson estimated such a job would run between $50,000 (U.S.) to $100,000. He further said,

“That’s good quality, that probably would have had quite a lot of money spent on it.”

Moreover, to make it look more realistic, Dion sang with a Las Vegas Elvis tribute artist whose body was shown in wide shots. At times, his face was replaced with the real Elvis taken from the 1968 Elvis Comeback special. They even used some full body shots from that special. Web chatter says Celine Dion sang the song five times and that it was all edited together to create the performance you saw.

Video

Lyric

There must be lights burning brighter somewhere
Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue
If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true

There must be peace and understanding sometime
Strong winds of promise that will blow away
All the doubt and fear
If I can dream of a warmer sun
Where hope keeps shining on everyone
Tell me why, oh why, oh why won’t that sun appear

We’re lost in a cloud
With too much rain
We’re trapped in a world
That’s troubled with pain
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly

Deep in my heart there’s a trembling question
Still I am sure that the answer gonna come somehow
Out there in the dark, there’s a beckoning candle
And while I can think, while I can talk
While I can stand, while I can walk
While I can dream, please let my dream
Come true, right now
Let it come true right now
Oh yeah