Véronic DiCaire has become a singing sensation on two fronts, both here on the homefront as well as abroad.    She has a career as a singer, with a couple of really good albums to her name.   But she has become wildly famous for being able to impersonate over 50 celebrities (you would swear she is actually Céline Dion if you were to listen to her sing with your eyes shut… I’ll provide a link to her official YouTube channel below).

A couple of nights ago, I happend to see her in a whole new light, which is prompting me to write this post.   I’ll get to this a bit later.  But first, let’s begin from the end (the big stuff), and then quickly work backwards.

DiCaire has become a star who had a permanent show in Vegas (at least until it was no longer permanent), doing her singing impersonations.  She has been a coach/judge on France’s X-Factor, and she has had numerous televised specials in Francophone Switzerland, in France, and here at home, in Montréwood.

How she came to this point is a bit of an interesting story… (un alignement fortuit des astres en sortes, if you’re looking for a new expression in French).   

First, Véronic DiCaire is not from Québec.  She is Franco-Ontarienne (or Ontaroise as Franco-Ontariens are now being called more-and-more) from the community of Embrun, not far from Ottawa, in the francophone region of Eastern Ontario. However much of her career has centred around Montréwood, where she found some of her big breaks.

DiCaire performed in numerous stage musicals from the time she was a young lady in the early 2000s, performing in Montréal, as well as in Paris.   It introduced her to some of the larger names in Montréwood’s pop-culture industry and resulted in an album which brought her more attention as a Felix nominee in 2005.

Things moved quite fast and she became an opening act for Céline Dion’s Taking Chances tour around 2008, doing singing impersonations of other celebrities.  René Angélil was won over and he sent her on tour as as star in her own right, across Québec, France, Belgium and Switzerland.

Her impersonation talents and hit performances have since made her a household name in Francophone Canada, across Francophone Europe, and with many Anglophones.  It’s safe to say she has pop-star status.

At the beginning of this post I mentioned I just saw her in a whole new light.   Véronic DiCaire just finished hosting SNL Québec (Québec’s version of Saturday Night Live) – and she was amazing!!  I have never seen her in this light before and her acting talents are just as good as her voice.  When I watched her introduction at the start of the show, the way she was carrying herself and the way she joked immediately reminded me of the type of charm Cameron Diaz radiates.   Check it out and see if I’m wrong.  You can watch the episode yourself on Télé-Québec’s website here:  http://zonevideo.telequebec.tv/media/19936/veronic-dicaire/snl-quebec.

Something else which is kind of interesting… she shared the stage in SNL with Katherine Levac who is also Ontaroise, from a community just down the road from where DiCaire grew up.

Véronic DiCaire’s official website is http://veronicdicaire.com/

Official videos can be viewed on her on her YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuKhv2Zf2Fo&feature=youtu.be

If you’re in France, Eastern Ontario, Belgium, Québec, or Switzerland over the next few months, see if you can catch one of her shows.

Please stick to official sites and do not pirate.  Our artists are part of our cultural heritage.

2015-02-02

UPDATE 2015-02-06:  

DiCaire just annonced she will be doing pan-Canadian tours in English for Anglophones and also in French for Francophones in Western Canada, Ontario and Acadia.  Refer to her official website in the coming months for dates, locations and tickets.