Canadian singer Celine Dion performed for the last time at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Saturday. She thus ended her five-year, $400+ million engagement which saw Dion performing a stunning 717 times since March 2003. Comedian and singer Bette Midler will replace Dion at Caesar's Palace, with a production allegedly called The Showgirl Must Go On, set to open Feb. 20.

"At one point, it was like feeling like the Titanic was about to sink again," she said. "But we believed and we went on with it." Her performances were plagued at some point by poor reviews and difficulties keeping up with both her family and her job.

Producers claim that nearly three million people have attended since it opened. She was joined on stage by her husband and son.

Celine is married to René Angélil, a man of Syrian descent who is 26 years her senior and who is also her manager. She is three months younger than her step-son, Patrick Angélil, and she has a baby boy, Rene Charles Angélil, born in January 2001 through in vitro fertilization.

The Caesars Palace Colosseum, a 4,100-seat arena, was built specially for her show and cost $95 million to build.

"Tomorrow morning, it will be back to reality and back to (being) mommy," Dion told the press after the show.

Dion will kick off a 96-date world tour in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Valentine's Day 2008. The tour is due to touch down in the UK in May, when she will play Manchester's MEN Arena, and stretches into 2009, with the last scheduled date in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 30 January.

Dion just released her 13th English album and 35th in total, Taking Chances. The album, released last month, was recorded mostly during Dion's summer holiday, between July 2 and August 15, 2007. The album is available as a 16-track CD or on iTunes.