How it all began...
Written by: Steven Lally
The history of the Celinerific website begins with meeting its creator, Erika Tran. Erika is a proud CBC (Chinese born Canadian), who is the youngest of four children, and enjoys herself living in the big city of Toronto, Ontario. She was first introduced to Celine Dion's music when in 1997 she went to see the blockbuster movie "Titanic" and heard the now classic song "My Heart will Go On" during the closing credits. At the time of hearing this song, she did not even know what Celine looked like, but knew this woman, in Erika's own words "had the voice of an angel and a gift sent from God."
In 2005, Ms. Tran decided that she wanted to share her interest in Celine Dion by creating a website entirely devoted to the Canadian diva. Despite the fact that Erika had no prior experience with website design and HTML coding, she wanted to try something new, and thought that creating a Celine website would be a great vehicle and outlet for her fanaticism. So on June 15, 2005 the first version of Celinerific went online for the world to see and enjoy. The website was first inspired for entertainment purposes but is also now serving several business services as well.
One may ask why Erika is such a big Celine fan? Well, for many reasons. When asked this question, her first response is "devotion." Erika says that anyone can have devotion, but not everyone can always accomplish it. She admires the fact that Celine is devoted to her career, her fans, and above all, her family. She especially likes the fact that despite Celine's tight schedules revolving around concerts, TV appearances, and recording sessions, she has always been able to squeeze in time for autographs and meet 'n greets with her fans. Erika says, "If her day ends before she can sit down with her six year old son Rene-Charles, she'll stay up with him into the wee hours of the morning playing what else? Nintendo Wii!"
Another important trait that Erika has learned and appreciated about Celine through the years is her great generosity. Celine has won over a thousand honors over the years including the Felix, Grammy, Juno and Oscar awards to name just a few. Not only has this diva won countless awards, but she has also done a lot of charity work as well. In 1993, Celine accepted the role of being the celebrity patron for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation after losing her niece, Karine, to the disease. In fact, Karine passed away right in Celine's arms. Celine has done numerous charity shows, events, and telethons to raise money and awareness for each cause. Not only has she gotten people to donate, but she, along with her husband Rene, have donated millions of dollars to the causes themselves. In addition to supporting the more well-known causes, such as the annual televised Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, she has also donated to lesser known charities and usually in a quieter, discreet manner.
To Erika, Celine is more than just the greatest singer of our time. She is also the model image of what celebrities should be like. When asked the question of why she likes Celine so much Erika responded, "Many people tend to ask me the same question. I always come out with the same answer. She's an amazing woman; her voice is the purest and most beautiful of all instruments. Her personality is flawless. She's generous, loving, caring, understanding, and everything else you want her to be. To put a cherry on top of all that, she's absolutely gorgeous! She's an inspiration. She's had an impact on my life and I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for her and her glorious music. What can I say? It's pure honesty. It's all I have."
Erika has several goals that she would like to achieve with Celinerific. She wants to be able to share her love for Celine in a special way. Not just by telling people how much she enjoys her music, but by also having a visual presentation of the diva. Through the creation of the Celinerific website, Erika has significantly improved her website design and graphic creation skills and this has lead to her being able to provide services for others looking for web designs as well. "My goal is to achieve a better understanding of Celine for others who only look on the outside. And perhaps to start a new path for myself in the future of computer graphics and web-design."
Although Erika has not yet met Celine in person, she is excited and eagerly counting the days until the time when the diva will be coming to Toronto for two shows in August 2008 as part of her "Taking Chances" world tour. She already has her tickets.
When asked what she would say to Celine if she were ever to meet her in person she said, "Oh sweet mother of all that is good and pure! Are those shoes Gucci?! They're amazing!"
A true fan indeed!