"Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" (meaning "and if there were only one woman left (I would be that one)") is the first hit single from

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

's French-language album, '' D'elles''. It premiered on the radio in France, Quebec, Switzerland and Belgium on 14 February 2007 and was released as a

music download A music download is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. This term encompasses both legal downloads ...

on the same day. The CD single was released on 13 April 2007 in Francophone countries. The song topped the chart in France.

Background and release

"Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" was written by Françoise Dorin and composed by David Gategno, who also produced the track. Dorin is a writer, born in France. Her best-selling novels include ''Virginie et Paul, la seconde dans Rome'' (1980), ''Les lits à une place, les jupes culotte'' (1984), and ''Les corbeaux et les renardes'' (1988). Other works include the plays ''La facture'' (1968), ''Un sale egoiste, l'intoxe'' (1980), and a musical comedy, ''La valise en carton'', as well as many humorous texts. Gategno already worked with

Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...

, Natasha St-Pier,

Chimène Badi Chimène Badi (; born 30 October 1982), also known by her mononym Chimène, is a French singer of Algerian descent. Early life Badi was born in Melun in the Paris suburbs to a family of Algerian origin. She spent her entire childhood in the s ...

, Faudel, and

Nolwenn Leroy Nolwenn Le Magueresse (; born 28 September 1982), known by her stage name Nolwenn Leroy (), is a French singer-songwriter and actress. Originally classically trained (violin and opera singing), she rose to fame after winning the second season o ...

. The title comes from the famous last verse of the poem « Ultima verba » in Les Châtiments by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

« Et s'il n'en reste qu'un, je serai celui-là ! ». The music video was directed by Thierry Vargnes in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on 31 January 2007, and premiered on the Canadian television network TVA on 1 April 2007. "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" debuted at number 1 on the French Singles Chart, becoming Dion's fifth number 1 in that country. It spent 33 weeks on the chart, becoming one of her longest-running singles. Dion's last song which stayed that long on the chart was "

Pour que tu m'aimes encore "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" (meaning "so that you'll love me again") is a song by Canadian singer Celine Dion, from her thirteenth studio album, '' D'eux'' (1995). It was written by Jean-Jacques Goldman, and produced by Goldman and Erick Benzi. ...

" with 34 weeks. In other countries, "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" peaked at number 2 in Quebec, number 4 in Belgium Wallonia and number 34 in Switzerland. Dion performed it live during the French concerts of her 2008-09 Taking Chances World Tour, and during her historic performance in front of 250,000 spectators to celebrate Quebec's 400th anniversary, which was included on '' Céline sur les Plaines'' DVD in 2008. A live version was included in the CD/DVD '' Tournée Mondiale Taking Chances: Le Spectacle.'' "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" was nominated for the Chérie FM Star in category French Song of the Year.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

highlighted this song.D'elles Celine Dion AllMusic
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Track listing and formats

* French CD single # "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" – 3:32 # " Je ne vous oublie pas" (500 Choristes version) – 3:35 # "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-là)" (instrumental version) – 3:32

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Et s'il n'en restait qu'une (je serais celle-la) Celine Dion songs 2007 singles Songs in French SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Françoise Dorin 2007 songs Epic Records singles Columbia Records singles