"Calling You" is a song from the 1987 film, ''

Bagdad Cafe ''Bagdad Cafe'' (sometimes ''Bagdad Café'', titled ''Out of Rosenheim'' in Germany) is a 1987 English-language West German film directed by Percy Adlon. It is a comedy-drama set in a remote truck stop and motel in the Mojave Desert in the U.S. st ...

''. It was originally recorded by Jevetta Steele. Bob Telson, the songwriter, also recorded his version. Both versions appeared on the movie soundtrack. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 61st Academy Awards.

Jevetta Steele version

Critical reception

In 1993, Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' wrote that "this overlooked nugget from the soundtrack to ''

'' is poised for long overdue success, thanks to its exposure in an AT&T television commercial. Steele's haunting, beautiful vocal rests comfortably atop a spare keyboard and harmonica arrangement. Don't let this one slip by a second time".

Formats and track listing

Charts

Celine Dion version

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

covered "Calling You" many times during her live performances between 1990 and 1996. The 1994 performance recorded in Olympia,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

was included on '' À l'Olympia'' live album and released as the first and only single in December 1994.

Background and release

Dion performed "Calling You" during her concert tours in the first half of the 1990s:

Unison Tour The Unison Tour is the third concert tour by Celine Dion. The tour was organized to support her ninth studio album ''Unison'' (1990). Dion performed her show 75 times in Canada History The tour had three legs. At first Céline Dion toured Quebe ...

, Celine Dion in Concert, The Colour of My Love Tour and

D'eux Tour The D'eux Tour is the sixth concert tour by Celine Dion. The tour was organized to support the highly successful tenth French language and thirteenth studio album ''D'eux'' (1995). History After 5 concerts in Quebec City, Canada, Celine toured ...

. She also sang it live on few television shows over the years. The 1991 performance in the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

was released on the ''

Unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

'' home video, the 1994 performance in the Olympia, Paris was featured on ''À l'Olympia'' live album and the 1995 performance in

Zénith de Paris The zenith is the point in the sky that appears directly above the observer. Zenith or Zénith may also refer to: * Summit, a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it Automotive * Zenith Carbur ...

was included on the '' Live à Paris'' DVD. "Calling You" taken from ''À l'Olympia'' was also featured as B-side on Dion's 1995 singles, " Only One Road" and " Pour que tu m'aimes encore". The "Calling You" single was released in France on 19 December 1994. It peaked on the French Top 100 Singles Chart in the last week of 1994, reaching number seventy-five. "Calling You" left the chart after five weeks. Jose F. Promis from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

called Dion's version of "Calling You" unique and praised her voice calling it a "technical marvel". In 2006, Dion's version of "Calling You" was the musical accompaniment to an Emmy Award-winning routine by choreographer

Mia Michaels Mia Michaels Melchiona (known professionally as Mia Michaels; born February 22, 1966) is an American choreographer and judge on the television show ''So You Think You Can Dance''. She has worked with Tom Cruise, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan, M ...

for the dance competition reality show ''

So You Think You Can Dance ''So You Think You Can Dance'' is a franchise of reality television shows in which contestants compete in dance. The first series of the franchise, created by '' Idols'' producers Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, premiered in July 2005 and ha ...

''. It was intended to be on the ''

'' album in 1992, but was replaced with "With This Tear" written by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

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Formats and track listing

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 1987 songs 1988 debut singles 1994 singles Celine Dion songs Paul Young songs Live singles Island Records singles Columbia Records singles