Here’s Celine Dion staking a claim on Adele’s ‘Hello’ in Las Vegas

Among the great power balladeers who helped create the world in which Adele now thrives, Celine Dion gets nowhere near the credit she deserves.

Sure, we talk about Barbra Streisand; yes, let’s definitely credit Roberta Flack.

But you can’t get to “Someone Like You� or “Don’t You Remember� without going through the weepy-yet-grandiose likes of “Because You Loved Me� or “My Heart Will Go On,� the ne plus ultra of Kleenex-rending confessions.

Perhaps Dion’s under-recognition as an important influence is what drove the Canadian singer to cover Adele’s “Hello� on New Year’s Eve during her regular gig at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

“Tonight, if I may, I would like Adele to be part of our New Year’s Eve,� Dion says in a YouTube video of the performance that has been viewed nearly 3 million times. Then she shows just how much Celine Dion is a part of Adele.

Twitter: @mikaelwood