Singer Celine Dion will make her showbusiness comeback in a Las Vegas musical.

The French Canadian pop star embarked on a sabbatical as her husband battled cancer.

The star has now announced her return will be a long-term engagement at Caesars Palace, starting in March 2003.

Her contract with the casino will be exclusive so she will not appear anywhere else for three years.

Dion will be taking part in a show directed by Franco Dragone, creator of the Cirque du Soleil shows Quidam, O and Mystere.

Dion and her husband-manager, Rene Angelil, will produce the new show, in association with Dragone.

Caesars Palace will have a new 4,000-seater stadium in the shape of the Coliseum in Rome for Dion's debut.

Titanic

The 32-year-old has sold more than 125 million albums worldwide and has scored massive hits with singles such as My Heart Will Go On from the Titanic movie.

Dion gave birth to her first child at the beginning of the year

Rene Charles was conceived through in-vitro fertilization.

Dion and Angelil were married in Montreal in 1994.

She made the decision to suspend her successful career to support her husband's battle against cancer and to improve their chances of having a baby.

The Quebec-born star bowed out at a glittering millennium eve concert in Montreal.