Celine Dion's 16-year Vegas residency comes to an end Saturday with final show

After more than a thousand performances in front of more than four million fans, Celine Dion is finally cashing in her chips. The singer's performance Saturday night at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace will be the final one of her Las Vegas residency.

"Bittersweet" is how Dion describes her feelings about doing her final show in the city where she's been performing on and off for the last 16 years.

Her first residency show, "A New Day," launched March 25, 2003. Her current one, "Celine," premiered in 2011.

"Vegas has given me, in a way, stability to be home every night, raising my kids," the legendary singer told ABC News earlier this year. "I mean, I love touring, don't get me wrong, but it's very, very, very different."

It may be difficult to believe that when Dion, 51, announced her first residency, few believed it was a good move. Back then, Vegas was where careers went to die.

"People thought I was going to finish my career here, and that the Titanic was going to sink again," she said, laughing. But even she admits she was skeptical.

"When I started, they built that Colosseum specifically for that show," she told ABC News. "And me, I was like, 'Uh....suuuure.'"

But the gamble paid off: "A New Day" was a smashing success.

Since then, the biggest stars in the world staged Vegas residencies: Elton John, Cher, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Aerosmith, Ricky Martin, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Janet Jackson and the Backstreet Boys, to name only a few.

Even after she sings her last note Saturday night, Dion isn't stopping. On Sept. 18, she kicks off her "Courage" World Tour, which will visit more than 50 cities across North America.