Catherine’s idol Celine Dion sang beside her

Catherine Casey at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Star struck Catherine was overwhelmed when she sat watching her hero on stage at the Caesar’s Palace only to realise she was a hologram on stage and the real Celine Dion was standing right beside her.

The 49-year-old fan said she was transfixed on the stage truly believing it was Celine and it wasn’t until her partner Lawrence Brown nudged her to look sideways that she realised the Canadian superstar was standing inches from her on the aisle.

“I had an aisle seat. I couldn’t believe she was so close. She was standing right beside me, It was a hologram on stage,” said Catherine.

And then Stevie Wonder was on stage doing a duet with her. He has a song on her new album and I just knew he would be there but he turned out to be a hologram. And Celine did a duet with a hologram of herself but she said she thought it was a bit strange,” said the Lurgan girl.

Catherine and Lawrence jetted off to Las Vegas after winning an international competition for tickets to see her idole.

She explained that she had gone to the Amazon website to pre-order Celine’s new CD - ‘Love me back to life’ when she spotted the competition and decided to enter but had no thoughts of winning it.

Mum of three boys Anton, Shaun and Darragh, Catherine had been planning a special trip for her 50th next November and couldn’t decide between America or Australia.

However, after speaking to the competition organisers the couple were able to extend their three day all expenses trip to Las Vegas and they went on a road trip across America to California.

“It was absolutely fantastic. It was the best week of my life,” said Catherine.

The couple had an idyllic time, with an amazing trip to Monument Valley. “It was stunning. We saw the sun set over the valley, and the sun rise over the Grand Canyon, stunning,” she said.

The pair travelled along Route 66 through beautiful parks and lakes to San Francisco and then on to Los Angeles.

Besides seeing her hero Celine Dion, Catherine says the highlight of her trip was seeing the sun setting over Monument Valley and her time in San Francisco.

“I can’t believe I’m back. It was all stunning. It was the best week of my life,” she said.