Tell Him (Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion Song) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

This song received positive reviews. Allmusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, in his review for Let's Talk About Love that this song "shines the most brilliantly". In his review for Higher Ground he highlighted it and wrote: "Higher Ground comprises both traditional religious songs and new material (even "Tell Him," an overblown duet with Celine Dion, vaguely touches on that theme)." Allmusic editor Matthew Greenwald in review for Tell Him single wrote: "Barbra Streisand always had a knack for choosing just the right partners to record duets with, and "Tell Him," with Celine Dion, is no exception. Their voices blend together extremely well on this song, with both singers trading off and joining together with a wonderful reassurance. Musically, the song is dominated by what is, unfortunately, a somewhat bombastic arrangement. This tends to get in the way of the very pretty melody. The overall arrangement seems to come out of the 1980s school of over-production, and it is a bit cloying. However, the vocalists take the song to a higher place with their performance, and the song and recording have aged fairly well despite of this."

EW editor David Browne wrote: "Streisand glides like buttah into the duet Tell Him — making Dion sound like margarine in the process — but the song is an Uberschlock ode to subservience." The New York Observer editor Jonathan Bernstein wrote positive reveiw: "The centerpiece of Let’s Talk About Love is “Tell Him,” a duet with Barbra Streisand. The last time Ms. Streisand made a record with another female artist was on “Enough Is Enough” with Donna Summer. During the recording, Ms. Summer was reportedly so intimidated that she attempted to outdo her partner by holding a note so long it caused her to pass out. Anyone who’s witnessed, through the cracks of his or her fingers, the video for “Tell Him” in which Ms. Dion relates to Ms. Streisand like a newly born fawn nuzzling up against its mother, will sense that this is no diva face-off. The two singers give each other room to emote, restraining themselves until the final choruses before transforming into something akin to a pair of drunks wrestling over the microphone on karaoke night."