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CONCERT IN CAPE TOWN
On February 23, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Vergelegen Estate in Cape Town, South Africa with the "Taking Chances Tour". Celine opened the show with "I drove all night", this was the first time that this song was performed on this tour. Celine didn´t performed "Fade away", and for "My heart will go on" she weared a diferent outfit (an orange and beautiful dress). Celine also performed "Eyes on me", "The power of love", "It´s all coming back to me now", "All by myself", "Alone", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high" and other song wich also were performed on previous concerts of this tour. Since the early morning hours the fans gathered to the open-air stage in the hope to get the best places in the immediate vicinity to the stage. 20,000 fans welcomed Celine and accompanied their favorite during the whole evening singing with her. The fantastic atmosphere, tipped after the concert soon into chaos. But the show did not detract. Celine was in a perfectly shape, dancing, laughing and singing. Celine continued performing at the Vergelegen Estate in Cape Town on February 24, 2008.
CONCERT IN PORT ELIZABETH
On February 27, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the EPRFU Stadium in Port Elizabeth with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of about 15,000 people. The event started at 20:00 hs. but Celine appeared on stage at 21:00 hs. According to fans, the show rocked. Celine was amazing. Jody Williams did the opening act. She just build up the tension to Celine. Fans hailed the show as thoroughly professional with Celine making several lightning changes of outfit. Celine could not help but comment on another of the city´s trademarks. "Oh, the wind!", she exclaimed before being ushered through the arrivals terminal where about 100 fans waited. With her husband-manager Rene Angelil and under heavy police guard, she blew kisses to fans of varied ages, most of whom captured the moment on cellphone cameras. Celine spoke about the “nice breeze” that welcomed her to the city, saying it was lovely and that her family would like to return one day. And at one point her dress blew up and she just laughed. "Starting in South Africa on my world tour has been the most fantastic experience, a perfect way for us as a family to begin our new chapter on the road", she said in a statement released earlier. "It´s a great feeling to be back on tour and to perform to my fans around the world". The set list of the concert was similar to previous concerts but unfortunately for the fans, Celine did leave the song "Fade away" off the set list.
CONCERT IN JOHANNESBURG
On February 29, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Monte Casino (a major recreational centre) in Johannesburg, South Africa with the "Taking Chances Tour". This perfomance at the Monte Casino was the most small venue of the tour, just 1900 people. Celine performed "I drove all night", "The power of love", "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me", "Eyes on me", "All by myself", "Alone", "Think twice", "River deep, mountain high", "My heart will go on", "Taking chances" and many others. During "Love can move mountains" the Soweto Gospel Choir accompanied Celine. The set list was similar to Cape Town concerts on February 23 and 24, 2008. Celine was interacting with the crowd and drawing them in on such a personal level. Celine continued perfoming at the Monte Casino on March 1, 2008.
CONCERT IN DUBAI
On March 5, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Four Seasons Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 12,000 people. Amazing costume changes, dynamic dancers and mesmerising music made Celine´s first Middle East concert one to remember. Singing all the favourites in an up-beat, modern stage show, Celine jumped from new to old, complemented by more than 20 professional dancers. The power in her unique voice was more apparent than ever as she battled above the screams, claps and cheers from an enthusiastic front-of-stage gold crowd. And to be fair, the venue, the Four Seasons Golf Club, was extremely elegant and very fitting for such a stylish songstress as her tones echoed from the main club house out into the audience. Celine emerged in a Kaftan, looking as glamorous as ever. She warmed up the crowd with all time hits "I drove all night" and "The power of love". Before launching into her latest hit "Taking chances", Celine spoke about her 3 day experience in Dubai referring to the city as a "a beautiful place, where the action is, the city of the future". Celine told fans that when she decided to go a world tour she knew it would not be without stopping in Dubai. Celine ended her speech shouting "shukran" out to all her Arab fans, who were ecstatic to hear the diva speak in their native language. Celine covered classic hits by legends Queen and James Brown. Royalty and celebrities adorned the VIP lounge in their haute-couture. Princess Haya was spotted with an entourage of girlfriends, while Roger Federer, visiting Dubai for the Dubai Tennis Championship, chose to keep his presence more low key, staying out of the spot light and focusing on Celine´s vocals.
CONCERT IN TOKYO
On March 8, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 50,000 people. The next day, Celine performed in Tokyo again. She played to a sold-out crowd at the Tokyo Dome, with attendance displaying just how high the expectations were among Japanese audiences, who had not seen her since 1999. She opened her set with the rocker, "I drove all night", warming up the crowd with her impressive vocal range. With a certain rockiness, a booming low-end funk sound and blueslike expression in her singing, the audience was introduced to a side of Celine that they had never seen before. On her previous visits to Japan, Celine delivered comparably lackluster performances. The Tokyo Dome concerts were much more entertaining visually, as conceptual images and closeups of back-up dancers were projected on large moveable video screens. For this concert, was used for the very first time the stage designed specially for this tour: a center stage with a system of mobile screens, elevators, and conveyor belts. Celine also performed "I got the music in me", "The power of love", "Taking chances", "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me", "To love you more", "Eyes on me", "All by myself", "I´m alive" (remix version), "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "I´m your angel" (in duet with one of the background vocals: Barnev Valsaint) and "Alone". After that, Celine talked to the audience and she performed a little Japanese song entitled "Watashi ha totemo shiawase ne". Japanese singer Yuna Ito joined Celine on stage to performed in duet "A world to believe in" (with Japanese lyrics). Celine also performed the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on". Then came "It´s a man´s world", "That´s just the woman In me", "Love can move mountains" and "River deep mountain high". For the finale and with the long yellow outfit, Celine performed "My heart will go on".
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