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CONCERT IN MELBOURNE
On January 31, 1998 Celine Dion performed at Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, Australia. The following day (February 1, 1998) Celine performed at Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex again. These two concerts may be considered part of the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". Actually, before the tour officially started (on August 21, 1998), in early 1998, Celine gave four concerts for the Chinese New Year, two in Melbourne, Australia (January 31, 1998 and February 1, 1998) and another two concerts in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (February 4 and 5, 1998). The set list for these concerts was similar to the one performed during the "Falling Into You Tour", but included also the songs: "The reason" and "My heart will go on", both from the album "Let´s Talk About Love". Celine wore the same brown outfit she wore during the last part of the "Falling Into You Tour". But she also wore a leather outfit, similar to the one she wore during the "D´eux Tour". On these concert, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour" (heart-shaped stage). The Saturday night of January 31, 1998 was a "special" night organised by Sony Music. The first part was a show hosted by Sir George Martin called "Let´s Talk About Beatles", which honoured the Beatles´ career and music. Later there was an extremely special awards ceremony put on by Sony Music to present Celine with the awards that her singles and albums had recieved throughout her career. This was a private cocktail function and tickets were available for it. All people needed was the AUS $ 650 to go. Celine was presented with a huge single solitare diamond ring that Sony Music gave to her.
CONCERT IN MELBOURNE
On February 1, 1998 Celine Dion performed at Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, Australia, after another show she gave there the day before. These two concerts may be considered part of the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". Actually, before the tour officially started (on August 21, 1998), in early 1998, Celine gave four concerts for the Chinese New Year, two in Melbourne, Australia (January 31, 1998 and February 1, 1998) and another two concerts in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (February 4 and 5, 1998). According to a fan who attended the show, the Sunday evening concert (February 1, 1998) was due to start at 8:00 p.m. A couple of minutes later the announcer introduced the opening act and said there would be a 20 minutes break after and Celine would be on stage at 9:30 p.m. The main spotlight went on an the theatre lighting went down. The main stage had the curtain down and it was a really bright red colour that was drapped in sections like the old style theatre curtains. It was quite impressive. After about 35 minutes the opening act finished. There was a 20 minute break and nearly all the people exited out for a drink. Moments later the theatre lights started to dim and everyone knew it was "show time". The curtain went up and so did the audience. The first image of Celine was one similar to the opening of the "Live a Paris" video. The stage lights came on full white with a bit of blue and there Celine was for the opening song, "The power of love". After the applause had quietened down Celine started to talk about how good it was to be performing again and about being in Australia again and being in the city of Melbourne. Then, Celine thanked the Crown Casino for the invitation to perform the concerts there. She also thanked the group who were her opening act for the "Falling Into You Tour", Human Nature, who were in the audience. After an "Are you ready to rock and roll?", Celine performed "River deep, mountain high". The big video screens either side of the theatre came into thier own with this song and others during the concert. The movie associated with the song had snippets of it playing in between the shots of Celine on stage. Then, Celine said "are you ready to romance with me?" and the notes from the classical acoustic guitar were picked out by musician André Coutu. Celine performed "Seduces me" and "All by myself" in which when Celine hit the octave change and held the high note, the audience went wild. The, Celine spoke about wanting to sing a song in French for the audience. It was time for "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". During the whole song, the music video for this song was screening on the huge video screens. Then came the second French song for the night, "J´irai où tu iras". Celine also performed "Think twice", after which she thanked Sir George Martin, who was in the audience, for all the work he had done for Celine´s albums and especially on "Let´s Talk About Love". Then, Celine said "I´d like to sing this song from my new album" and she sang "The reason". The next song needed no introduction after it´s huge success as the biggest selling movie soundtrack from "Up Close And Personal", "Because you loved me". This song was really popular and when Celine hit the high notes everyone was applauding. Parts from the movie "Up Close And Personal" were showing on the video screen. After sings "Declaration of love", Celine performed the second most popular song of the whole concert, "It´s all coming back to me now". The music video to the song was playing on the video screens. The audience just went wild before Celine even finished the last words to the song. "Love can move mountains" was next song and most people were out their seats dancing to this one. All Celine´s backing singers and herself were out at the front of the stage for this song. As soon as Celine had finished she dissapeared off stage for a few seconds and everyone thought she´d gone. But she reappeared again much to the delight of the audience to perform Beatles´ "Twist and shout". Then, Celine kept the audience guessing as to what the final song of the night was. Not until Celine said the name of the songs writer, James Horner, did audience know. The most popular song of the concert for everyone in the audience came, "My heart will go on", which touched everyone who was there. The whole stage and the theatre turned an incandescent blue colour as the lights on the stage lit a haze. The music video for "My heart will go on" was on the big video screens. All eyes were on Celine. After singing the song, Celine got a 3 minute standing ovation from the audience. During the show, Celine wore the same brown outfit she wore during the last part of the "Falling Into You Tour". But she also wore a leather outfit, similar to the one she wore during the "D´eux Tour". And, of course, it wasn´t used the heart-shaped stage specially designed for the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour".
CONCERT IN HONOLULU
On February 4, 1998 Celine Dion performed at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. The following day (February 5, 1998) Celine performed at Blaisdell Arena again. These two concerts may be considered part of the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". Actually, before the tour officially started (on August 21, 1998), in early 1998, Celine gave four concerts for the Chinese New Year, two in Melbourne, Australia (January 31, 1998 and February 1, 1998) and another two concerts in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (February 4 and 5, 1998). According to the press, "after eight years of waiting, Hawaii finally got a chance to see Celine Dion perform live last night" (February 4, 1998). In her first sold out show at the Blaisdell Arena. Her only USA stop, until her new world tour beings next summer (August 21, 1998). Celine showed not only that she can sing romantic power ballads, but she can also rock the house. Almost 8,000 strong gathered for the first of two consecutive shows. Although her stage set was simple (not the heart-shaped stage specially designed for the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour"), the lighting was spectacular and provided a dramatic backdrop for Celine´s songs. Celine sang many of her signature songs, "The power of love", "Declaration of love", "Pour que tu m´aimes enore", "The reason" and the crowd pleasing, "All by myself". She also sang the spectacular duet with her backup singer, Terry Bradford on "Beauty and the beast". Celine showed her versatility and enormous octave range, mimicking instruments as she introduced the members of her band near the end of "Le ballet". The show was a high energy showcase, crafted for Celine´s pristine vocals and her infectious enthusiasm. With backbreaking energy, she ripped through "River deep, mountain high", dancing and smiling every step of the way. She´d paused between song and told humorous stories about her childhood. She also stopped to take gifts and leis from her fans. When Celine pretended she was going to call it a night, after doing 70 minute show. A show that didn´t include her current mega hit single, "My heart will go on", the audience played along. They applauded and screamed as if there might not be another encore. Celine came out a third time, she teased everyone with her rendition of the Beatles´ "Twist and shout". Finally, Celine sang the song everyone had been anticipating for, "My heart will go on", that´s when the entire arena went wild.
VH1 DIVAS LIVE CONCERT
On April 14, 1998 Celine Dion performed at the "VH1 Divas Live Concert", which took place at the Beacon Theater in New York, USA. The concert, which was aired live on VH1 channel in USA, was created to support VH1´s Save The Music Foundation, and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. It was proceeded one evening exceptional organized and diffused on the small screen by the chain of American television VH1, whose president held the incredible bet to join together on the same scene for a single concert five of the greatest voices of the world. This very first "VH1 Divas" show offered an unprecedented summit of stars including Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Gloria Estefan. The spontaneity continued with the guest appearance of singer-songwriter Carole King, who led the team through versions of her own. The show´s presenters were Jennifer Aniston, Patricia Arquette, Teri Hatcher, Sarah McLachlan, Sarah Jessica Parker and Susan Sarandon. After been presented by Patricia Arquette, Celine opened her set with the upbeat cover of Tina Turner´s "River deep, mountain high". Pitch-perfect and energetic, Celine had the audience in her palm from the start. Though she could have dispensed with some of the crazy faces and wriggling around. She followed this up with a duet with Carole King on their song "The reason". It was the first time they´d performed together, and they were good. They obviously were very friendly, as Celine had invited Carole for the show. Next was the inevitable showstopping moment of "My heart will go on". Apart from her wardrobe, this was spot-on. It received the biggest applause of the night. The next performance was probably the most amazing of the night. A stripped back version of "You´ve got a friend" performed by Celine, Carole, Gloria and Shania with Carole playing the piano. It showcased each lady marvelously; Carole´s songwriting and piano credibility, Celine´s incredible yet restrained pipes. Gloria got a lot of claps when she hit a high part, much to her own surprise it seemed. Shania too was wonderful, and all the ladies joined in to produce an amazing performance. It was also evident that Celine was by far the better vocalist of the group, but unlike most others, she did not take it as a chance to show off the fact. The last song of the night was "(You make me feel like) A natural woman" with all the divas on stage together. Originally, Carole was supposed to start the song off, as she was the writer of the song. But Aretha went forward and hijacked the part herself. And when the other divas were doing their parts, Aretha was ad-libbing at her want. It was evident she was a bit threatened by especially Mariah and Celine, and wanted to impress on the viewers that she was the best. She got her first response when Celine, who must have taken the Carole-shade personally, and sang the high part at the end. The battle had officially begun. It culminated during the final song, "Testimony". This was the part where Aretha had full control, just improvised soul belting. She started of with Mariah, who was restrained. She looked trapped when Aretha (who apparently felt only MC worthy of her) wrapped her arms around her and pulled her to the front and traded "Jesus". The others mostly just hung back, with Carole and Gloria on one side and Celine and fellow Canadian diva Shania dancing on the other. Mariah avoided all of them and circled around Aretha. By the end Aretha was singing "Help me lift it higher" and challenging all the divas on stage for a sing-off, and she got her response from a spunky Celine. She matched Aretha note for note, and Aretha got what she was asking for. By the end, it was clear who was the top diva. Celine may not have had the "soul" of Aretha, but she surely dented the old legend´s ego. Even Mariah looked pleasantly surprised at this diva battle, and the audience clearly enjoyed it. At the end of the show, the divas were photographed all together, and Celine also signed some autographs. In early January 1998, Celine has agreed to perform on the show and became their first official booking. VH1´s viewers had chosen Celine as "VH1´s Artist of the Year" in 1996; then, Celine´s recording of "My heart will go on" was well on its way to becoming the biggest song of 1998. Since Celine and nearly all of the Divas they had targeted were scheduled to be on the East Coast in mid-April, 1998 they decided to move what had become an annual Los Angeles-based event to Gotham City to be held two days after Easter on April 14, 1998. They hastened to secure a venue in New York and to confirm the participation of more Divas. Celine has said that night at the concert, everybody wanted to be a "Diva" (in the positive sense of the word) and that there were no catfights between them. Everyone wanted to give their best and that´s what the audience could see during the show. According to the pop music critic Jon Pareles from The New York Times, there was only one real diva onstage: Ms. Franklin, who presented the true diva´s combination of a remarkable voice, a commanding presence and a whimsical, imperious assumption of power. With Ms. Franklin around, the rest were only troupers. The concert was released in CD, VHS and DVD under the name "VH1 Divas Live".
TF1 LA SOIRÉE SPECIALE: CÉLINE
On April 25, 1998 Celine Dion appeared during the broadcast of the TV special-concert entitled "La Soirée Speciale: Céline Dion", hosted by Jean-Pierre Foucault and aired on TF1 channel in France, at 8.50 p.m. This special was taped to help promote Celine´s album "Let´s Talk About Love" in France. It was a show full of surprises. The show sequence was: first, Celine performed "My heart will go on" and then, she was interviewed. Then, Belgian singer Maurane performed Celine´s "Un garçon pas comme les autres (Ziggy)", which was specially dedicated for Celine. Then, another interview, this time with Celine and Maurane. Singer Florent Pagny performed "Chanter" and "Caruso". He also was interviewed next to Celine. Celine also performed "Let´s talk about love", in which she was accompanied by a children choir. After a costume change, Celine performed "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". Celine´s parents appeared on the set, a big surprise for Celine. They also were interviewed. Then, Celine performed "Treat her like a lady" in duet with Diana King. After another costume change, Celine was interviewed one more time and she performed "The reason". For the finale, Celine´s golf teacher appeared on the set, another surprise, and they played golf. Celine also performed "Prière païenne".
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