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CONCERT IN NEW YORK
On September 3, 1998 Celine Dion performed at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, USA with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour", in front of more than 20,000 people. This was the first of two sold-out shows at the Madison Square Garden with this tour (Celine performed there again the following day). Overall, it was the same concert to the one she gave on August 31, 1998 in Uniondale, USA (setlist, costumes and hairstyle), although this show at the Madison Square Garden featured several surprises for the audience, some special guests. Celine opened her show on the heart-shaped stage performing "Let´s talk about love", in which she was accompanied by a children´s choir. Celine was dressed with a long skirt colour silver and a red belt on the waist. Then, she performed "Declaration of love", after take off the skirt. Then came "Because you loved me", "The reason" and "It´s all coming back to me mow". Japanese violinist Taro Hakase joined her on "To love you more". And the first special appearance took place. Singer Diana King appeared onstage to perform "Treat her like a lady" in duet with Celine (Diana King was usually shown on a screen through a pre-recorded video during the performance of the song). Celine also performed "Tell him" (in duet with Barbra Steisand, who appeared on a big screen through a pre-recorded video), "Love is on the way", "All by myself" and even a French song, "S´il suffisait d´aimer". American comedian Ana Gasteyer made a surprise - but very funny - appearance on the concert reprising her famous spoof of Celine (with the same outfit and hairstyle). Ana Gasteyer´s famous parody of Celine on the American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show "Saturday Night Live" caught Celine´s attention. Flattered by Gasteyer´s imitation, Celine invited Gasteyer to impersonate her in a funny onstage sketch. Celine also performed a medley with some of her favorite songs (including "The first time ever I saw your face", "Because", "Tears in heaven" and "All the way") and a Bee Gees medley of "Staying´ alive/You should be dancing". During "Love can move mountains", Celine changed her outfit. Celine ended the concert with "Immortality" (in duet with Bee Gees, who appeared on a big screen through a pre-recorded video) and "My heart will go on". But just before the "Titanic" finale, while Celine was changing wardrobe one more time, Ana Gasteyer came on stage again wearing Celine´s dress and started to sing her rendition of "My heart will go on". The audience got a good laugh from the parody. According to the American music journalist Chuck Taylor from Billboard magazine, in the Thursday appearance of September 3, 1998, the audience was treated to an appearance from "Saturday Night Live" cast member Ana Gasteyer, who has perked up the season with a dead-on parody of Celine. The artist proved to be a good sport when Gasteyer popped up onstage - wearing the same outfit as Celine - and went at it with an exaggerated French accent complete with flawed word tenses: "I was born in Quebec. I come from a family of 36 kid. That´s a lot of kid, eh?. I had to sleep in the sink in the bathroom ´til I were 4 years old". Celine then came up from behind, laughing, and said, "this is my clone. I think she´s really hilarious". Also guesting was Diana King, who joined Celine for the reggae-splashed "Treat her like a lady". Through the magic of video technology, Celine was also joined by music video footage of Barbra Streisand on giant overhead screens for their duet of "Tell him"; and by the Bee Gees on "Immortality", which, with its swirling clouds and cheesy video effects, came dangerously close to looking like something out of a suburban karaoke bar. Also from her hit catalog, "All by myself" about raised the roof with its unbridled peak, while "Love can move mountains" and "It´s all coming back to me now" proved that her audiences indeed eat up every morsel of the melodrama she so effectively serves up. And with a nod to her roots, Celine performed one track, the sumptuous "S´il suffisait d´aimer", from her new French album. The evening´s most anticipated moment came with her single encore, the Oscar-winning "Titanic" love theme, "My heart will go on". The song´s eagerly awaited, over-the-top performance was challenged only by the stunning, $50,000 crinoline-parturient crimson dress Celine wore.
CONCERT IN NEW YORK
On September 4, 1998 Celine Dion performed at the Madison Square Garden in New York, USA with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". This was the second of the two sold-out concerts at the Madison Square Garden with this tour. This concert was the same to the one she gave the day before, on September 3, 1998 (setlist, costumes and hairstyle), although it didn´t featured the appearance of American comedian Ana Gasteyer. During the show, Celine performed "Let´s talk about love", "Declaration of love", "Because you loved me", "The reason", "It´s all coming back to me mow", "To love you more" (in which she was accompanied by Japanese violinist Taro Hakase), "Treat her like a lady" in duet with an in-person Diana King (who was usually shown on a screen through a pre-recorded video during the performance of the song), "Tell him", "S´il suffisait d´aimer", "Love is on the way", "All by myself", a medley with "The first time ever I saw your face", "Because", "Tears in heaven" and "All the way". Then, she performed "Love can move mountains"a Bee Gees of "Staying´ alive/You should be dancing" and "Immortality". Celine ended the concert with "My heart will go on". The performance of "To love you more" with Taro Hakase, was broadcasted live and via an Internet simulcast during the "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon", a benefit event to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). It was an “interactive” show from the beginning with guests appearing on the shows, and phone calls taken during the show. At the end of the song, Celine and Hakase talked with host Jerry Lewis. According to the American music journalist Chuck Taylor from Billboard magazine, with four standing ovations on Friday evening of September 4, 1998 and thunderous applause to meet her growing cache of signature hits, it was evident that she is one entertainer who has earned her diva stripes. More than at any other concert tour in her past, Celine´s team focused on the razzle-dazzle of lights, theatrics, and tempo, all commandeered by a $1 million heart-shaped stage in-the-round. The latter featured four pedestals on hydraulic lifts for her band, as well as multiple lighting and set configurations, ranging from a "Saturday Night Fever"-esque dance floor to a pulsating, mint green strut-a-pad to the helm of the "Titanic" for Celine´s ubiquitous "My heart will go on". Dressed in three Christian Lacroix outfits over the course of the evening and sporting a new, shoulder-length cascade of blonde curls, Celine savvily added several non-album cuts to her nearly two-hour set, keeping the show from becoming merely a checklist of her top 40 achievements. The clear highlight was a four-song acoustic tribute to musicians she identified as inspirations, opening with a supple reading of Roberta Flack´s 1972 chestnut "The first time ever I saw your face", the simplicity of which seemed to leave the masses breathless. For Celine, an artist known for whipping up the wind with her power ballads, this subtle performance served as a lovely contrast. The song was followed by the Beatles´ "Because", with its Oreo-sweet harmonies. Then came Eric Clapton´s "Tears in heaven", simplistic and gently fluffed with a graceful lilt or two. The acoustic set peaked with Frank Sinatra´s "All the way", which she identified as her special song with husband (and manager) Rene Angelil. Another surprise was Celine´s playful take on the Bee Gees´ "Stayin´ alive", which she followed with a two-minute solo dance sweep of "You should be dancing", à la John Travolta, down to a take-off on his famous white suit. The well-executed spectacle drew a raucous ovation. In reference to both performances at the Madison Square Garden in New York, Chuck Taylor wrote: "While it´s inarguable that Celine Dion has the vocal fortitude of Gibraltar, the French-Canadian adult-contemporary queen showed in her pair of New York performances that she can also dance like the dickens, tell a joke - and even take a joke. In fact, her zealous sold-out audiences spent much of their time joining a loose and celebratory Dion in gleeful accord".
CONCERT IN CHICAGO
On September 14, 1998 Celine Dion performed at the United Center in Chicago, USA with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". Celine performed again at the United Center the following day. Maureen Ryan from The Chicago Tribune, wrote: "Will her heart go on?. No problem. Judging by her September 14 show, Celine´s heart isn´t in much danger of stopping (well, maybe from running around on stage too much)". According to his review, it´s pretty unusual for headliners at the United Center - not counting the Bulls - to do their shows in the middle of the arena, but Celine made performing "in the round" look easy. For power ballads like "It´s all coming back to me now" and "All by myself", she stood in the middle of the heart-shaped stage, revolving on a little platform, with laserlike lights illuminating her slender frame. For more hoppin´ numbers, such as "Treat her like a lady", Celine jumped around and danced like crazy with her three backup singers. All in all, Celine made the night incredibly fun, chatting between songs, accepting lots of flowers from fans and even donning a white John Travolta suit for a "Saturday Night Fever" medley near the end of the show. Every time a young fan came up to the stage and offered flowers (this happened like a thousand times between songs), she stopped and thanked the kid and even signed albums and tour programs. In reference to her rendition of "My heart will go on" from "Titanic", in a word, awesome. After the dramatic lights and black-robed backup singers set the mood, Celine rose out of the center of the stage in a fabulous, floor-length red gown. A ship´s railing just like the one Rose and Jack made famous rose from the edge of the stage, and the crowd went nuts. "Hearing her sing the song in person was even better than hearing it on the album - even though the cheering crowd drowned out most of it". An interesting fact is that the first glimpse of the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour" came via Celine´s music video of "S´il suffisait d´aimer", which was recorded during this concert in Chicago. Also, the performance of "To love you more" with Japanese violinist Taro Hakase at the United Center, was later shown during the telethon "An Evening Of Stars", which consists of stories of successful African-American students who have graduated or benefited from one of the many historically black colleges and universities and who received support from the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The telethon featured comedy and musical performances from various artists in support of the UNCF´s and Lou Rawls´ efforts.
CONCERT IN NASHVILLE
On September 28, 1998 Celine Dion performed at the Nashville Arena (also known as the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville, USA with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". During the performance of the song "The reason" in the concert, Celine appeared wearing the ice hockey local team´s jersey, the Nashville Predators. According to the press, "less than a year after Titanic´s release, Celine played her first Nashville show at the Bridgestone Arena. Did she make her first Nashville appearance special? You bet she did. She closed the show with 'My heart will go on' - her biggest hit, one of the best-selling singles of all time and the world´s best-selling single of 1998 - from the bow of a boat that appeared on stage for the occasion". And according to another review, "perched atop a round platform that rose dramatically from the center of the stage, Celine emerged and serenaded a devoted crowd in Nashville. The Canadian chanteuse has, of course, been catapulted to fame in the wake of 'Titanic', the hottest movie the public has ever seen. And seen. For her encore she sang Titanic´s" poignant theme, 'My heart will go on', while grasping a makeshift ship´s prow, chestnut hair blowing in a fabricated wind".
CONCERT IN TAMPA
On September 30, 1998 Celine Dion performed at the Ice Palace in Tampa, USA with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour" in front of about 20,000 people. During the concert, Celine appeared wearing the ice hockey local team´s jersey, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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