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CONCERT IN MONTREAL
On September 8, 1999 Celine Dion performed at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Canada with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour", in front of more than 15,000 people. On the same day, Celine Dion and her manager and husband Rene Angelil, gave a press conference to present the new album titled "All The Way... A Decade Of Song" and to talk about Celine´s two-years break. The following day, Celine performed at the Molson Centre again.
CONCERT IN QUEBEC
On September 11, 1999 Celine Dion performed at the Quebec Coliseum (also known as Colisée de Québec) in Quebec City, Canada with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". According to Kathleen Lavoie from Le Soleil, on scene, the singer, as her practice, answered liberally the great declaration of love of the public. Quebec, "Finally!", seemed to say some in the same breath of the 15,800 fans who come to attend the return of Celine Dion to the Colisée de Québec. When Celine emerged from the center stage in the shape of heart, "Cheers!". They still seemed to launch when the twenty-four small singers of Charlesbourg performed with Celine "Let´s talk about love". The loads of love which were intended to her were honest, the nourished applause. Electricity, it, was palpable. Energetic, gracious, with something of serene in the glance, Celine distributed winks, shakings of head and small gestures of greeting. Her concert, strongly composed of parts of her last two French-speaking albums "S´il Suffisait D´aimer" and "D´eux", was mixed with some English songs from the album "Let´s Talk About Love"; a medley of her first hits and "Immortality" of the Bee Gees. Obviously in great form, the singer allowed a long talk with the audience. She benefitted from it to thank her fans for the support that they expressed to her about the the disease of Rene, Celine´s manager and husband. "If I am here this evening, it´s because everything is well. Rene, you know, I am proud of him. The last months were difficult, but he knew how to show much courage and determination", said Celine. "If I am here, it was also thanks to you, your letters and wishes, which were better than all the drugs". Earlier, before the concert has started, the onlookers were already excited in the audience. It is that nobody had been easily deceived. The lights were not yet out and several had recognized the famous black box which, pushed by technicians, transports the highly recognized singer until she was under the stage scene. Celine had been uncovered. The applause of the already devoted crowd, was going only to be keep silent later, much later. Footage from this concert at the Quebec Coliseum was shown during the broadcast of a series of five reports about Celine, on Radio-Canada channel in Quebec, Canada (during the TV show "Le Telejournal Quebec"), from March 13, 2006 to March 17, 2006.
CONCERT IN OTTAWA
On September 13, 1999 Celine Dion performed at the Corel Centre in Ottawa, Canada with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". Celine performed again at the Corel Centre, the following day. According to the music critic Joshua Ostroff from the Ottawa Sun, like her signature song "My heart will go on", Celine has herself been going on, engaging in the longest good-bye since "Seinfeld". Yet each time she repeats her desire to (semi)retire and have babies with her aging husband, it remains water-cooler conversation. Why? Because, as the crowd at the first of two sold-out Corel Centre performances will tell you, Quebec´s pride and joy (even though she switched to English) is easily the most popular performer in the world. In any language. Period. Entering the arena through a hole in her heart-shaped stage, the kimono-bedecked Celine launched into a children´s choir-enhanced rendition of "Let´s talk about love", followed by a relatively rockin´ French number and the saccharine ballad "Because you loved me". But what is undeniable in Celine´s live show is her powerful pipes, an unending well of vocal prowess emanating from her little Francophone frame, and her unmatchable way with fans. Celine´s every move, her every utterance elicited Backstreet Boys-level screams and by discussing her husband´s recent bout with skin cancer and saying "Thank you so very much for your prayers and your positive energy", she made the fans feel like they were an important part of her life, even though she "says" she´s leaving them for a few years. It is a drastic change from the audience contempt exhibited by the fame-loathing stars of a few years past. Celine addressed the bilingual crowd in both official languages, and though favouring her better-known Anglo songs, numbers like "S´il suffisait d´aimer" garnered huge responses, as did older songs like the rave-up "Love can move mountains". Celine has also made duets with famous singers her M.O., but since she obviously can´t take them on tour, she was forced to be creative. Her Barbra Streisand duet "Tell him" was sung to DAT with an image of Streisand on the big screen, as was a song with the Bee Gees, while her R. Kelly duet "I´m your angel" was performed with a live sound-alike. Her finest moment came in the middle of the show, during a medley of her favourite songs. Performed to a tastefully minimalist musical backdrop, Celine reigned her voice in on songs like "Tears in heaven" and sounded all the more beautiful for it. And, of course, she ended with that damn "Titanic" song, "My heart will go on". So while her performances of songs like "It´s all coming back to me now" and "My heart will go on" - during which she donned a pretty pink dress and stood on a facsimile ship railing with a wind machine tussling her long hair - were terribly over-the-top, they connected with the 18,000 people in attendance in an equally over-the-top fashion. And there´s no way to criticize that. Her opening act Corey Hart, who received the plum spot presumably for writing two of the songs on Celine´s last album, also established a strong rapport with the audience.
CONCERT IN TORONTO
On September 17, 1999 Celine Dion performed at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada in front of 18,000 people with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". The following day, Celine performed at the Air Canada Centre again. These concerts were originally scheduled for April 29 and 30, 1999, but due to the cancer of Celine´s manager and husband Rene Angelil, the concerts were rescheduled to September 17 and 18, 1999. According to reporter Jane Stevenson from the Toronto Sun, Quebec pop diva Celine Dion´s farewell-for-the-time-being tour finally arrived at the Air Canada Centre last night (September 17, 1999) after being postponed in April. And it didn´t take the 31-year-old powerhouse singer very long to mention the reason for the postponement - that her husband-manager Rene Angelil had been diagnosed with cancer. "I´m a little bit nervous tonight", admitted Celine after a slightly tentative vocal start on her first three songs - "Let´s talk about love", "Declaration of love" and "Because you loved me". "But you know if I´m here, everything is okay". Celine´s forthright approach immediately prompted a huge round of applause from the sold-out crowd of 18,000 and brought the choked-up singer close to tears. "The last few months, it´s been a rough, tough road, a rocky road for Rene and I, especially for him", she continued. "He´s showed so much courage, and I´m so proud of him". The good news is that 57-year-old Angelil underwent surgery and chemotherapy and was able to make an appearance with his wife at a news conference in Montreal, Canada just a week ago to report he´s fully recovered. During the concert, Celine had a spotlight shone on Angelil in his seat way up in the nosebleed section of the Air Canada Centre. "Geez, you should have told me", she joked. "I have better tickets than that". Getting serious again, Celine told the audience: "I wanted to personally say to all of you thank you so much for for your prayers and cards and positive energy - this is the strongest medicine there is". In Montreal, Canada a week ago, the couple reiterated their plans to take at least a two-year - possibly three-year - break from the music business to try and start a family. During the concert, Celine´s supporters seemingly couldn´t get enough as she performed "in the round" on a red-lit, heart-shaped stage. The elaborate and slickly produced show began simply with Celine rising alone out of the stage in a long, flowing white-robed dress. But as the first song of the night, "Let´s talk about love", progressed, her nine-person band eventually rose up alongside her, while a children´s choir later took the stage for the song´s big ending. Opening for Celine - the first of two sold-out shows at the Air Canada Centre - was fellow Quebecer and former ´80s heartthrob, Corey Hart. Hart, a sweaty, tanned, and lithe presence who bounded around Celine´s enormous stage, released a new album called "Jade" last fall. And according to the pop music critic Betsy Powell from the Toronto Star, Celine has pledged repeatedly that her current world tour will be followed by an extended hiatus so she can rest and start a family with her manager and husband Rene Angelil. So with two sold-out Air Canada Centre performances last night (September 17, 1999) and tonight, she is presumably saying her last adieu to Toronto. Early on in September 17 night´s performance, the Quebec superstar thanked the crowd for all of the prayers, cards and "positive energy" the couple has received during the difficult past year. "I´m here, you know, ´cause everything´s okay",' she said, blinking back tears as the crowd of 16,000 stood and cheered. She commended Angelil for his courage, saying "he´s here tonight", asking him to stand up for the spotlight way up in the stands. But then it was down to business. She pounded her chest. She winked. She vamped. She pranced and swung her waist-length hair extensions back and forth. She also gave the crowd every reason to marvel at her vocal power and range. During one interlude, she didn´t sing at all but danced like John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever". Her rendition of "Stayin´ alive" sounded every bit Bee Gee. And then, in one of the weirder moments, Celine addressed the Brothers Gibb who appeared on a giant video screen to "accompany" the singer on their hit, "Immortality". Popping up from the centre of her heart-shaped stage wearing a satin, floor-length kimono, Celine kicked things off with the up tempo "Let´s talk about love", surrounded by a children´s choir and backed by a five-piece band and four singers. Slipping off her robe to reveal a sleeveless, body-hugging pantsuit, Celine followed with some of her best known ballads, including "Because you loved me", "The reason", and "Tell him". Less predictably, and quite effectively, Celine opted to sit at centre stage and sing some of her own personal favourites while reining in the bombast. Not that the crowd minded when she turned it up. With her mix of glamour, homespun charm and slight awkwardness, there´s no denying Celine connects with her fans. Dressed in a pale pink ballgown and standing behind a mock ship railing, she closed the show with it.
CONCERT IN TORONTO
On September 18, 1999 Celine Dion performed again at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada with the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour" (after a sold-out show on the day before). The concerts were originally scheduled for April 29 and 30, 1999, after rescheduled to September 17 and 18, 1999. According to some fans who attended the show, it was an amazing concert. There were two good moments during the show. The first one was when Celine talked about her husband Rene´s illness. Everyone there in the audience, including Celine, started to cry, both of them were there (Celine and Rene) and she told to the audience, exactly on these words: "If I am here, it´s because everything is ok". Celine played all her best English hits such as "Immortality", "Treat her like a lady", "Let´s talk about love", "The reason", "Love can move mountains", "Because you loved me", "Declaration of love", "Tell him" and "The power of love". She even performed two hits in French: "S´il suffisait d´aimer" and "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". Also, songs as Roberta Flack´s "The first time I ever saw your face", and Eric Clapton´s "Tears in heaven". Celine ended the concert singing "My heart will go on".
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