-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCERT IN MONTREAL
On August 25, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada with the "Taking Chances World Tour". This was the last of six consecutive concerts at the Bell Centre with this tour since August 15, 2008. Actually Celine gave another two shows at the Bell Centre with this tour on this year (on August 31 and September 1, 2008), and another three concerts in 2009. Celine sold out all her Montreal shows in only a few minutes. After further shows being added, bringing the total to 11, Montreal´s audience (with 20,995 people in attendance at each show) became the largest on the tour with 227,616 spectators for a single city. On this show, Celine performed the Francophone set list of the tour, same than the concert on August 15, 2008. Celine´s voice was really in shape and there was a great moment during the song "S´il suffisait d´aimer". Someone give flowers to Celine, she took it and the girl took Celine´s hand. The girl was crying and try to kiss Celine. She stoped the song and told to the audience how she feels for them. The Montreal concerts grossed just over $30 million, making it one of the biggest concert events held at any arena in the world. Since 1996, Celine performed in Bell Centre 31 times.
JERRY LEWIS MDA TELETHON
On August 31, 2008 Celine Dion took part at the 43rd Annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, an annual telethon in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The event, hosted by Jerry Lewis, took place at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, USA starting at 9:00 p.m. (ET) and it was simultaneously broadcasted on television stations throughout Canada and the USA. Actually, Celine´s appearance was via satellite from a concert of the "Taking Chances Tour". She performed the song "My love". Celine also appeared via satellite to talk with Jerry Lewis.
CONCERT IN LEDYARD
On September 6, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the MGM Grand Foxwoods hotel-casino in Ledyard, USA with the "Taking Chances World Tour" and in front of 4000 people. It was a small concert and not only for the venue capacity, although it was a sold out show, it wasn´t use the central-stage specially designed for this tour, and the concert only lasted 90 minutes. Gordie Brown made the opening act. Then, Celine came and sang "I drove all night", "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", a remix of "I´m alive", "Alone", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", "My love", "The prayer" (with a pre-recorded video of Andrea Bocelli, who appeared on a big screen), "We will rock you", "The show must go on", It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high" and "My heart will go on". A notable thing was that on the background vocals, only was Élise Duguay.
CONCERT IN NEW YORK
On September 15, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Madison Square Garden in New York, USA with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of about 20,000 people. This concert was Celine´s first New York show in 10 years. The press published that Celine worked the large, square stage energetically, accenting her movements with Latin dance steps. Occasionally she would drop to her knees, then fall onto her back, a sort of limboesque maneuver. For the first part of the show, though, she trumped her worst instincts with a persistent attack of brutal optimism, one unforgiving hit after another. She performed "I drove all night", "The power of love", "It´s all coming back to me now". Later, she began "My love" unaccompanied, and her notes were astonishingly clean and clear. That flatness extended to other songs, especially "The Prayer" a duet with a pre-recorded video of Andrea Bocelli, and "All by myself" and "Alone", both desperate songs sandpapered of their angst. Later, covers of Queen and James Brown strained the boundaries of good sense. Earlier, she brought Charice Pempengco, a young singer from the Philippines with an impressive voice, onstage and they performed in duet “Because you loved me”, though Celine mostly stayed out of the way as Ms. Pempengco explored the song´s heretofore unheard rougher edges, with ample gesticulations and melisma. As Ms. Pempengco brought the crowd to its feet, Celine struck poses behind her, awestruck wonder, heartfelt empathy, ambient triumph. Celine performed at the Madison Square Garden again on September 16, 2008 but she didn´t sang with Charice Pempengco.
CONCERT IN UNIONDALE
In September 18, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, USA with the “Taking Chances Tour” in front of about 16,000 people. Celine also performed in Uniondale few days ago, on September 3, 2008. But on this second concert at the Nassau Coliseum, Celine used a new dress never used on this tour before. The new pink-colored creation stands by brilliantly refined glitter applications easily recalls the old fuchsia-colored dress. This bright and fresh color combination fits fabulously with her complexion. The only unfortunate part of the show was the opening act. Gordie Brown, an entertainer hailing from Las Vegas, was a disappointment to a much-hyped-up crowd. He was cheesy, his jokes were overdone and his level of performance was so far below that of Celine that it completely killed the enthusiasm of the audience. Any excitement that was lost in the opening act however was gained back and then exceeded upon Celine´s grand entrance. Once she took the stage, the Coliseum exploded with applause and screaming from an audience that ranged between nine to 90-year-olds. The show opened with her popular song "I drove all night" and the energy was infectious from that point on. Highlights of the show were without a doubt the old favorites. Celine´s performance of "Because you loved me" brought most of the crowd to tears. It was incredibly moving because she has such passion in her voice and truly commits to the song. "It´s all coming back to me now" received the best response from the crowd, proving to be the favorite Celine ballad. The show was incredibly involved with at least six costume changes, several of which that included shoes that even the most graceful 20-something would topple over in. As a whole, the aesthetic of the show was flashy and youthful but also very creative. The back-up dancers were extremely talented and really worked the whole stage to their advantage, always complementing Celine without overpowering her. The grand finale of the show was a performance of "My heart will go on". A lighting technique was used to give the illusion of the stage being candle-lit. Celine sang the song dramatically dressed in black from head to toe. A song that is typically overplayed on radio and television was given new life when heard live.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
