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THE WOMAN IN ME CBS SPECIAL
On January 12, 2008 Celine Dion taped a new TV Special to be broadcasted on February 15, 2008 on CBS channel. This concert entitled "The Womam In Me", took place at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles, USA. The show reminds of the British format "An Audience With Celine Dion" from December, 2007. Celine performed new songs and classics. Between that she is getting questions about her life and her career from celebrities from the audience like Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt or David Foster. During the show Celine performed "Taking chances", "River deep, mountain high", "The power of love", "The prayer" in duet with Josh Groban, a remix version of "Eyes on me" in duet with Will I Am (from Black Eyes Peace) and a medley with the songs "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me" and "To love you more". Then, she also performed the Beattles famous song "Something" with Joe Walsh on guitar. Celine ended the show with the songs "Alone" and "That´s just the woman in me". Celine and her husband Rene Angelil also were photographed after the show.
LES ENFOIRÉS CONCERT
On January 27, 2008 Celine Dion took part on the famous "Enfoirés Concert", this one called "Les Secrets Des Enfoirés". The concert took place at the Zénith Theatre in Starsbourg, France. Celine performed the song "Argent trop cher" in duet with Jenifer, Christophe Maé and Pascal Obispo and tha famous song "I wanna know what love is" i duet with Tina Arena, David Hallyday and Lââm. Celine also took part to play Pompom Girl at the time of a match of foot Hommes/Femmes and she participated in a small sketch of Pierre Pallade. Alizée, Bénabar, Amel Bent, Patrick Bruel, Francis Cabrel, Julien Clerc, Gérard Darmon, Gérald De Palmas, Frédéric Diefenthal, Elsa, Patrick Fiori, Garou, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Michael Jones, Gérard Jugnot, Claire Keim, Michèle Laroque, Marc Lavoine, Nolwenn Leroy and others artists also performed at the concert. The show was released on CD and on DVD on February 29, 2008 with the name "Les Secrets Des Enfoirés".
CONCERT IN JOHANNESBURG
On February 14, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg, South Africa in front of more than 17,000 people. This was the first concert of the "Taking Chances Tour" and the very first in South Africa on Celine´s career. It also was a charity benefit show. The show started with a video introduction with the song "I drove all night", then Celine came out to the scene and performed "I got the music in me", "The power of love", "Can´t fight the feeling", "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me", To love you more", "Eyes on me", "All by myself", "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "I´m your angel" in duet with one of the background vocals: Barnev Valsaint, "Alone" and "Think twice". Celine also performed a Queen medley with the songs "We will rock you" and "The show must go on". The band performed an interlude with the songs "Respect", "Lady Marmalade" and others, and then appeared Celine with a new outfit to perform "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "That´s just the woman in me", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore" and "I´m alive". The famous Soweto Gospel Choir joined Celine on "Love can move mountains", and then Celine sang "River deep, mountain high", "My heart will go on" and "Taking chances". Footages from this concert were broadcasted on TVA channel and South Africa TV channels on February 2008.
CONCERT IN PRETORIA
On February 16, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Loftus Versfeld Stadiumand in Pretoria, South Africa with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 50,000 people. This second concert of the tour included about five songs not performed at the charity banquet at the Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg on February 14, 2008. On the first part of the concert (black and silver outfit) Celine performed "I got the music in me", "The power of love" and "Taking chances". On the second part (white blouse and red slacks) Claude Lemay (the musical director and keyboards player of the tour) performed an instrumental song named "New Mego´s flamenco" and then Celine appeared and she sang "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me", To love you more", "Eyes on me" and "All by myself". During the third part of the concert (glittering outfit) Celine performed a remix version of "I´m alive", "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "I´m your angel" in duet with one of the background vocals Barnev Valsaint, "Alone", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore" and "Think twice". For the forth part (black outfit) Celine performed a Queen medley with the songs "We will rock you" and "The show must go on". On the fifth part of the concert (short white outfit with black hat) the band performed a soul medley with the songs "Soul man", "Lady Marmalade" and "Respect", and then Celine sang "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 (long yellow outfit) Celine performed "My heart will go on". Celine continued performing at the Loftus Versfeld Stadiumand in Pretoria on February 17, 2008.
CONCERT IN DURBAN
On February 20, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the ABSA Stadium in Durban, South Africa with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 50,000 people. Jodi Williams made the opening act. After a video introduction, Celine performed "I drove all night", "I got the music in me" and "The power of love". "It´s been an amazing trip", Celine said during the concert. "Not only for me but my whole family. We have met Mandela and yesterday we went on a safari. There are so many memories, thank you", she said to the audience, "for being a big part of this wonderful experience. It has been such a privilege. I wanted to do things right by starting my world tour with you". Then, she sang "Taking chances". She also performed "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me", "To love you more", "Eyes on me" and "All by myself". Then, a dance break and a costume change came and Celine sang a remix of "I´m alive", "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "I´m your angel" in duet with backing vocal Barnev Valsaint, "Can´t fight the feelin'", "Alone", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore" and "Think twice". Celine literally covered the whole span of genres during her one-and-a-half hour concert complete with five costume changes in total. She seduced the audience with her songs. But the crunch really came when she paid tribute to Queen with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on". After that, Celine sang "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "That´s just the woman in me", "Love can move mountains" and "River deep, mountain high". Celine ended the concert singing "My heart will go on", wearing a long yellow outfit.
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".
CONCERT IN OSAKA
On March 11, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan in front of 30,000 people with the "Taking Chances World Tour". On this concert, Celine performed "I drove all night", "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" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "Fade away", I´m your angel" (in duet with backing vocal: Barnev Valsaint), "Alone", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", "We will rock you", "The show must go on", "It´s a man´s world", "That´s just the woman In me", "Love can move mountains", "River deep mountain high" and " My heart will go on". On this night, Japanese singer Yuna Ito also joined Celine on stage and they performed in duet "A world to believe in". A snippet of "Watashi wa totemo shiawase ne" was also performed. The next day, Celine performed in Osaka again.
CONCERT IN OSAKA
On March 12, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan in front of 30,000 people with the "Taking Chances World Tour". The set list was the same than the day before. But on this concert, Celine celebrated her upcoming birthday. Japanese singer, Yuna Ito presents Celine with a special birthday cake. The song "Happy birthday", also was performed.
CONCERT IN MACAU
On March 15, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Venetian Arena in Macau, China with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of 15,000 people. The tickets available for the concert sold out in the first two days. Along with five outfit changes, Celine´s powerful voice carried through to each listener, capturing the hearts and minds of all. To thunderous applause, Celine went through different genres of music, including rock n´ roll and flamenco, singing 23 songs in a perfomance lasting an hour and a half. She 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", "I´m alive" (remix version), "Shadow of love", "I´m your angel" (in duet with one of the background vocals: Barnev Valsaint), "Alone", the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "It´s a man´s world", "That´s just the woman In me", "Love can move mountains" and "River deep mountain high". She even belted out the French song "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", which she told audience members is the first French song she has ever performed on tour. Her rendition of the ever-popular "My heart will go on", had the entire audience singing along. At the beggining, during the first lines of the opener song, Celine almost fall. For this show, it wasn´t used central-stage specially designed for this tour.
CONCERT IN SEOUL
On March 18, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Olympic Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of 15,000 people. Celine rocked the stage of the Olympic Gymnasium for the first time since 1997. The eager audience burst into applause and cheers as she opened the night with a powerful performance of "I drove all night". Familiars, such as "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me" and "The power of love'' followed, as well as the song "Taking chances". While taking her first breather from the set, Celine stated, "I´m so happy to be here, it´s been over 10 years since we were here last time. It´s been too long for this tour, there were so many countries we wanted to go to. I wanted to do things right, and I wanted to make sure that I came to Seoul to perform for you". There were a total of four sets, with each one introduced by agile and colorful dancers wearing outfits matching each theme. Celine showed off an amazing repertoire of 24 rock, pop and soul songs, singing with powerful yet controlled tones, and hitting the high notes with. All eyes were on Celine, as she single handedly captivated the audience for two hours with her demanding presence and energetic movements. In between songs, Celine impressed the crowd with her Korean, bringing cheers for every "gamsa-hamnida" (thank you) and an extra loud one for "gibun-joayo" (I feel good). Never failing to amaze, Celine performed two encores in response to the overwhelming applause with "River deep, mountain high" and "My heart will go on" her voice resonating through the sea of people as she emerged wearing a flowing yellow gown for her finale. As the show wound down, Celine remarked "You are a wonderful audience" to the throng of fans after minutes of a standing ovation. She then hushed the crowd after thanking the audience, and her supporting crew, by sharing an emotional story of one of her dancers. Celine introduced Addie Yungmee George, an accomplished dancer and South Korean adoptee who left Korea when she was only two. After a gracious thank you to the crowd and Celine, the spotlight moved back to the superstar as she gave a final deep bow and waved goodbye for the night. The set list that night included the song "A new day has come" (the radio remix version) wich wasn´t performed on this tour before. Anyway, it was the only time that the song was performed on this tour. She also performed for the very first time live the song "My love". The fans in Seoul were the first to hear live the heartbreaking love song. Celine continued performing at the Olympic Gymnasium in Seoul on March 19, 2008. For these two show, it wasn´t used the center stage.
CONCERT IN BRISBANE
On March 31, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 13,000 people. The events started at 8:00 hs. p.m with Anthony Callea, who did the opening act. He finished at 8:32 hs. p.m. and at 9:00 hs. p.m sharp the lights dimmed and the "I drove all night" intro video kicked in. Celine burst out on the stage and started bringing the house down. Most notable was when she had a private moment with the audience about her illness and the concert postponements. She said it was really hard for her on the road, much harder than doing a show in Las Vegas, USA. She mentioned that unfortunately some things in life can´t be planned and she fell sick. Celine thanked the audience for the patience, and for giving a chance to her to perform again in Brisbane after 10 years. She also added that she felt really bad that concerts had to be postponed and cancelled. Celine also said it was really hard for her to sit behind her window in her hotel, wanting to go out to enjoy herself with her family but couldn´t because of her illness. Celine mentioned that her husband, son, and mother were also at the concert. She also said that this was the first show she is performing as a 40 year old woman, and she cracked some jokes about being "old" and hard of hearing. The members of the audience sang "Happy birthday" to Celine and she was visibly moved and was on the verge of tears. She said they were a great audience and could join her on the tour in case she falls sick again and can´t sing. The rest of the concert pretty much proceeded like clockwork and Celine wowed the audience song after song. Celine got a standing ovation at the end and the concert ended on a high note at 10:50 hs. p.m. Celine performed in totally 23 songs and the set list included "I drove all night", "The power of love", "Because you love me", "To love you more", "Eyes on me", "All by myself", "I´m alive" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "Can´t fight the feelin", "I´m your angel" (in duet with Barnev Valsaint), "Alone", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", "Think twice", "My love", the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "It´s a man´s world", "That´s just the woman In me", "Love can move mountains", "River deep mountain high" and "My heart will go on". For this show, it wasn´t used center stage.
CONCERT IN MELBOURNE
On April 2, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 15,000 people. This was the second of five concerts in Australia with this tour.
CONCERT IN SYDNEY
On April 5, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 21,000 people. More than ten years the fans in Australia had to wait for Celine´s stage return. But they were now princely rewarded. Celine has presented a enthusiastic and fantastic completely sold-out show experience of absolute quality. Right at the beginning Celine´s power voice has drew all fans under her magical spell with the rocking "I drove all night", before the audience has luxuriated in sweet memories with Celine´s greatest-hits like "The power of love", "It´s all coming back to me now", "My heart will go on" and "Because you loved me". The enthusiastic fans had seen Celine in her element live on stage. Celine has not only touched her fans hearts and souls with up-tempo songs as "Shadow of love", but also with ballads like "Think twice". The legendary "All by myself" finally gets conviction only with Celine´s five-octave voice. When Celine is singing and modulate perfect vocal nuances the very big emotions are awakening and none remained unaffected by Celine´s naturally charming, and was dazzled by the magic of her voice. She also sang "Eyes on me", "Alone", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high" and many others. Celine continued performing at the Acer Arena in Sydney on April 6, 2008. For these two show, it wasn´t used the center stage.
CONCERT IN PERTH
8 April 2008 - Perth, Australia - Members Equity Stadium
CONCERT IN SHANGHAI
On April 11, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 50,000 people. Celine performed on the Chinese mainland for the first time, with a concert at the 50,000-seat Shanghai Stadium. Though the Beijing concert had been canceled, the Shanghai performance was confirmed to be a big success. A leather suit accompanied the slim diva during the 90-minute concert to protect her just-recovered voice in this early spring weather and due to the cold. Celine opened the show with "I drove all night", "The power of love", "Because you love me", which sounded familiar to the Chinese audience. She also selected a song: "My love". And the following French songs and rock songs made the concert-goers more excited. Finally, Celine performed two famous songs of English rock band Queen, "We will rock you", "The show must go on" and concluded the show with one of her best-known songs, "My heart will go on". For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage and there were no outfit changes, maybe due to cold weather. According to few fans, Celine looked tired and maybe exhausted. She looked totally bored, and she only gave 50% of herself at the concert.
CONCERT IN KUALA LUMPUR
On April 13, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with the "Taking Chances Tour". In her first concert in Malaysia, Celine gave a rousing performance at the Stadium Merdeka, pleasing the crowd with every hit song. This was the only South-East Asian venue on the tour list. The show started at 8:50 hs p.m., shortly after the arrival of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah, accompanied by deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. Perhaps a stickler for time, Celine, dressed in what looked more like fake leather sleeves (it´s actually a mini bolero), a glittery mini dress thigh-high black boots, performed one song after another without much pause in between. The singer took only a few short breaks, but even those times were filled with performances by her eight dancers and background singers. Celine, left the polite banter to a minimum too, though she greeted the King and Queen, and thanked the audience for giving her another chance to perform after her initial postponement (the concert was originally scheduled on April 8, 2008). Of course, she also did the quintessential apa khabar and terima kasih (with good diction too!) bit during the show. But what she didn´t say in words she made up for in her many exaggerated facial expressions, her criss-crossing arm movements, her playful winks and kisses and, of course, her great voice. As Celine is known for performing with elaborate stage set-ups and special effects, visual effects in the form of video clips played a big role in her KL show. In a way, the videos set the mood for every part of the show (the concert had five parts): Rock, Passion, Fashionista, Soul and a Queen Tribute. On stage with the singer at all times were no fewer than 10 musicians, including a violinist/acoustic guitarist extraordinaire, a pianist, a keyboardist, three other guitarist, a drummer and a female timpani-cymbal-chime-bongo player. Her only male background vocalist, Barnev Valsaint, played double duty during the duet "I´m your angel", singing the part of R. Kelly beautifully. Valsaint also did a medley of upbeat songs during the Soul part of the concert, paving the way for Celine´s "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world". Celine only coaxed the crowd to sing with her on a few songs, and even that was kept short. But far from it being a diva trait, the reason for that was simple enough, nobody in the crowd could sing like Celine. Not even the talented Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, who was seated at the VIP area with husband Datuk Khalid Mohd Jiwa. The eager crowd that turned up for the Celine concert. For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour and there were only two outfit changes. For the finale, Celine used the yellow large outfit and performed "My heart will go on".
CONCERT IN MANCHESTER
On May 2, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester, UK with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 22,000 people. Playing her first British dates in almost a decade, Celine filled Manchester´s largest indoor concert venue on that night. This was the first concert of the European leg of the tour and there were a lot of changes. With a flower bombing Celine was welcomed by her fans, as she has began her concert almost 40 minutes later. Celine presented in a 100 minute show, with 26 songs and fabulous new costumes. The show has began with music videos on large LCD screens. Opening with "I drove all night", she burst on to an elaborate in-the-round stage (specially designed for this tour) loaded with trap doors, moving walkways and revolving video screens. Rounded by 8 dancers and a small army of musicians, she struck a proud, statuesque, drag-queen pose. This kind of sense-blitzing excitement rarely lasts long, but Celine delivered two hours of mostly engaging, revved-up spectacle. This was partly due to her busy, bustling, hi-tech stage presentation, which allowed no room for irony or boredom to take hold. But her famously supple voice was a factor too, remaining strong and fluid as she rocketed through the octaves. Modelling a succession of diva-ish outfits, each more glamorously impractical than the last, Celine was undeniably camp in Manchester, but never kitsch. There was no hint of snickering, guiltily pleasurable irony when she belted out classics such as "Alone" and "The power of love". Both gave big-haired 1980s power ballads a good name. Even better was "All by myself", which Celine transformed into a towering Taj Mahal of self-pity. During "My love", another blustery weepie from her latest album, she even choked back tears. A handful of nondescript plodders tainted this show, including a graceless medley of Queen and James Brown covers. But, overall, there were more highlights than lulls. The inevitable encore of "My heart will go on" was performed atop a lofty podium surrounded by flickering candles. For that song Celine used an spectacular violet long outfit never used before on this tour. Celine also performed "Taking chances", "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me", "To love you more", "Eyes on me", "I´m alive" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "I´m your angel" (in duet with Barnev Valsaint), "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", "Think twice", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high". On May 3, 2008 Celine performed at the Manchester Evening News Arena one more time.
CONCERTS IN LONDON
On May 6, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the O2 Arena in London, UK with the "Taking Chances World Tour" in front of more than 20,000 people.The tickets for this concert were sold out in few minutes, so two new dates were added on the same day. On May 8, 2008 Celine performed at the O2 Arena again. During these concerts, Celine opens with "I drove all night", the yearning Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly composition that served Roy Orbison and Cyndi Lauper so well, and which was Celine´s last UK hit in 2003. She´s only revving up but, even if her 10-piece band, heavy on the cheesy synths, are never quite loud enough, Celine is soon at full throttle and making light work of power ballads "It´s all coming back to me now", from the Jim Steinman/Meat Loaf canon, and Heart´s "Alone". "It´s been way too long," she apologises to her British fans as if to make up for the fact that she chose to play a record-breaking Las Vegas residency for five years instead of touring the world. The drummer must have played "All by myself", Eric Carmen´s guilty pleasure Seventies song, hundreds of times but still manages to sound leaden. The conveyor belts on which she slides and glides become metaphors for the whole shebang, which also features an ill-advised soul medley and ends rather flatly with "Love can move mountains". Inevitably, the beached finale on the bank of the Thames is "My heart will go on".
CONCERT IN BIRMINGHAM
On May 10, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, UK with the "Taking Chances World Tour" in front of more than 12,000 people. This was the last concert of this tour that Celine gave in UK.
CONCERTS IN ANTWERP
On May 13, 2008 Celine Dion gave the first of three concerts in Antwerp, Belgium at the Sportpaleis Antwerp with the "Taking Chances World Tour". The next dates were on May 14 and May 16, 2008. During these concerts Celine performed the Francophone set list of the tour composed by "I drove all night", "J´irai où tu iras" in duet with Marc Langis, "The power of love", "Destin", "Taking chances", "S´il n´en restait qu´une", "Eyes on me", "Ziggy", "Dans un autre monde", "All by myself", "I´m alive", "Je sais pas", "My love", "Alone", the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high", "My heart will go on" and "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". With these three concerts, the gross sales were $7,619,814 with 45,352 tickets sold.
CONCERT IN PARIS
On May 19, 2008 Celine Dion gave the first of six consecutive concerts at the Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy in Paris, France with the "Taking Chances Tour" and in front of about 17,000 people. Celine has presented to her French enthusiastic fans an absolute great show of superlatives on the center stage specially designed for the tour. An absolutely spectacular mega show accompanied by a visual feast of color, fashion, dance and surprises. Among the surprises of the evening were a new intro video included with footage from previous concerts. Celine performed "I drove all night", "J´irai où tu iras" in duet with Marc Langis, "The power of love", "Destin", "Taking chances", "S´il n´en restait qu´une", "Eyes on me", "Ziggy", "Dans un autre monde", "All by myself", "I´m alive", "Je sais pas", "My love", "Alone", the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high", "My heart will go on" and "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". For the finale Celine wore a new and different outfit: a sexy black long dress. Celine performed again at the Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy on May 20, 21, 24, 25, and 27, 2008.
CONCERT IN DUBLIN
On May 30, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland with the "Taking Chances Tour". Celine held court before a sea of 64,000 fans at Croke Park as she belted out the melody of hits that have made her a household name. It was ten years since she last played in Ireland and her legions of admirers were making the most of it as they travelled the length and breadth of the country for the sellout concert. She was supported by the opera world´s answer to the boyband, Il Divo, who took to the stage to rapturous applause. It was a fond return for Celine as it was in Dublin that she won the Eurovision Song Contest 20 years ago, a move which helped propel her career into the showbiz stratosphere. Tickets for the gig sold out in record time, although concert promoters MCD released a limited number of extra tickets a few days ago. A major crowd and traffic management plan was in place around the stadium for this, the first of four concerts to be held there over the coming weeks. Around 150 gardai policed the concert with another 400 stewards on duty. For the finale Celine used the same outfit she used on Manchester concert on May 2, 2008. For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour.
CONCERT IN COPENHAGEN
On June 5, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark with the "Taking Chances Tour". Nordstrøm did the opening act. Then, Celine appered and she performed "I drove all night", "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" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "I´m your angel" (in duet with Barnev Valsaint), "Alone", "My love", "The prayer" (with a pre-recorded video of Andrea Bocelli), "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", The Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "Think twice", "It´s a man´s man´s man´s woeld", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high" and "My heart will go on". During the finale Celine was very moved by the many lights in the audience. She used during the last song the same black dress used during concerts in Paris on May 2008. For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour.
CONCERT IN STOCKHOLM
On June 7, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden with the "Taking Chances World Tour". The band Calaisa made the opening act. They were photographed with Celine before the show. Right after half past seven at Saturday night did the supporting act Calaisa walk up on the square stage in the middle of Globen. When Celine gets lowered down on stage in a video cube rises a roar of excitement in the audience sea. Wearing a pink dress she starts off with the song “I drove all night” as the orchestra arises from the stage floor. Second song is “The power of love” which is decorated by powerful light effects and a tone secure voice. Then the evenings most beautiful moment takes place. Celine performs the power ballad “It´s all coming back to me now” and follows this with “Because you loved me”. The sing-along roars between the rows of chairs. The night first clothing change takes place. Celine shows up in a silvery dress and a big white cape which flickers by the winds of the Carola-fan. The amazing “All by myself” builds up to end in a magical a capella -crecendo- the audience stands up and cheers again. Eight dancers show up and Celine changes clothes again. Then she fires a set of songs from the album “Taking Chances”. The famous duet “I´m your angel”, is being sung together with one of the backing vocalists. Next the American songwriter, Robert Wells shows up on stage. The long haired pianist has actually written the song “A song for you” together with Andreas Bagge for Celine. Celine takes the opportunity to praise Wells before they nail the song. " He is a fantastic artist", she says to the audience. "This song is special for me. I felt the vibrations from the piano when we recorded, it became our song", she continues. Then the delighted mix continues. The night´s first (an only) French song “Pour que tu m´aimes encore” is being performed. It is being followed by Queen´s “We will rock you” and the entire Globen swings on beat. The temperature rises with the bombastic soul hit “Love can move mountains” and Celine is now dressed in an all white, short dress. Then, she gets off stage. After a few minutes of deafening applauses and yelling she reappears once more. This time in a golden finery and fires off more soul classics. Celine gets off again but returns after a huge cheering. As extra number she performs “My heart will go on”. It is dead silent in Globen. Around 16,000 people stands up during the last song. Noticeably touched by the praises which follows goes Celine off the stage.
CONCERT IN BERLIN
On June 12, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Waldbühne in Berlin, Germany with the "Taking Chances World Tour". This was the first of six consecutive concerts in Germany with this tour. For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour. The show started at 08:30 p.m. and about 18,000 fans started to freak out when they saw the Intro video on the three huge monitors. Then, Celine apperaed with a big grinch smile on her face and started to sing "I drove all night". Then the song directly turned into "The power of love". After that song, Celine welcomed the fans and started to talk about the past where she had been to Germany and that she loved to record some German songs when she was 14 and could not even speak any English. So she started an accapella version of "Was bedeute ich dir?", the German version of the song "D´amour ou d´amité", and everybody in the audience started to scream out loud. Celine also greeted her Mom then who was sitting in the audience with Celine´s husband and then she went on with "Taking chances", "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you loved me" and a wodnerful violine version of "To love you more". The flamenco section started with some dancers while Celine changes her outfit. Celine sang "Eyes on me" and then one of the show highlights followed. It was "All by myself" that gained a big round of applause. The fans did not stop to cheer and applaude during the song because Celine did hold all the high notes for so long. Afterwards she performed a remix of "I´m alive" with funny dance scenes and two more songs from the album "Taking Chances". She also performed "I´m your angel" in duet with a backing vocal, and "The prayer" in a virtual duet with Andrea Bocelli, who appeared on a pre-recorded video on the huge screens. Then, Celine did the only french song for that night, "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". Celine introduced "My love" and made it a very special performance by starting the song very slowly and move on faster, she was really touched by the reaction of the audience that did not stop clapping for minutes, she had tears in her eyes and said "Dankeschön" for a hundred times. She did some conver songs; "We will rock you", "It´s a man´s world" and "The show must go on", which she was singing together with the audience. She ended the show with "Love can move mountains" and she went off stage. Celine comes out one more time to sing "River deep, mountain high" and "My heart will go on".
CONCERT IN FRANKFURT
On June 14, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt, Germany with the "Taking Chances Tour". Celine performed "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", "I´m alive" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "I´m your angel" with one of the background vocals Barnev Valsaint, "Alone", "My love", "The prayer" with Andrea Bocelli, who appeared on a pre-recoded video, "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "I got the feelin´" (as part of the soul medley), "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "Love can move mountains", "River deep mountain high" and "My heart will go on". Celine also remembered the beginning of her career. In the mid-80s she has recorded a German version of her biggest French hit until then "D´amour ou d´amitié" (entitled "Was bedeute ich dir" in German). A cappella Celine has improvised the German version and she sang "...Liebe und Freundschaft, ja wie unterscheidet man sie, find, ich die Antwort darauf oder find ich sie nie...". After "The power of love" Celine spoke about the song, that it´s a song travels from generation to generation and she thanked the songwriters of it: Gunter Mende and Mary Susan Applegate, who have been in the audience. When Celine started to sing "River deep, mountain high" hundreds of people ran to the front of the stage to party with her. The security wasn´t able to stop them and it seemed that Celine really liked it that the audience was really into it. For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour.
CONCERT IN MÜNCHEN
On June 22, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Olympic Stadium in München, Germany with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of about 25,000 people. The audience was amazing, they were screaming, some didn´t seat for just a minute while Celine was performing. The set list was the same than the concert in Frankfurt on June 14, 2008. For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour.
CONCERT IN KRAKÓW
On June 28, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Błonia Park in Kraków, Poland with the "Taking Chances Tour". Originally there supposed to be 8 tribunes and organisers expected 60.000 people, but only 4 tribunes were build. The day before the concert, organisers said that they are expecting 30,000 people but maybe half of this made it to the show. So it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour. Natalia Lesz did the opening act. Celine performed "I drove all night", "The power of love", "Taking chances", "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you love me", "To love you more", "Eyes on me", "All by myself", "I´m alive" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "I´m your angel" in duet with Barnev Valsaint, "Alone", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", "My love", "The prayer" in duet with Andrea Bocelli (who appeared on a pre-recorded video), the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "It´s a man´s world", "Love can move mountains", "River deep mountain high" and "My heart will go on". During the speech before the song "Taking Chances", there was no word about Celine´s mother and son. She was only talking about warm welcome in Poland and she was really touched. Celine was totally into the show, enjoying every second of it. She had standing ovation after "All by myself", everyone was dancing and clapping during "I´m Alive". Just before "My love" she started to play with the crowd singing "whoa" and other shoutings and the crowd was repeating it all. And then she sang something very long, impossible to repeat and everyone was laughing and clapping. After that she laid on stage and said she is staying there. She also sang with the corwd "We are family" as she said they could do the tour with her. So after all this fun it was hard to change the mood to sing "My love". So she didn´t cry. But the funny thing is when she started to introduce the song, the crowd was shouting "My love" and she was impressed they knew what it´s going to be next and she smiled. Everyone was standing during "We will rock you" and "The show must go on". And people were dancing during "Love can move mountains" and "River deep, mountain high", and "My heart will go on" was sang by the whole standing crowd. At the end of that last song, Celine said "Dzięki" which means "Thanks" and it was pretty funny and cool. Just right before the concert, Celine received a platinum record for selling 10 copies of "Taking Chances" (10 copies is platinum in Poland).
CONCERT IN VIENNA
On July 1, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria with the "Taking Chances World Tour".
CONCERT IN MILAN
On July 3, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan, Italy with the "Taking Chances World Tour".
CONCERT IN ARRAS
On July 7, 2008 Celine Dion performed in Arras, France at the Main Square of the city with the "Taking Chances World Tour". For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour. Celine performed the Francophone set list of the tour during on a very rainy night. Vox Angeli and Michaël Gregorio made the opening acts.
CONCERT IN GENEVA
On July 9, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Stade de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of about 24,000 people. Michael Gregorio did the opening act. Celine appeared on stage in her short mauve dress. She first sang "I drove all night". After that song Celine said hello to Geneva and told the audience that it had been too long since her last concert there 10 years ago. She also said that 20 years ago she won the Eurosong contest for Switzerland and that she was very proud that the audience trusted her at that time. She also said how much she enjoyed touring the world with her family. Then she sang "Destin" and "Taking chances". Then Celine went to her changing room and Mego played his flamenco. At the end of the flamenco, Celine appeared with her white cloak, her high black leather boots and her shinny white-silver-and-black dress, and "Eyes on me" was on. The wind in her cloak, the dancers, the end of the song with the dancer standing close to Celine, it was really sexy . When the dancer left after the song she made a kind of funny face. "Ziggy" was the next song, sang by Celine with a lot of emotion. The next one, "Dans un autre monde", was more energetic, Celine went constantly from one side of the scene to the other. And then it was time for "All by myself". Before singing the famous part of the song where she has to reach that special note, the audience could see that Celine was regrouping her energy and concentrating on reaching the note. The music stopped and she sang that part a capella. At the end of the song, she laid on the scene, then went again to her changin room. After a transition, Celine came back on stage with her black pants, black top and shining waitcoast, looked a bit like a seventies singer. "I´am alive" (a remix version) was the first song of this new "chapter" of the concert. It was followed but a moving "Je sais pas" and an extraordinary "My love". Celine told to the audience that this song from her new album was very special for her, moving her deeply each time she sang it. She began the song a capella. At the end of the song, the entire crowd was standing, clapping, shouting words of love to a deeply moved Celine. She introduced the next song by telling that amongst the many love songs that Jean-Jacques Goldman has written for her, the one that totally represents the essence of love is "S´il suffisait d´aimer". Again the crowd was hysterical at the end of this song. Then came "Alone", the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "Love can move mountains", "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "River deep mountain high", "My heart will go on" and "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". So "The power of love" was not performed. Celine and her band made a final good bye and they were gone. On the screen, you could read: "Merci, Love, Céline...". In total, she sang for one hour and forty minutes. For this show, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour, so it was used a simple one with the entire public sitting in from of it and Celine was performing with a huge screen behind her.
CONCERT IN MONTE CARLO
On July 11, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club and Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco with the "Taking Chances Tour". This was the first of two sold-out shows in the beautiful "Salle des Etoiles", at the Sporting Club with this tour. Unlike other concerts of this tour, Celine performed in a very intimate venue and even the tracklisting was shorter than ever.
CONCERT IN MONTE CARLO
On July 12, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club and Casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco with the "Taking Chances Tour". This was the final performance of two sold-out shows in the beautiful "Salle des Etoiles", at the Sporting Club. These concerts were a part of the "Monte-Carlo Sporting Summer Festival". Monaco was, in fact, a première for Celine, who has sold millions of records but has never given any concerts in the Principality. The concert started at 8.30 p.m. and the tickets cost was 500€ per person, the most expensive concert of the tour. It was a very personal performance for those who had managed to get tickets. Celine sang to a packed Sporting Club of about 850 people, that included her wonderful mother "Maman Dion", aged 81 from Quebec, her seven year old son, and her husband Rene Angelil. Celine and her band delivered an excellent performance with songs such as the theme to the Titanic movie "My heart will go on", then "I drove all night", "It´s a mans world", and "River deep mountain high". She later changed the beat and sang tributes to the band Queen with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", with the assembled audience rocking along with her to the music. For this concert, it wasn´t used the center stage specially designed for the tour. Celine performed in a very intimate venue, with a beautiful stage with different lights on the floor, rounded by people having dinner (eating and drinking). This concert was also the last of the European leg of the tour.
CONCERT IN BOSTON
On August 12, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, USA with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 20,000 people. This was the first concert of the North American leg of the tour. Although in the songs set list or costumes nothing has changed. Fans were enthusiastic about Celine´s absolutely fantastic show sensation. Gordie Brown did the opening act. The, Celine made her appearance at 9:00 hs. p.m. It was used the center stage specially designed for this tour, wich also was used on the rest of the concerts in North America. They have the cube in the center of the stage with LED´s on each side showing clips from the European leg of the tour and then ended with the word "Boston". Security was really chill with cameras. They even took down the "ropes" that kept people back from stage to the floor. Before the concert starting a message was placed on the screens to inform that the concert of that night would go to be recorded for future transmission and DVD. Celine definitely works the round very well, paying equal attention to each side of the stage. At the beginning, Celine was having sound problems. She couldn´t hear the ear monitors and she motioned to her sound guy twice to turn it up. "I drove all night", "The power of love", "Taking chances", "It´s all coming back to me now", "Because you love me", "To love you more", "Eyes on me", "All by myself", "I´m alive" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "Alone", "My love", "The prayer" in duet with Andrea Bocelli (who appeared on a pre-recorded video), "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "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". On August 13, 2008 Celine performed at the TD Banknorth Garden again. On April 29, 2010 was released "Taking Chances World Tour: The Concert", a live album/home video wich contains this concert on DVD.
CONCERT IN MONTREAL
On August 15, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 15,000 people. This was the first of a six consecutive concerts in Montreal with this tour. This first show has been the longest on this tour for the number of songs performed. Véronic DiCaire did the opening act. Celine performed "I drove all night", "J´irai où tu iras" in duet with Marc Langis, "The power of love", "Destin", "Taking chances", "S´il n´en restait qu´une", "Eyes on me", "Ziggy", "L´amour existe encore", "Dans un autre monde", "All by myself", "I´m alive" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "Je sais pas", "Alone", "My love", "S´il suffisait d´aimer", "The prayer" in duet with Andrea Bocelli (who appeared on a pre-recorded video), the Queen medley with "We will rock you" and "The show must go on", "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "Love can move mountains", "River deep, mountain high", "My heart will go on" and "Pour que tu m´aimes encore". Celine had 5 costume changes, she used the sparkly pink, skintight minidress, silvery sparkly long tank top type shirt with some black pants and boots, sparkly white almost a "go-go" style dress with a giant flower necklace, shiny gold cocktail dress and the long black dress. Celine continued performing at the Bell Centre on August 16, 19, 20, 23 and 25, 2008. Then, after two concerts in Toronto, Celine returned to the Bell Centre on August 31 and September 1, 2008.
CONCERT IN QUEBEC
On August 22, 2008 Quebec was celebrating its 400th anniversary on the famous Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Canada. This glamorous event was crowned with the unique concert event "Céline Sur Les Plaines". Celine performed live for the first time in her career in front of about 200,000 people. She rocked the cradle of French Quebec, shaking the Plains of Abraham with resounding music and illuminating the night sky with a brilliant light show. Celine was visibly moved and happy to be back in the provincial capital among her Quebec "family" after a nine-year absence. "Happy Birthday, Quebec! Are you ready?" she shouted before swinging into the first song of the evening to get the concert marking Quebec City´s 400th birthday off to a rocking start. From the outset, Celine noted that the French-speaking Quebecois nation was born "here, where we are, 400 years ago". She said although the show was free, she wanted to make it unforgettable. She kicked off the show 20 minutes late with one of her French-language hits, but didn´t waste any time once she hit the stage, marching around and pumping the air with her fist as she sang. Celine did a total of 30 songs, all in French, that ranged from solos to duets to trios with her guests and spanned rock, pop, blues, several "power" ballads and lots of traditional Quebec songs. The free show was part of year-long birthday celebrations being held to mark the 400th anniversary of the provincial capital. The crowd for the show was estimated at around 250,000 and nothing was left to chance for people to get a good look. Seven giant screens were placed around the site and six others were erected on Quebec City´s south shore near Levis. The show started with an Intro-video with footages from the "Taking Chances Tour". Then, Celine performed "Dans un autre monde", "Destin", "On ne change pas", "Sous le vent" in duet with Garou. After that, Garou performed "Seul" and Marc Dupre performed "Si pour te plaire". Celine and Dupre performed in duet "Tout près du bonheur". Nanette Workman performed "Show" and then she started to sing the famous "Lady marmelade" with Celine, and after that they performed together "J´irai où tu iras". Celine also performed "Tue-moi" in duet with Dan Bigras and he performed in solo "O Fortuna". The song "Les 3 p´tits cochons" was performed by Dan Bigras and Mes Aïeux and "Ton père est un croche" was performed by Mes Aïeux in solo as "Le déni de l´évidence". Celine performed "Dégénération" in duet with Mes Aïeux. Then, Celine performed "La bastringue", a medley of songs, with her family (brothers and sisters). "La ballade de Jean Batailleur" was performed by Zachary Richard and in duet with Celine they performed "Promesse cassée" and "L´arbre est dans les feuilles". In duet with Eric Lapointe, Celine performed "L´amour existe encore", and Eric Lapointe performed in solo "Toucher" and "Mon ange". "Chasse-galerie" was performed by Garou, Eric Lapointe and Claude Dubois. Celine performed "Si dieux existe" in duet with Claude Dubois and he performed in solo "Febbe de reve". Celine also performed "Et s´il n´en restait qu´une", "S´il suffisait d´aimer", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore" and "Une chance qu´on s´a" in duet with Jean-Pierre Ferland. The show ended with a very fabolous finale with Celine singing with Jean-Pierre Ferland the song "Une peu plus haut", then Celine ended the show singing only with Ginette Reno the same song. This concert was released on DVD on November 11, 2008 with the name "Céline Sur Les Plaines".
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.
CONCERT IN TORONTO
27 August 2008 - Toronto, Canada - Air Canada Centre
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 NEWARK
10 September 2008 - Newark, USA - Prudential Center
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.
CONCERT IN ATLANTIC CITY
On September 20, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, USA with the "Taking Chances World Tour". Gordie Brown made the opening act. There were no changes respect to the past concerts in USA with this tour. The set list and outfits were the same. At the first part of the show, Celine wore again the pink-colored creation stands by brilliantly refined glitter applications. According to some fans, the audience of this concert was the worst ever. Almost no one stood up during the show and even in songs as "Love can move mountains", in wich Celine always asks people to stand up and dance with her. Even the security was trying to get them to stand but to no avail. As expected, many people left early to go where else but gamble. Anyway, the show was good and Celine was amazing. Before the concert, Celine met a sick fan.
CONCERT IN COLOMBUS
22 September 2008 - Columbus, USA - Value City Arena
CONCERT IN AUBURN HILLS
26 September 2008 - Auburn Hills, USA - The Palace of Auburn Hills
CONCERT IN SACRAMENTO
On October 14, 2008 Celine Dion performed at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, USA with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of more than 18,000 people. After a show at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on September 29, 2008, Celine took few day of vacations to relax and on October 14, 2008 she returned with her tour with a great show in Sacramento where she performed on a tricked-out center-stage (specially designed for this tour) that included rising platforms, trap doors that dipped beneath the surface, giant video screens, a lengthy conveyor belt and a catwalk that jutted into the audience. Outfitted in a glittery lavender mini dress, Celine opened the show with the soaring dance anthem "I drove all night". Flanked by a full band, back-up singers and dancers, she strutted circles around the stage, pausing, occasionally to let the conveyor belt do the work or to mug for the audience. As Celine worked her way through numbers such as "Shadow of love" and "All by myself", the effect was theatrical and showy. There were costume changes, somersaulting dancers and plenty of banter. Throughout, Celine made fun, silly faces, related little vignettes about her family, confessed the emotional difficulties of recording the Linda Perry-penned tearjerker "My love" and, pumping her fist into the air, commanded the well-mannered audience to stand up and dance already. When Celine busted out Queen´s "We will rock you", the moment should have been fresh and fun but instead was trite and jarring. There also was little spontaneity as Celine performed a duet of "The prayer" with a video screen version of Andrea Bocelli or when, predictably, she closed the evening with her blockbuster hit "My heart will go on".
CONCERT IN TACOMA
18 October 2008 - Tacoma, USA - Tacoma Dome
CONCERT IN VANCOUVER
20 October 2008 - Vancouver, Canada - General Motors Place
CONCERT IN EDMONT
24 October 2008 - Edmonton, Canada - Rexall Place
CONCERT IN WINNIPEG
27 October 2008 - Winnipeg, Canada - MTS Centre
CONCERT IN OTTAWA
7 November 2008 - Ottawa, Canada - Scotiabank Place
CONCERT IN LOS ANGELES
2 December 2008- Los Angeles, USA - Staples Center
GRAMMY NOMINATIONS CONCERT
On December 3, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Grammy Nominations Concert Live, a one-hour special show wich took place at the Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, USA. The show announced nominations in at least six categories for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony which was held on February 8, 2009. Besides, the live event celebrated the grand opening of the Grammy Museum. Celine performed "At seventeen", the heartbreaker song by Janis Ian. After the performance, Celine revealed the 2008 Album of the year nominees. The event also lined up Taylor Swift, Foo Fighters, B.B. King, and John Mayer as other artists making live appearances. The concert was broadcasted live on CBS channel in USA.
CONCERT IN LOS GLENDALE
6 December 2008 - Glendale, USA - Jobing.com Arena
CONCERT IN LOS CHICAGO
16 December 2008 - Chicago, USA - United Center
CONCERT IN LOS MINNEAPOLIS
18 December 2008 - Minneapolis, USA - Target Center
CONCERT IN MEXICO CITY
On December 9, 2008 Celine Dion performed at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico with the "Taking Chances Tour" in front of about 25,000 people. This was one of the three concerts that Celine gave in Mexico with this tour. Celine appeared on stage and she said "Estan listos Mexico?", and then she performed "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", "I´m alive" (a remix version), "Shadow of love", "Fade away", "I´m your angel" with one of the background vocals Barnev Valsaint, "Alone", "Pour que tu m´aimes encore", "My love", "The prayer" with Andrea Bocelli, who appeared on a pre-recorded video, "It´s a man´s man´s man´s world", "Love can move mountains", "River deep mountain high" and "My heart will go on". During the first part of the show, Celine wore again the fuchsia-colored dress (wich she wore by the last time on September 15, 2008 in New York, USA). For this show, it wasn´t used the center-stage specially designed for the tour, so it was used a simple one with the entire public sitting in from of it and Celine was performing with a huge screen behind her. Before the show, Celine was photographed on her dressing room with a little Mexican flag and a little traditional Mexican hat.
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