CELINE DION TAKING CHANCES TOUR IN MALAYSIA

I guess I shall blog about my most recent happening event first.

That would be the Celine Dion concert that took place last nite (14 April 2008) in Stadium Merdeka. After being postponed for her throat infection which later affected her sinuses then attacked her lungs (sounds like a CSI episode), she finally made it to our shores!

And I tell you, what a concert it was! Is it me or just the sight of an icon that made me noticed that she sounded better after her sickness! In the middle of the show, she apologised to all the fans for postponing the shows and she spoke a couple of Bahasa Malaysia words.

Me went with a group of friends, certainly Dion fans. We sang to nearly every song except for that French number which I shall not even try to spell out. Started with I Drove All Night and ended the night so aptly with her mega selling song from Titanic, My Heart Will Go On. She had only two changes of clothes. I supposed the other dresses were kinda of revealing for the presence of the King and Queen of Malaysia. Remember Mariah Carey (the lady who repels flat shoes), she had one blouse and jeans for the entire show. Thank god for the voice, if not, I would have killed myself long time ago for getting the 2nd most expensive ticket for the show.

Back to Celine (it's all about Celine now). She have such power lungs sometimes I reckon it's mechanical. Just need some good lubricant and service to keep it going. She has been here for decades and she still sound the same. It's a wonder and a miracle. She does not need fancy footworks, ridiculous pyrotechnics that sometimes scares the bejesus out of the dancers because they go off suddenly and other "magical" stage design. It was kept to the minimal. It is the command of her voice alone that echos through the entire stadium and beyond!




From the moment "GO", she sang her heart out (by the way, not to offend any Celine Dion fans here, she looks ugly when she sings....which I personally opined that she sings with all her heart.) Only her album covers/videos and promotional pictures are flawless. Oh, not forgetting botox and the rest of things she puts on her face.

My friends and I managed to catch her doing sound checks when we were queueing at the entrance gates. She managed some incomprehensible French words to her crew. That's the perfectionist we all know.

I was a tad disappointed she did not sing "If You Asked Me To" and "Falling Into You" (one of my favourite songs from her). However she sang "To Love You More" but she edited the extra longish ending (which is I enjoyed the most and very goose-bumpy).

The most irritating and annoying part of the concert was (and it is definitely not Celine's fault) the fashionably late arrivals of "certain" VIPS which caused the concert to be delayed about 50 odd minutes. They have all the escort riders and they still arrive late. In the words of Mr Patrick Teoh (NIAMAH!).

The rain that poured earlier made the experience even more cooling and enjoyable. In short this is the best concert so far this year or even as yet. Man! She could just sing and sing and sing and she still could hold her breath and not miss a pitch! Now, that's a SUPERSTAR! Our local acts should really learn a thing or two from here.

I would give the concert a 9 out of 10.