Atlantic City, USA sept 20th

Posted September 18, 200816 yr

Next stop: Atlantic City :thumbup:

September 18, 200816 yr

oh i thought it read Atlantis :drama: i was like, they found the lost city? :o

September 21, 200816 yr

Author

1st pic and great review are in:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/113/story/263686.html :wub: :dance:

Back after a decade, Celine Dion electrifies Boardwalk Hall

By DAN GOOD Staff Writer, 609-272-7218

Published: Saturday, September 20, 2008

After a decade away, Celine Dion returned to Atlantic City on Saturday, belting out past hits, covers and new songs for 14,000 people crammed into Boardwalk Hall.

It was Dion's first performance in the resort since April 1998. She was scheduled to give three shows at Caesars in 1999, but they were postponed - and never rescheduled - after her manager-husband Rene Angelil underwent skin cancer surgery. The French Canadian took a career hiatus from 2000 to 2002, and followed that with her Las Vegas show, "A New Day," from 2003 to December 2007. With her "New Day" turned to yesterday, Dion returned to Atlantic City.

The stop is part of her five-continent tour, "Taking Chances," which coincides with next month's release of her greatest-hits album, "My Love: Essential Collection."

Tension grew by 8:45 p.m. Audience members started clapping prematurely. Spotlights shone down. Then the arena fell dark, and video screens on the stage played Celine's "I Drove All Night." When the screens rose, there stood one of the most successful female artists of all time.

After opening with "I Drove All Night" and "Power of Love," Dion paused to address the crowd.

She spoke about how this tour is more family-driven for her, with her 81-year-old mother and 7-year-old son traveling beside her. Then she said how much she missed Atlantic City.

"I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be back in Atlantic City," she said. "It's been way too long, so tonight we're going to make up for lost time."

Dion pranced along a set of inclines and conveyer belts in a mid-thigh lavender dress and high heels, merengueing and cha-cha-ing as if the stage were a ballroom floor. She was lithe, energizing, sexy. She serenaded a violinist on "To Love You More" and shared a seductive pose with one of her dancers during "Eyes On Me." After the song, she fanned herself with her hand. Time to cool off.

And she did that with her next song, "All By Myself," one of those great vocal-driven love tracks that remind fans why she has sold 175 million albums worldwide, why she's recognized as one of the most talented vocalists of this or any generation.

Dion's Vegas days showed during the 'soul' section of her concert. In "It's a Man's World," she sang from a circular glitter stage, and on "Love Can Move Mountains," she playfully danced through a clutter of her dancers and instrumentalists. In her first encore, "River Deep Mountain High," she twirled a microphone stand like it was a baton, shimmering in a silver and gold dress as if she were auditioning for "America's Got Talent."

And she does have talent. Runway models don't go through as many wardrobe changes as she does. Dion has more poses and stances than an Elvis impersonator - the point, the stare, the nod, "Saturday Night Fever," air guitar, arms stretched in the "Titanic" pose. It was only fitting that she would close the show with the theme from that film, "My Heart Will Go On," her most famous ballad of all. For that song she was decked in a floor-length, single-strap black gown, surrounded by four beds of candles. What a way to say goodbye after all these years.

Her opening act, singer/comedian Gordie Brown (not to be confused with the British prime minister), parodied Axyl Rose, MC Hammer, Joe Cocker and, most notably, Willy Nelson, singing "To All the Plants I Smoked Before" instead of "To All the Girls I Loved Before." Some of his bits were dated (c'mon, we all know MC Hammer had money trouble), but he brought four or five legitimate laugh-out-loud moments. The piece on Elton John in a g-string was clever.

But the night belonged to Celine, back for the first time in a decade, bringing along the voice that could shatter glass, the voice that could make a mythological Siren jealous.