Taking Chances World Tour
Tour by Céline Dion | |
File:TCTour.jpg | |
Associated album | Taking Chances |
---|---|
Start date | February 14 2008 |
End date | January 30 2009 |
Legs | 6 |
No. of shows | 9 in Africa 10 in Asia 5 in Australia 34 in Europe 58 in North America 116 in total |
Céline Dion concert chronology |
Taking Chances Tour is the current concert tour by Canadian pop singer Céline Dion, in support of her latest English album Taking Chances, released in November 2007. The year-long tour will visit 5 continents, 23 countries and 82 cities. Dion will perform 116 shows.[1]
The show
The show, directed by Jamie King (Madonna's Confessions Tour, Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics Tour) as well as tours for Kanye West and the Spice Girls, combines Dion's performances with color, fashion and dance. Céline Dion performs some of her biggest hits, along with songs from her latest English album Taking Chances.[2]
The show lasts for two hours and is divided into four segments. There is a soul segment, a rock segment, a segment where Céline acts the part of a fashion-victim and another inspired by Gypsy, Spanish and Middle Eastern cultures. Dion is supported by eight dancers (4 male and 4 female). Rehearsals took place in December 2007 in Primm, Nevada and MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The tour setup includes about twenty LED screens, among them one that will orbit the stage, plus conveyor belts and elevators. Dion pre-recorded a selection of videos for her show. The introduction video shows her driving a car at high-speed, with intermingling images from her career, set to a remix of "I Drove All Night." Another video shows the singer dressed in varying fashions over the years.
Jamie King will join the tour on May 2 2008 in Manchester. Before that date, the show will not be on a central stage (except in Tokyo, Japan and Melbourne, Australia) for logistics reasons. After two and a half months, Dion will rehearse again to perfect the show for the "in the round" setup. Because of Dion's bilingual career and the restrictions of certain arenas and stadiums on the tour, King had to direct and choreograph three separate shows. One show features a set list comprised mostly of English language songs and is performed in the round using the full system of mobile screens, elevators and conveyor belts. A second show also features the center stage arrangement but includes up to ten French language songs for performances in Francophone countries. A third, less complex show is being used where the center stage arrangement would not fit into the venue or where it would be impractical to transport the stage. An end stage setup is used in these cases, and features a massive central video screen and a lighting system that engulfs the stage in brilliant blue and red from above on all three sides.
Dion and her band rehearsed about sixty tracks, both in English and French. Among those ones, about 20-25 songs will be performed in each show, according to each visited market. "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" will be performed throughout the whole tour. It is the best-selling French-language single of all time, and one of the only songs in music history to achieve top-10 chart success in non-Francophone countries. The singer also performs several cover songs never performed on stage before.[3]
After the concert in Pretoria on February 16 2008, René Angélil reorganized the show, including a few changes to the costumes chosen by Annie Horth, as well as to the song set list. Angélil also said that Dion will be performing a medley featuring "Beauty and the Beast" and the song "The Prayer" with Andrea Bocelli. Thus far, neither of these have made it into the show.
Record sellouts
Céline Dion set a record in the history of Canada, when she sold out all her Montreal shows in only a few minutes.[4] After further shows being added, bringing the total to 8, Montreal's audience became the largest on the tour with 160,000 spectators.[5]
Other Canadian concerts were also sold out immediately, prompting another dates to be added. That includes: Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg.[6]
In the U.S., second dates were announced in New York City, Uniondale, Boston, and Newark.[7]
In Europe, tickets for Manchester and London were also sold out in a few minutes. Two new dates were added on the same day. The 80,000 tickets in Dublin were sold out in 3 hours.[8]
A second concert date has been announced for Sydney in Australia as well.[9]
Dion's world tour is among the biggest music events ever hosted in South Africa, with more than 380,000 tickets on sale. After ticket sales exceeded expectations, another (ninth) date was added also there.[10]
Postponed concerts
Céline Dion was forced to postpone all her concerts in Australia due to a throat infection. Her Australian publicists said "Ms Dion is being treated with antibiotics for a minor throat infection and irritated sinuses that she has been suffering from for a number of days since arriving in Australia,".[11][12] Because of the itinery changes, the concert scheduled for Malayasia was also changed.
The concert in Beijing, China has been cancelled.[13]
Taking Chances Tour DVD
According to Dion's official website, a DVD for the tour is already in production. The DVD will feature two full-length concerts (one in French and the other in English). It will also have a behind-the-scenes featurette following Céline Dion during the entire year long tour. No release date has been set.[14]
Opening acts
- Jody Williams (South Africa)
- Yuna Ito (Japan)
- Anthony Callea (Australia)
- Il Divo (UK & Ireland)
- Michaël Gregorio (France and French shows in Europe)
Set list
First Leg: Africa, Asia & Australia
First part (black and silver outfit)
1. Video introduction: "I Drove All Night" (remix)
2. "I Drove All Night"
3. "I Got the Music in Me"††††††
4. "The Power of Love"
5. "Taking Chances"
6. "It's All Coming Back to Me Now"
7. "Because You Loved Me"
8. "To Love You More"
Second part (white blouse and red slacks)
9. "New Mego's Flamenco" (instrumental)
10. "Eyes on Me"
11. "All by Myself"
Third part (glittering fashion victim outfit)
12. Interval video: "My Heart Will Go On" (remix)
13. "I'm Alive" (remix)
14. "Shadow of Love"
15. "Fade Away"† / "Can't Fight the Feelin'"††
16. "I'm Your Angel" (with Barnev Valsaint)
17. "Alone"
18. "Pour que tu m'aimes encore"
19. "Think Twice"††† / "A World to Believe In" (with Yuna Ito)†††† / "A New Day Has Come"†††††
20. "My Love"†††††
21. "We Will Rock You"
22. "The Show Must Go On"
Fourth part (silver and gold 'Tina Turner' outfit)
23. Medley: "Sex Machine" / "Soul Man" / "Lady Marmalade" / "Respect" / "I Got the Feelin'" (by band and background vocalists)
24. "It's a Man's Man's Man's World"
25. "That's Just the Woman in Me"
26. "Love Can Move Mountains"
27. "River Deep, Mountain High"
Fifth part (Long yellow outfit)
28. "My Heart Will Go On"
† performed in South Africa (selected concerts) and Japan
†† performed in South Africa (selected concerts), South Korea and Australia
††† performed in South Africa
†††† performed in Japan
††††† performed in South Korea and Australia
†††††† not performed Australia
Other tracks
According to the Taking Chances Tour Book, Dion will also perform "Sir Duke" and during the French leg of the tour she will also sing: "Ziggy," "Je sais pas," "J'irai où tu iras," "Destin," "S'il suffisait d'aimer," "On ne change pas," "Dans un autre monde," "Tout l'or des hommes," "Je lui dirai," "Je ne vous oublie pas," "Et s'il n'en restait qu'une," "Immensité" and "J'ai la musique en moi" (French version of "I Got the Music in Me").
Personnel
Band
- Musical Director, Keyboards: Claude Lemay
- Drums: Dominique Messier
- Bass: Marc Langis
- Guitars: André Coutu
- Violin: Jean Sebastien Carré
- Keyboards: Yves Frulla
- Percussion: Paul Picard
- Background Vocals: Élise Duguay, Mary-Lou Gauthier, Barnev Valsaint
- Dancers: Amanda Balen, Melissa Garcia, Kemba Shannon, Addie Yungme, Zac Brazenas, Dominic Chaiguang, Aaron Foelske, Miguel Perez
Show
- Manager: René Angélil
- Tour director: Denis Savage
- Tour manager: Michel Dion (talent)
- Tour manager: Patrick Angélil (production, logistics and media relations)
- Production manager: Rick Mooney
- Assistant production manager: Shari Weber
- Stage manager: Alexandre Miasnikof
- Artist’s personal security: Nick Skokos
- Tour rigger: Cindy Beaumariage
- Lighting director: Yves “Lapin” Aucoin
- Front of house engineer: Francois “Frankie” Desjardins
- Monitor engineer: Charles Ethier
- Audio system engineer: Mario St. Onge
- RF engineer: Marc Theriault
- Assistant lighting director/lighting head: Karl Gaudreau
- Video director: Veillet Mireille
- Head back-line tech: Jeff Dubois
- Head video: Martin Perreault
- Production assistants: Sharie Weber, Stephanie Duval
- Tour accountant: Sylvia Hebel
- Director: Jamie King
- Tour director: Jim Allison, Concerts West
- Production director: Lonnie McKenzie
- Lighting, audio, video vendor: Solotech, Montreal
Tour dates
References
- ^ La tournée mondiale de Céline Dion 2008-2009 - 5 continents - 85 villes - 101 spectacles. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
- ^ Celine Dion announces highly anticipated 2008-09 North American tour. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
- ^ Cap sur l'Afrique. Retrieved February 9, 2008.
- ^ Céline Dion: quatre Centre Bell en 35 minutes!. Retrieved November 18, 2007.
- ^ Céline Dion: un huitième spectacle ajouté . Retrieved February 9, 2008.
- ^ Additional Concert Announced in Edmonton!. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
- ^ New USA Concert Dates Announced - TeamCeline Ticket Pre-sale Begins Monday. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
- ^ Second Show Date in London and Manchester Just Announced!!. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
- ^ Additional Concert Announced in Sydney, Australia - TeamCeline Tickets On Sale Now!. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
- ^ Céline brings her own dentist on tour to SA. Retrieved January 19, 2008.
- ^ Celine Dion cancels concert due to illness. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
- ^ Sydney Celine Dion concert cancelled. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
- ^ [1]. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ Celine Dion, Taking Chances Tour DVD. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x La tournée mondiale de Céline Dion 2008-2009 - 5 continents - 85 villes - 101 spectacles. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah La tournée mondiale de Céline Dion 2008-2009 - 5 continents - 85 villes - 101 spectacles. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw La tournée mondiale de Céline Dion 2008-2009 - 5 continents - 85 villes - 101 spectacles. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i La tournée mondiale de Céline Dion 2008-2009 - 5 continents - 85 villes - 101 spectacles. Retrieved November 7, 2007.