February 20, 2009 - San Jose, CA (HP Pavilion)

February 22, 2009 at 04:45 AM

Hmm question are there 2 different intro vids; one for the English shows and one for the French? Cos I noticed in these pics they say for example "Sydney, Australie" rather than "Sydney, Australia" or has it always been like that and I've never noticed :hmm:

February 22, 2009 at 06:25 AM

A review:

Celine Dion makes a satisfying world tour landing at HP Pavilion

By Shay Quillen

Mercury News

Posted: 02/21/2009 09:37:51 PM PST

Three months later than planned, the hottest tour in the world finally made its way to San Jose.

"Have you been here since November?" asked a chatty Celine Dion early in her sold-out show at HP Pavilion. "Have you been sleeping here every night?"

Though throat problems forced Dion to postpone a month's worth of shows in the fall on her massive "Taking Chances" world tour, there were no signs of them on Friday night. Say what you will aboutDion 's taste (or lack thereof) or her aggressively enthusiastic stage demeanor, but no one ever said the woman couldn't sing. And for nearly two hours,Dion's voice, for the most part, carried the show.

Pricey tickets

It was a big-ticket concert — seats down low were approaching $200 — that delivered serious production value without excessive glitz.Dion and her talented troupe — seven instrumentalists, three backup singers and eight dancers — performed at center ice on a square stage with moving sidewalks and platforms that raised or lowered the performers in a vast array of permutations.

But Dion herself was always the main attraction. Giant video screens delivered a nearly constant close-up of the diva, who often played to the cameras, even flashing what appeared to be Quebecois gang signs (the chest pound, the thumb kiss) at the end of particularly herculean vocal efforts.

When it came to the ginormous ballads with which she made her name — hits like "Because You Loved Me" and her take on Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" — you could just marvel at the powers ofDion's golden larynx.

But the set was conspicuously light on new hits. Since leaving the pop rat race in 1999 to devote time to her family, Dion has been unable to claw her way back in, at least in this country.

Though she remains a formidable concert draw — 11 of the 12 highest-grossing shows in the world last week were Dion concerts — one couldn't help noticing that the crowd's interest level declined precipitously when Dion ventured into material from this century.

After cranking out hits such as "The Power of Love" early, the show never completely recovered from its mid-set detour into more recent songs. Still, a late duet with a video version of Andrea Bocelli on "The Prayer" showed off some of the best singing of the night.

Hardworking woman

But an arena show cannot live on ballads alone, and when Dion tried to pump up the crowd late, the results were underwhelming. Unlike her Vegas rival Barry Manilow, Dion has no "Copacabana" to liven things up at the end. Instead, she let the band do a soul-music medley, which ended with Dion incongruously belting out James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World."

(The verdict? Dion is unquestionably one of the hardest-working women in show business, but Soul Sister No. 1, she ain't.)

The night wrapped up, appropriately, with one of the biggest hits of all time, "My Heart Will Go On." Most fans seemed to leave the arena satisfied, if not thrilled.

Detracting from the professionalism of Dion's show was a 30-minute set (it seemed longer) from musical impressionist and comedian Gordie Brown, a moderately talented mimic whose bland PG-13-rated jokes weren't helped by being about 15 years past their sell-by date. (Note to aspiring Vegas comics: When your set starts with a Hootie and the Blowfish parody before moving on to Willie Nelson's tax problems, "Forrest Gump" and "Achy Breaky Heart," it's time to work up some new material.)

http://www.mercurynews.com/shayquillen/ci_11759099

February 22, 2009 at 07:00 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZzwGq6z8RY...feature=channel

it's interesting how they messed up and put the french names for the countries

February 22, 2009 at 07:09 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZzwGq6z8RY...feature=channel

it's interesting how they messed up and put the french names for the countries

wow, good catch. I didn't even notice they did it in seperate languages.

February 22, 2009 at 07:24 AM

Awesome pics everyone!

Glad you girls grabbed her on her way in! I absolutely adore the pic of her plane in the air too! We saw her plane landing in Birmingham, AL...but I didn't get a pic of it.

Looks and sounds like it was an amazing show!!!!

February 22, 2009 at 09:32 AM

Here they are in HQ:

http://img46.imagevenue.com/loc168/th_31623_CelineDio_John_56805129_Max_122_168lo.jpg

http://img28.imagevenue.com/loc882/th_31628_CelineDio_John_56805131_Max_122_882lo.jpg

http://img220.imagevenue.com/loc593/th_31585_CelineDio_John_56805109_Max_122_593lo.jpg

http://img101.imagevenue.com/loc600/th_31534_CelineDio_John_56805081_Max_122_600lo.jpg

http://img183.imagevenue.com/loc100/th_31538_CelineDio_John_56805084_Max_122_100lo.jpg

http://img152.imagevenue.com/loc528/th_31540_CelineDio_John_56805087_Max_122_528lo.jpg

http://img44.imagevenue.com/loc1/th_31557_CelineDio_John_56805089_Max_122_1lo.jpg

http://img196.imagevenue.com/loc1138/th_31563_CelineDio_John_56805091_Max_122_1138lo.jpg

http://img201.imagevenue.com/loc552/th_31572_CelineDio_John_56805097_Max_122_552lo.jpg

http://img19.imagevenue.com/loc54/th_31576_CelineDio_John_56805100_Max_122_54lo.jpg

http://img214.imagevenue.com/loc549/th_31583_CelineDio_John_56805105_Max_122_549lo.jpg

http://img251.imagevenue.com/loc91/th_31588_CelineDio_John_56805112_Max_122_91lo.jpg

http://img216.imagevenue.com/loc254/th_31589_CelineDio_John_56805119_Max_122_254lo.jpg

http://img158.imagevenue.com/loc46/th_31606_CelineDio_John_56805121_Max_122_46lo.jpg

http://img159.imagevenue.com/loc473/th_31634_CelineDio_John_56805134_Max_122_473lo.jpg

thanks for the pictures :wub:

February 22, 2009 at 09:52 AM

thanks for the pics and video!!!

I'm gonna miss this show when it is ended!!!

February 22, 2009 at 01:52 PM

Some nice pics from the show:

http://i44.tinypic.com/fwhulv.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/xf7za0.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/24mxs2s.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/n4fb5i.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2ihlbo7.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/120tgzt.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/24625wy.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/23mvrs4.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/qysv0w.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/24e4c3o.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/28vqe5c.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/25kli5e.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/8z35a1.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2cxc7ph.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2dua1cx.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2aj2r6q.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/21mycyp.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/2lazytf.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/35cl6au.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/288mg7d.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2r6obdk.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/nd28mu.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/11wf0aa.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/104eoo8.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/mccg00.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/33n9c7k.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/35m2yz7.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/14wrejt.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/o57ypu.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/21exg28.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/20f49kw.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/538b49.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/33045eg.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/anc86r.jpg

:flowers:

February 22, 2009 at 01:58 PM

okay runway model on the third pic!!! =) HAWT! thanks thomas!

February 22, 2009 at 02:39 PM

thanks Thomas, amazing, great pics :clap:

February 22, 2009 at 03:07 PM

great pictures thanks for sharing.

February 22, 2009 at 04:17 PM

Awesome pics! Céline is so gorgeous! :wub:

Thank you for the pics and reviews!

February 22, 2009 at 05:50 PM

Awesome pics! Céline is so gorgeous! Thank you for the pics and reviews!

fantastic pictures :wub:

February 22, 2009 at 06:08 PM

those pics are amazing!!! she looks stunning and sexy together!

February 22, 2009 at 06:27 PM

Wahoo!! Too attractive these photos!!!

Céline already misses me in a week after Quebec and Montreal.. For me, the tour knows finished on February 15th, I think for not bad also, the end is close now, moments magic still return to me and always! Thank you Céline and his team for all these moments unforgettable! :in_love: :w00t: :wub:

February 22, 2009 at 07:00 PM

Fabulous pics, Thomas! They are just amazing and she looks absolutely beautiful! Thanks as always!

Sandra

February 22, 2009 at 07:20 PM

great pics

February 23, 2009 at 03:28 PM

Yet more great photos - thank you for sharing!

February 24, 2009 at 02:56 AM

I'll be posting a review of my trip soon. I'll have a few photos as well that my partner, Robert, took. All I can say is that I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy Celine got my Snoopy at the end of the show! Andre (guitarist) is the nicest and coolest person. I threw it up on the stage at the end of "My Heart Will Go On" and he threw it to Celine! She was waiving it around and playing with it! :clap: :whee: :clap: Anyway...I'll post more later.

- Joe

Edited February 24, 2009 at 02:57 AM by CelineFan10

February 24, 2009 at 04:08 AM

I'll be posting a review of my trip soon. I'll have a few photos as well that my partner, Robert, took. All I can say is that I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy Celine got my Snoopy at the end of the show! Andre (guitarist) is the nicest and coolest person. I threw it up on the stage at the end of "My Heart Will Go On" and he threw it to Celine! She was waiving it around and playing with it! Anyway...I'll post more later.

- Joe

That was you that threw Snoopy!?!? Awesome! I'm glad she got it :clap: