Celine Dion, the anti-diva diva.

[marc-02]

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/gig-23...viewId=23482843

 

A night with a talented diva

By John Aizlewood, Evening Standard 07.05.08

 

Some divas are born. Others, you suspect, have divadom thrust upon them. Despite selling almost 200 million albums, Celine Dion is probably in the latter camp.

 

In her first London show since 1999, the 40-year-old worked too hard, sweated too much and spent too long on stage to be a genuine diva. And while she did announce that her son Rene-Charles and her mother Therese had joined her in the capital, she had the grace not to parade them to the crowd.

 

Christened the Taking Chances tour, perhaps in irony, this gaudy, loose-limbed spectacular took very few chances. There were costume changes: five in all (the flared trousers were shockingly unflattering; the gigantic white cape endearingly bonkers and the rest oddly alluring).

 

There were eight wonderfully choreographed dancers, lighting that could illuminate Neptune and, as if we had chanced upon the set of a misguided Seventies peek into the future, moving walkways.

 

Those peripherals made the evening, but the show itself was about Dion’s voice. Edith Piaf offered the same conundrum 60 years ago, but it seemed almost a miracle of nature that someone so tiny of waist could produce vocals of such extraordinary power.

 

Yet whether wrapping itself around James Brown’s It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World, rescuing The Power Of Love from karaoke hell or somehow breathing life into River Deep Mountain High, that voice reinvented whatever it touched. And so poised and believable was her assault on the closing My Heart Will Go On (alas nobody in the crowd remembered to do the Titanic pose), that for a moment you almost forgot what a ghastly slab of hammy old schlock it is.

 

Indeed, while she remains overly addicted to jobbing American songwriting hacks such as Dianne Warren and Linda Perry for her material, when she unfurled a great song everything made sense.

 

On the genius Jim Steinman’s It’s All Coming Back To Me Now or that painfully unflinching dissection of a decaying long-term relationship, Think Twice, the drama and too-often suppressed darkness of Dion’s voice made for an almost perfect entwining of singer and song.

 

As if to confirm that she will never be credible, an ill-conceived medley of Queen’s We Will Rock You and The Show Must Go On was unspeakably naff, but frankly who cares? Certainly not Celine Dion, the anti-diva diva.

 

Celine Dion also plays the O2 Arena tomorrow (0844 856 0202)

[amyja89]

I hate stuff like this!

 

So basically what this person is saying is that the show and Celine's vocals were incredible, but why the stupid, badly written little jibes too?

[DjCeline]

yeah...so Celine's voice is awesome bla bla bla...but in the same time...the tour is awful? i really don't get it. the good things that are said are contradicting a bit the bad ones. in the end, being an....anti-diva...is good or bad? not that i cared but i'm just curious

[Terre]

[amelie]

i don't think he's contradicting at all, he's very accurate. Noone's perfect and neither is Celine. i think the anti-diva diva comment means he likes her

[grobandion]

I think it's very objective, and possitive too.

Off course there will be some critisism, since he's obviously not a Celine fan, but that's okay.

I liked the review

[CSCfan]

LOL he was praising her....he gave her 4 out of 5 stars..

[Jan]

What does he mean by saying that Céline will never be credible?

[celinefanonline]

well basically they try to writte something bad about Celine... but can't really find so they write it like this... lol

[KimboCosmo]

As if who wrote that, could do better, or even BEGIN to come close to it...

[Jules86]

The person that wrote it did capture the night in words as far as the schedule went. But failed to give anyone who didnt see it last night an insight into how amazingly moving some of her performances were, how beautiful and stunning her outfits were and how enjoyable it is to watch Celine hit the high notes to utter perfection and also the energy she has and gave on stage. Edited May 7, 2008 at 09:57 PM by Jules86

[Your_Su_Phu]

um..it's quite glowingly positive. most reviews ive read have been positive on the tour yay.

 

you guys expect too much. critics are supposed to do this. at least it's fair and balanced. not like rob sheffield's rolling stone "reviews" *vomits*

Edited May 7, 2008 at 10:26 PM by Your_Su_Phu

[idroveallnight]

The writer is definitely praising her. He's saying that she makes things, that would normally appear strange, work very well. Most spectators try to appear unimpressed by Celine but they know she is clearly a force to be reckoned with. He's also saying that she works damn hard and doesn't play the diva card. How many French-Canadians females can sing "looking back on when I was a little nappy-headed boy" and make it work 5 years in a row? Celine Dion--that's who. And if it appears awkward to some, then they are clearly the minority. Celine can make anything work...she's breathed new life into many classics and brought some songs (and artists) to light that I'd otherwise never even considered.

[Angel, You thrill me]

this is so funny lol, this guy obviously wanted to dish some dirt on celine, but there is obviously no dirt to dish so he made this crappy review, full of his own opinions lol

[Gabriella23]

All I have to say is there is NO ONE better than our Celine!!!

[blue.grave]

What the frack was that?! Well, at least she said some really good thing about her performance. And that IMO rules.

[paulisia1984]

What do they want from Celine. She is best singer ever, she looks georgeus and the tour is brilliant as well.

[aicee]

the write-ups consist of good things and bad thing. Maybe in order to get our attention(Fans). But this kind of article doesn't sell to all. And I'm one of them. Edited May 8, 2008 at 01:42 PM by aicee

[Black Kitten]

she's the female counterpart of Rod Stewart when she's performing LOL!

[Nat27]

try to appear unimpressed by Celine

 

I dont know how anyone could manage to pull that off, it seems impossible to stand there and NOT be impressed!

[summer elizabeth]

PEOPLE ARE ALOUD THERE OPPINIONS* BUT personally you obviously are not a gr8 fan of EVERY THINK CELINE! i seen celine in manchester and i was amazed by the individuality, artistic vibe and effort she puts in to making the show so F A B. I do think alot of her outfits where ones to remember like the white cape and the white strap up the leg shoes- but thats just soooooo celine

 

I dont understand at all why you would comment on celines songs so negativly - i truly enjoyed her tribute the one and only freddy *with the show must go on and i think she did him proud.

 

I just think true fans of celine can apreciate her and her own bit of her personallity she put in to the show * and for that i will always be greatful

 

But WHATEVER peoples oppinions are I LOVED CELINE and she will always be my TRUE DIVA

x