Céline Dion Album: “A New Day...Live in las Vegas”

Celine Dion recently released her first live English language album. "A New Day...Live In Las Vegas," debuted at #10 on Billboard's album chart and is the precursor to a fall tri-DVD release featuring the same concert. While fans will certainly find plenty to enjoy it is not difficult to realize that this release could have been made far more relevant.

Dion's performance is, from beginning to end, top of the line. However, the quality of the setlist is not. After opening with Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" she ill-advisedly rushes through two of her biggest hits, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me". Both from her Grammy-winning 1996 album "Falling Into You," they are performed in just under six minutes and lack all the power of their original studio versions. Also, her low-key interpretation of Peggy Lee's "Fever" is extremely weak and a clear waste of space on the disc; the song does not suit her.

There are some extreme standouts, however. Her rendition of Barbra Streisand's "If I Could," which she dedicates to all the children and parents of the world, is heart tugging and inspired. Furthermore, her upbeat performances of her 2002 single "I'm Alive" and Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" perfectly demonstrate her versatility and vocal prowess. In fact, she displays it quite well throughout the entire performance, obviously without the use of any sneaky tricks or lip-syncing as she did in the past on her "The Colour of My Love Concert" DVD.

One problem with this release, nonetheless, is the blatant lack of Dion's own material. Of the thirteen tracks culled from the concert, eight were already made famous by other singers long before she ever sang them. She has enjoyed a rare career longevity and has had many well-deserved hits, such as her first stateside single "Where Does My Heart Beat Now" which hit #3 on Billboard's Hot 100, and the fact that only a droplet of those hits are represented is ultimately dissapointing, especially since there are exactly nineteen minutes of space on the disc where no music resides. On top of that, fans will be left irksome after noticing the obnoxious FBI "Unauthorized Duplication" warning stamp on the back of the album artwork and on the disc. Apparently, Dion has a penchant for intrusive logos, as was also evidenced by the shameless Chrysler advertisement included in the artwork for last year's quickly assembled "One Heart" album.

The addition of a bonus DVD that includes footage of Dion filming her "One Heart" video and in the recording studio as well as two lip-synced performances rounds out the package. It also is adorned by the FBI logo, and will only be part of the album's initial pressing. What still makes this worth your hard-earned money, though, are the two new studio recordings included at the end of the disc, "You and I" and "Ain't Gonna Look the Other Way". They are both perfect performances that prove that she is a world-renowned singer for a reason and that she is only getting better with age.

If you'd keep an open mind, even Celine's 'non-fans' would have to admit that this show is simply out of this world. It blew me away. There are a few good songs missing, but for her vocals and the memories of one of the best shows I've ever seen, I love, love, love this cd. If you can go see her in Las Vegas, then do so. If you've already seen her, get this to relive it all again.

If I could talk to her... "Celine, Girl! Where did you hit your head! You left out The Power of Love!" how could she forget about her best songs ever, and I dont care what so and so did back in the day. We want to hear true Celine songs not someone elses. And the vocals on the album are so werid. She sounds incribly different. And the whole changing bands thing was a stupid idea.

I just came back from her show in Las Vegas. I was in Caeser's palace, at the Celine Dion gift shop,shopping for goodies. This show and two others that I attended in past, took my breath away! Go see this show if you get the chance. You will not regret it! Celine Dion has a incredible talent. Her voice is very beautiful and powerful! You enter a room filled with love and light. You should experience this at least once in your lifetime.

I don't care what others feel, she can SING! Her music will touch your heart:) Enjoy this cd and all her other albums!

You and I is another song on track and she sang it at the concert. I personally think its a great piece. I hope in the future they offer more different video dvds of her other songs.

At first glance, I thought that the cover shot of this Celine Dion CD was a still from a 1930s German Expressionist play. You know the ones with the evil Capitalist standing imperiously above the longsuffering, hunched over Proletarians and screaming, "An die Arbeit, ihr Hunde!' ("Get to work, you curs). I actually glanced at the song listing to see if Bette's "Oh! Industry" from BEACHES was among the selections.

Well, appearances can be deceiving, and watching the accompanying CD, it looks like both the "workers" and their "taskmistress" were really just all having the time of their lives. In fact, watching the DVD (I know it's only a promo AND a precursor to the actual performance DVD released several months later--but actually for me, it pretty much suffices), served as a reminder that, contrary to the opinion of some in my immediate circle Celine, is NOT the Antichrist. What she is, I think, is a starstruck grown-up kid (like fellow Vegas denizens Cher snd Bette, ) who has actually managed to realize the gold lame fantasies that dominated her relatively impoverished youth. But unlike the former Mrs. Bono and the current Mrs. von Haselberg, Mme Angelil has absolutely no sense of irony about her status as a showbiz icon. And that's understandable. Hey, she's North American, but not ALL-American. And she doesn't quite get that camp thing.

Which may make her the campiest of all, ultimately. She is weirdly sincere in everything she does. Listen to her go all schmaltzy and gaga about her kid (sniff) Rene-Charles. No contemporary US-born artist could get away with that kind of claptrap these days--even in Vegas. It's not like she doesn't have a sense of humor: she mugs for the camera and horses around with the crew. But she doesn't have any of those "Ohmygawdwhatamidoinghere?" moments that are typical of a Cher or Bette extravaganza. Irony is NOT what Celine is about. She is something of a throwback in that regard. And for folks who wish Streisand were still doing it or that Minnelli still could, Celine more than fills the bill.

I keep hearkening back to the DVD. A lot of the fans apparently felt ripped off by it, but for me, it's really just the right little sample of the Vegas show (et al.). The thing is so goshdarn glitzy that it borders on the psychedelic (if not the Expressionistic) at times. Sitting through the real thing must be dizzying. And that can be a good thing, but I'm not really up for it at my advanced age. Give me the folksier moments, like her singing the Anglo-Spanish carol "Feliz Navidad" with her extended French Canadian famille any time. Corny as Karo Syrup, but it worked for me.

What worked a lot less well for me is the actual CD. I'm sure the show works/-ed well enough on its own glitzy terms--and I'm pretty sure that Celine Dion can sell a song AS A SONG in concert under other circumstances, but relatively speaking, this is a pretty weak set. Maybe the visuals WOULD help. A track like "I'm Alive" might work for a live audience, but for folks listening at home, it's bogged down by way too much awkward stage banter. I mean, you could say that there's something endearing about her attempting a little street cred ('rue cred'?) by hooting out, "Go, Girlfriend," but you gotta admit, it's also pretty lame.

I guess you can always expect "tributes" to show biz legends of yesteryear in a Vegas show, but Celine's choices (Etta James' "At Last," Peggy Lee's "Fever," and Sinatra's "World On A String") are woefully misguided. To her credit, she doesn't slavishly imitate the original artists' vocal styles (although the arrangements are pretty derivative), but she also does little to make you forget the originals, even for a second. And is it really wise for a very Caucasian quebecoise attempting a Stevie Wonder song (and this well before Don Imus) and actually singing the words "when I was a little nappy headed boy"??

None of the tunes previously recorded as studio tracks begin to rival the originals. Nor do they offer much of anything in the way of a new interpretation. Again, audience members wouldn't think twice about such matters. But listening to the audio as audio really isn't likely to do much for anyone. Throwing in two relatively weak studio tracks at the end doesn't really help matters. Someone must have decided they'd just bog down an eventual studio release. They scarcely help here either.