Celine Dion's Taking Chances World Tour 2008

*Write up from Wiki*
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, 25 countries and over 100 cities. Dion will perform over 120 shows.[

The show, directed by Jamie King (Madonna's Confessions Tour, Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics Tour) combines Dion's performances with a visual feast of color, fashion, dance and surprise. 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 Dion 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. As announced a few months ago, 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. Another video shows the singer dressed in varying fashions. 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 Japan) 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, Jamie 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.

Dion and her band rehearsed about sixty tracks, both in English and French. Among those ones, about 20-25 songs will be performed in a show, according to each visited market. "Pour que tu m'aimes encore" will be performed throughout the whole tour. The singer also performs several cover songs never performed on stage before.

After the concert in Pretoria on February 16, 2008, René Angélil reorganized the whole show. There have been few changes about the costumes chosen by Annie Horth and changes about the order of some songs. The whole concept, even the presence of dancers, has been reorganized. Angélil also said that Dion will be performing a medley featuring "Beauty and the Beast" and the song "The Prayer" with Andre

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.

Other Canadian concerts were also sold out immediately, prompting another dates to be added. That includes: Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

In the U.S., second dates were announced in New York City, Uniondale, Boston, and Newark.

In Europe, tickets for Manchester and London were also sold out in few minutes. Two new dates were added on the same day. The 54,000 tickets in Dublin were sold out in 3 hours.

A second concert date has been announced for Sydney in Australia as well.

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.

Asia
April 8, 2008	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	Stadium Merdeka

GUESS WHAT............... I GOT THE TICKET!!!!...
C U guys THERE!!!!!!