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Saturday, September 25, 2010

CONCERT REVIEW: Celine Dion's Powerful Performance in Macau

Finally, I got to see Celine Dion live last night at The Venetian in Macau! She did a series of shows in Las Vegas for the longest time, but we never got around to flying there. Anyhow, thanks to her world tour, Macau was the nearest place to Manila she came too.



It's a bit sad that with the flurry of foreign acts coming to Manila, no one got Celine. I was just wondering why no one thought her economically feasible. The Macau show was sold out and I believe 80% of the audience were not even local Macanese! And the show would have been a veritable sing-along, as Filipinos love most of her songs. Tsk...tsk...



Well, we were billeted in HK and not in Macau this weekend, so we had to take the ferry. There is not much to do in Macau if you don't gamble, and I've already visited all their sites in previous trips. Shopping is also not that great so we thought of just going there for the show. What surprised me was the long long long lines in the immigration! This was not like this just a year ago. The Macau Immigration has to do something to speed things up! I lined up for 75 minutes - so it was such a drag - since we were all dressed up to party too! I could just imagine the ladies in their high heels!!! I discovered later on that most of the people in line also went to the show! Anyway, the officers were really expediting things up - and worse - we added to the already full Saturday gambling crowd!



I have been last in Macau just June of last year, and in that short span, so many buildings have sprouted up! Even the Cotai strip in Taipa island is already fascinating to see! I have read that Macau has already outstripped Las Vegas in terms of income, maybe because many Chinese gamble. You should see them gamble - really a sad sight!! I know each one of us has an addiction - mine maybe sex with goodlooking men and eating chocolates - but to see these guys squander good money on a whim - is so scary to see. The minimum bet before in Sands was HKD1000 (that's 5 thousand pesos to you and me). If I had a HKD1000, I'd add another HKD1000 and get that Prada wallet. Or finance a grade school kid's education. I have actually never bet in my life, hahaha, at least with that Macau or Las Vegas type of gambling. Papa was a card gambler and he even lost a house because of it. So I know it's in my blood to gamble badly, so I avoid it like a plague. It's so hard to pay for a house, and just to lose it in a card game - really stupid!!



Going to the Venetian, or any casino of your choice - Wynn, Sands, MGM - is very easy. Tawid ka lang sa underpass (their subway underpass daw) and on the other side are the buses that will bring you to those places. There are also buses on the left pero for Mandarin ata yun. But the Venetian is the place to go right now, gauging from the neverending queue for their buses.



The Venetian in Macau is impressive - in a gaudy kind of way. I think this is how Las Vegas is too! Beautiful, over-the-top, everyone, polite, helpful, and on to your money!!! The Venetian Arena is like the Araneta Coliseum but with a bad sound system. I couldn't sing along with Celine because if I did, no one would hear her. The sound system was THAT bad!! Usually, in concerts, I can sing out loud to my heart's content without my seatmate complaining since the volume is usually defeaning. Oh well, the show was still great and Celine really gave a good show! I couldn't be too loud in cheering too because the largely Chinese Macau crowd was very polite, hahaha! Sayang nga talaga, kung sa Pinas pa 'to, masaya sana.



Oh well, high points for me in the show - when she did "I'm Your Angel", and when she did "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me" back-to-back. Her voice was in top form and what you hear in the CD is what you hear here. When she does acapella, it gives you incredible goosebumps!! My favorite part of the show was "River Deep, Mountain High" - her version of Tina Turner's classic! Though not much of a dancer, Celine moved naturally as she only can to the grooves of her songs. She did four songs from her latest "Taking Chances" album, which is also the title of her world tour. My favorite among them was "Shadow of Love". This should be released as a single. She also did a French song - "Pour que te m'aime encore" - which I think means - For that you love me again - my French is still poor, hahaha! Of course, her encore was THAT Titanic song. I don't really like it, but anyway, the other 99% of the audience surely did as it had the loudest cheer of the night, hahaha!



I wished I watched Beyonce here at the Venetian. The Globe people tortured 50000 Filipinos watching Beyonce in a sorry venue like the Fort. The Venetian is classy, cool and you can wear fabulous clothes because you are in a fabulous setting. Oh well, I'm just happy that most of the live shows now are done in the Araneta - where they should be!!!



I bought a lot of Celine Dion souvenir shirts! I am addicted to tour shirts. I have so many! We even got a program. We were so pathetic!! But who cares? Other people get their kicks in some other ways, we get ours through these. I remember the time I bought a Gwen Stefani doll in her HK show, and this lady was a bit amused that a big guy like me was carrying a doll. I wanted to say to her, "Oh, you should see the large adult-size doll I have in my bed. They are perfect toys before I go to sleep, (wink, wink!)".



Well, we will have another dose of Celine in Shanghai in April. Yes, we cannot get enough of her!! This time, I will buy the DVD of her concert in Las Vegas, because her song selection is almost similar. Just want to relive the wondeful moments of her Macau show and prep me up for her Shanghai one. Maybe the only downside to this show was that she did not sing many of her hits. No "Beauty and the Beast", no "A New Day", no "That's the Way it is" (why oh why Celine!!!) or "Nothing Broken But My Heart" (my most favorite song of hers!!! - understandable because it was an obscure 1992 hit but nevertheless, very special to me). Anyway, maybe in her next tour, whenever that may be.
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