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Category:    Home > Reviews > Concert > Pop > Standards > Soul > Rock > Celine Dion – Live In Las Vegas: A New Day (Blu-ray Set)

Celine Dion – Live In Las Vegas: A New Day (Blu-ray Set)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: A-     Extras: C     Concert: C

 

 

I am no Celine Dion fan, especially when it comes to her cover songs, like having a hit with Patti La Belle’s If You Asked Me To from the James Bond film Licence To Kill.  Of course, it is a running joke to think of Miss Dion taking on any material with any kind of edge without softening it, no matter how tough she tries to come on.  Covering AC/DC hits is one example, but you will not find her visiting Angus Young territory on Celine Dion – Live In Las Vegas: A New Day now on Blu-ray from her insanely, commercially successful Las Vegas playdates at The Colosseum at the legendary Caesar’s Palace.

 

The songs include:

 

1)     A New Day Has Come

2)     The Power Of Love

3)     It’s All Coming Back To Me Now

4)     Because You Loved Me

5)     To Love You More

6)     I’m Alive

7)     I Drove All Night

8)     Seduces Me

9)     If I Could

10)  Pour Que Tu M’aimes encore

11)  I Surrender

12)  Ammore Annascunnuto

13)  All The Way

14)  I’ve Got The World On A String

15)  I Wish

16)  Love Can Move Mountains

17)  River Deep, Mountain High

18)  My Heart Will Go On

 

 

When she is doing middle of the road material, she is at her best (or best that can be expected) while doing covers, things become more complicated.  In the case of track 7, it was already a hit for Roy Orbison and especially for Cyndi Lauper who used to record Billy Steinberg/Tom Kelly songs all the time before they became jingle writers.  In Dion’s hands, it might as well be a jingle and conveys none of the sexual honesty the Lauper version offers.  I can almost live with the Sinatra tracks (tracks 13 & 14) but the cover of the Stevie wonder classic I Wish is a disaster for her and just about anyone else who would dare to take it on.

 

That leaves one more faux pas (she actually knows what that means for several reasons) and that is covering the Tina Turner classic (track 17, which was done with Ike Turner in name only and produced by the also-controversial Phil Spector in its time) just falls flat as compared to Miss Turner’s version, a song Miss Turner continues to perform whenever she comes out of her retirement.

 

This leads me to ask the one big question about and for Miss Dion.  With all the great songs out there not being sung or remembered, all the great records that were hits just a few decades ago, why is she taking on material that is obviously better in other hands and/or is too closely associated with other big singers?  When you have great records out there not remembered or heard enough like, say, The Look Of Love, Nobody Does It Like Me or I (Who Have Nothing) would make her look and sound better than these more obvious and often ill-fitting choices.  Sure, she can sing what she wants, likes and has the clout to afford any royalty she pleases, but the biggest money does not always lead to the best-fitting material.

 

As a matter of fact, I dare her to find (relatively) more obscure material and try it out.  Even though I am not a big fan, I bet it would yield better results and surprise her fans and non-fans alike.  In the meantime, this is a solid Blu-ray set, even if the content was uneven for this critic, but if you are a fan of her, Blu-ray high definition, home theaters or concerts, you’ll find something in this set to entertain and amuse you.  Say what you want, Miss Dion is not holding back and she gets points for that.

 

 

Sony has spared no expense in capturing the footage in some of the best HD shooting we have seen for a concert, here in 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image that is meant to ashore her run as one of their top vocal acts.  The venue looks good so this is going to look good too.  It can still have that stage-bound look, but this has a few demo moments.  The Dolby TrueHD 96/24 5.1 mix is a bit better than the decent PCM 96/24 5.1 mix, while both embarrass the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 kbps mix, which sounds weak, old and cannot seem to handle the soundmix by comparison.  The HD/TrueHD combination is recommended.

 

Extras include a very nice glossy, full color booklet that includes lyrics for all the songs, a first in all of HD software.  Blu-ray One adds the 41-minutes fan tribute featurette Because You Loved Me, while Blu-ray Two adds A New Day: The Secrets featurette (53 minutes) and a two-hour documentary A New Day: All Access.  If that is not enough Celine overload for you, I don’t know what is.  Like her or not, the presentation is first class all the way and that should keep fans very happy.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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