15,000 guests were treated to a concert held at the Venetian-Macau Hotel Resort by artist Celine Dion on March 15. The Canadian singer spoke a few casual phrases in Chinese (Nihao, "hello," and Xiexie, "thank you"), gave her blessings to China's hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games, and spoke of her April 13 stop in the capital to perform at the Beijing Workers' Stadium.

Celine Dion in concert

It's been five years since Celine Dion has performed on a World Tour; as such, it is not surprising that the 15,000 tickets available for her concert in Macau sold out in the first two days.

Celine Dion's "Taking Chances" World Tour was aimed at showing audience members her take on what love means. Along with five outfit changes, Dion's powerful voice carried through to each listener, capturing the hearts and minds of all.

To thunderous applause, the artist went through different genres of music, including rock n' roll and flamenco, singing 23 songs in a performance lasting an hour and a half. She even belted out a French song, entitled Pour que tu m'aimes encore, which she told audience members is the first French song she has ever performed on tour. Her rendition of the ever-popular My Heart Will Go On, the theme song from the movie Titanic, had the entire audience singing along.

After the concert, Celine spoke to reporters about the upcoming April concert in Beijing. She articulated her desire to satisfy her audience by giving a good concert, and said that her concert in the capital is her chance to express well wishes to the Beijing Olympic Games.

(BOCOG March 18, 2008)