Celine Dion has revealed that she will perform with two-time Grammy award winners, Soweto Gospel Choir, during several dates of her first-ever South African tour.
South Africa will launch the Canadian singer’s “Taking Chances” world tour this week, Dion’s first since her five-year Las Vegas residency concluded last December.
At a Johannesburg press conference Tuesday, the singer revealed that her new show will be directed by Jamie King (Madonna’s “The Confessions Tour”).
She promised a “totally different show” to the Las Vegas “A New Day” run, adding that being on the road with her family played a significant part in the upcoming shows.
“The energy of a family that travels is much higher and it’s wonderful, transferring onto stage so well,” she said. Dion used words like “young, vibrant, dynamica, uptempo, lifted up, fresh” to describe the mood of the “Taking Chances” trek.
The one element that will be revived from her Las Vegas residency is the dance troupe. “I last had dancers on stage with me many years ago,” she said. “This is a young, fresh and fun show – I plan to have lots of fun.”
Also at the media gathering, Dion was presented with several multi-platinum awards by Keith Lister, managing director of Sony BMG Africa, including 100,000-plus sales for “Taking Chances,” units in excess of 600,000 sold of “Falling Into You” and cumulative sales — across 16 albums and three DVDs — in excess of two million.
Dion will play a charity benefit in Johannesburg tomorrow (Feb. 14) before opening her world tour proper with a first full show at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria on Feb. 16. A second show follows at Loftus before Dion’s tour moves to the Cape, Port Elizabeth, Durban and back to Johannesburg.
