Celine in Concert

FINALLY. After months and months of anticipation, we saw her. And it was definitely worth the wait. The stars aligned for my sister Sarah and I. She had to work in the afternoon so she was flying into Oakland at 6:45pm and the concert started at 8 pm at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. I had practically SMOOTH SAILING up to get her- I was actually early which worked out great because her flight was early. We had no problems with traffic- except getting off the 87. That was the worst part. Or so we thought- the lines to GET INTO the HP Pavilion were ridiculous. They switchbacked all along the sides of the center. We were thus 5 minutes late in getting to our seats and so we missed out on the intro act- which was one of the weirdest opening acts I've seen at a concert. It was more like a comedy show- his name is Gordie Brown and he's a "singing impressionist." Basically, he just imitates and pokes fun at musicians and other celebrities. He totally looked like Jack Nicholson and he danced like Michael Jackson. All in all, it was ok- he supposedly has a show in Las Vegas now but I wouldn't pay big bucks to see him. I just thought it was an odd opening act.

But, then she came out. She apologized for the delay but made up for it by saying that she brought her 80 year old mother on tour with her and her husband and son. How sweet is that! Celine is the youngest of 14 kids and so she loves to talk and so she rambled on for several minutes about random things. But, then she got to what she does best- SING. Her voice is UNBELIEVABLE in person. And you KNOW that she isn't lip-synching because she was singing this very serious song the first part that is acapella and in the middle of it, some guy yells out "I love you Celine" and she totally lost it- she started laughing and had to take a few minutes to compose herself. I was totally dying- I wouldn't have been able to continue. She just made a few funny faces, leaned back on the piano, and in true performer style, picked up right where she left off. She really is just phenomenal.

I seriously hope that I have legs as great and fabulous as hers when I'm her age . . . I'd settle for them even now! The concert began with her singing on her own and then as the show went on, she incorporated more dancers and stage elements like her stage show in Las Vegas. It was kind of a blend of the two concerts. And she did a lot of her old classics, but then some of the new favorites from the latest album. I LOVE it when artists do this because these are the songs that helped to establish them and you can't deny the classics. However, Sarah and I both agree that her A New Day stage show in Las Vegas was her best- we were on the third row on the far right of the stage and to be so close to her- close enough that when she walked off stage right by us she heard all three screaming Stults girls and waved and blew kisses at us!!! Yes, at us. I'm sure that many of y'all are skeptical about that, but we know the truth. SHE SAW US. I know that she didn't see us this time- since we were obviously way up in the nosebleeds.

Celine with all of her great dancer- who did unfortunately have some "unique" and not really organic moves as my sister Sarah said :-)

Still so beautiful and charming

The best part about a show in the round is that every seat is great

Here are a couple of my VERY POOR quality videos- some of which would not rotate (sorry, couldn't figure out how to change that). Just believe me that it was even better LIVE.

Video of Taking Chances, I Drove All Night, Alone, and the great violin part from "To Love You More"