Canadian singer Celine Dion performs during her first-ever concert in Chinese mainland city Shanghai on Friday, April 11, 2008. [Photo: ent.sina.com.cn]
Canadian pop superstar Celine Dion performed on the Chinese mainland for the first time, with a concert at the 50,000-seat Shanghai Stadium Friday evening.
Though the Beijing concert had been canceled, the Shanghai performance was confirmed to be a big success.
A leather suit accompanied the slim diva during the 90-minute concert to protect her just-recovered voice in this early spring weather.
The star opened the show with "Drove all night", "Power of love", "Because you love me", which sounded familiar to the Chinese audience.
She also selected a song "My Love" from her latest album, "Taking Chances," which was released last November.
And the following French songs and rock songs made the concert-goers more excited.
Finally, Dion performed two famous songs of English rock band Queen, "We will rock you", "Show must go on" and concluded the show with one of her best-known songs, "My Heart Will Go On," from the 1997 blockbuster film "Titanic".
The Shanghai concert is part of the artist's "Taking Chances" world tour. Dubbed as "the best selling female artist in the world," Dion has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide, according to figures released by her record company Sony BMG.
Born to a large impoverished family in Quebec, Dion, the youngest of 14 children, first gained international recognition in the 1980s after she won the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.
Dion achieved worldwide success with the release of several English and French albums.
At the height of her success in 1999, Dion announced a temporary withdrawal from entertainment in order to start a family and enjoy life. Her music has been influenced by genres ranging from pop, soul, and rock to classical and gospel.
She is also one of the best known Western pop singers in China. In 1999, she held a sold-out concert at the old Kai Tak airport runway in Hong Kong.
