Shania Boards - View Single Post - "Still the One" Opening Night + SKC party reviews/photos/comments

...she introduced twin brothers who "sing like angels," Ryan and Dan Kowarsky, the Canadian duo known as RyanDan, and they joined in for the only cover of the set -- a quick a cappella version of "Carrie Anne."

The song that stayed with Shania "all through the years" led to thoughts about her mother who loved the Everly Brothers and the vocal blend they created, then her sister who in 1967 was named after that Hollies song.

"Now Carrie and I are working on doing something together alone but right at the moment she's not quite there yet," Twain revealed about her mother's "beautiful gift" who quit singing at age 8 and was even hesitant to join this act.

The cozy atmosphere was augmented when six enthusiastic fans (especially a heavy-set Nashville man named Dan) were plucked from the audience by Twain and her husband Frederic Thiebaud for a singalong around a faux campfire where the sounds of the night included chirping crickets.

For anybody who forgot all that Twain accomplished in less than a decade, this show will certainly bring you back to your senses. Clips from Shania's most iconic videos, including "That Don't Impress Me Much," "Love Gets Me Every Time" and "Man! I Feel Like A Woman" are shown on a 31-ton high-definition LED screen that measures 34 feet by 109 feet.

And while some of the dazzling Marc Bouwer-designed outfits from those shows are on display either in the lobby or outside the Colosseum's entrance, Twain looks remarkable in attire also made by the famed costumier that's reminiscent of the originals. Following the catsuit were blue jeans with hot pink boots, short shorts, the knockoff leopard ensemble, an exquisite white gown and a short, black cocktail dress.

A show with too many highlights to count, it's the final 15 minutes that make skin tingle, hearts ache, tears drop and tongues wag. Confetti in the shapes of snowflakes falls heavily as Twain rides in on the white horse (which follows her every move) for the romantic one-two punch of "You're Still the One" and "From This Moment On," delivered divinely but with an air of melancholia, considering her devastating breakup with the song's cowriter.

But after one more costume change, it all ends well. With the feel-good "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" blasting, sprinkles of gold glitter heighten the celebratory mood, SHANIA literally lights up the house and groups of the troupe take their final bows to a standing ovation. If only this well-orchestrated event left room for an encore.

"We've got a rowdy crowd here. I really like this; makes it so much fun. This is why I do this. I love to sing and I love music, but the only reason that I do this up on stage is because of you. You guys make it all worth it. I started my career at 3 years old. ... My passion grew very strongly at a very young age. And my mother recognized that and nurtured it and developed it. And we didn't have any money, so it's not like I went to some great performing arts school. ... It all started quite late for me." -- Twain, following a neat visual trick when she slammed the door shut to end "(If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!"

Twain was 29 when her breakthrough album The Woman in Me was released in the spring of 1995, then 31 when Come On Over came out in 1997 and went on to sell more than 40 million albums worldwide, the crowning achievement for the top-selling female country artist of all time. Now she's 47, and while she continues to work on those pipes affected by vocal dysphonia, the performer who's as energetic and entertaining as ever still yearns to "sing without all the hoopla."

During one of the early stage transformations, a film clip depicted a Shania showdown, pitting good vs. evil characters wearing cowboy hats. There probably are more sides the public hasn't seen.

So who's the real Shania? The private introvert who left at the top of her game and waited so long to return to the stage or the gregarious and courageous diva with nerve enough to dive into a show with so many moving parts and pull it off without a hitch?

With approximately 110 shows to go until Twain's reign at the Colosseum ends in 2014, there's only one place to find the answer.

-Chris