THE POWER OF CELINE.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

LAS VEGAS - While seemingly oblivious gamblers dropped quarters into slots at Caesars Palace on Tuesday night, a spectacle began literally a few feet away. Strobes were flashing, cameras were rolling and crowds streaming as pop diva Celine Dion threw open the doors of her new home, the Colosseum - a 4,100-seat, $90-million-plus state-of-the-art theater.

For the next three years, Dion is expected to lure sellout crowds for her new show, ``A New Day,'' 200 times yearly at ticket prices of between $87.50 and $200.

In order to get fans - and gamblers - Caesars clearly wanted a stage show that would match the extraordinary vocal power of the world's No. 1 female vocalist, and they got it in ``A New Day,'' with eye-popping, surrealist-inspired theatrics created by Franco Dragone. It is so eye-popping at times that the lithe Dion almost seems to fade into the extravaganza, providing the background music to the ever-changing visuals. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing.

Cirque Du Soleil veteran Dragone, who helped design ``O,'' playing down the street at the Bellagio, seems to take much of his inspiration from fellow Belgian and surrealist Rene Magritte (``Son of Man'') with a lot of Hollywood - especially '50s musicals - thrown in.

When the French-Canadian native Dion sings ``The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'' - the folkie tune made famous by Roberta Flack - behind her on a 34-foot-high by 110-foot-wide high-definition movie screen that cost $6 million is projected an old-fashion ornate gold picture frame, inside of which is another, then another, etc. Then,suddenly,five or so of the show's nearly 50 dancers float down from the rafters strapped to harnesses. Eventually they alight onto the massive stage, and suddenly Dion - looking very muselike with short-cropped blond hair and a flowing sparkly light blue gown - starts to rise (obviously in a harness,too). She is then joined by the others, who create balletic movements (the Cirque touch) while her vocals soar. All of this then is put inside the frames on the screen.

As the song is ending, a soft white spot shines down from the top of the Colosseum - some 50 feet high in front of the top frame of the stage - and slowly the 35-year-old diva and mother of a 2-year-old ascends into the light, disappearing into the darkness. And that is only one of the 23 set pieces that are part of Dion's show. Two numbers are instrumentals to provide for clothing changes or presumably getting off the roof, like after ``The First Time.''

Do all the pieces to the new Celine puzzle fit? Well, there are few things the need to be worked out. The sound was muddy at times, particularly on the lower registers. A couple of the numbers are flatter than you would expect, considering how much is going on. In the bluesy ``(Everything You Do) Seduces Me,'' Dion sits back in an oversize chair as shirtless male dancers writhe around her. The number doesn't register much heat until the scene is projected behind them, giving an echo effect. Also there's a sameness to the over-dramatization of some of Dion's songs that was reflected in the staging, resulting in overkill.

That said, ``A New Day'' is a mostly fabulous experience - and not just for the spectacle but because Dion is a very talented and hard-working performer. Sometimes you wonder if she's channeling someone else - it's hard to believe that such powerful vocals emanate from that thin frame. But Dion is a tough veteran entertainer who knows how to please her fans with intense but winning renditions of hits such as ``Because You Love Me,'' from ``Up Close & Personal''; ``My Heart Will Go On,'' from ``Titanic''; and ``I Drove All Night,'' from her new album, ``One Heart'' - and from the Chrysler commercial featuring her son that plays soundlessly in the lobby.

At another point, Dion paid tribute to some other vocal talents - Etta James with ``At Last,'' Peggy Lee with ``Fever'' and Frank Sinatra with ``I've Got the World on a String.'' Despite her vocal fireworks, she doesn't have the artistry of those three yet - too mired in uninspired pop - but she's no slouch, either. And the numbers proved one of the highlights of the show.

She really hit her stride toward the end with her last five songs, particularly with Stevie Wonder's ``I Wish,'' a seemingly odd choice considering the lyrics. (``Looking back on when I was a little nappy-headed boy.'') But the tune has an infectious bass run, and it was on that number Dion did the most dancing and running around on stage. At that point the show really was hers.

During the evening, Dion made a couple of references to the war in Iraq with a wish for peace. After she had excited the audience with ``My Heart Will Go On,'' she chose to end the night with ``What a Wonderful World,'' first made famous by Louis Armstrong. It seemed a heartfelt choice, but some in the crowd probably expected something upbeat. Still, Celine got a standing O, and rightly so.

I suspect ``A New Day'' will get even better in time - it's still a bit of an uneasy hybrid at moments. A simple concert by Dion might please her fans, but it's not going to get the rest of us into the seats. Dragone's show has plenty of merit of its own, and another plus is that it has already raised the bar artistically for Dion. In the long run, she could prove to be more than just another pop diva.

A couple of quick notes: There's really not a bad seat in the Colosseum - the vantage points are good even up in the cheap (we use that term loosely) seats in the second balcony. There are lots of things to spend your money on, from T-shirts to sushi. And I swear some of the same people were dropping quarters in the same machines when I came out.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Celine Dion thanks the crowd after singing ``The Power of Love,'' during the opening of her ``A New Day'' show Tuesday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

(2) Fans in the 4,100-seat theater also got a look at the hard-working Dion's shorter haircut.

Joe Cavaretta/Associated Press