Because they loved her – January has the crowd on a crest of a wave as superstar Celine Dion.
The music and glamour of Celine Dion, the 'Queen of the Power Ballad,' was faithfully re-created for a Black Country audience on Saturday courtesy the effervescent and vibrant singer January Butler.
Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276
The Celine Dion Experience at Brierley Hill Civic Hall was just that, a real top show with a mix of trademark ballads, power pop and covers from Roy Orbison to John Farnham and Tina Turner as well as humour and audience interaction.
There was even two renditions of 'Three Lions' to get the sold out crowd in the mood for the football on Sunday, with the talented singer – who won praise from Simon Cowell on X-Factor – engaging the crowd between and during songs, even letting them take over on some of them.
This might not have been Las Vegas, where the French-Canadian songstress Dion had one of the highest ever grossing residencies but there was plenty of glamour, .with January donning a series of eye-catching costumes, putting on a French-Canadian accent which belied her Oldham roots, and showing plenty of personality.
If the first act featured mainly the ballads that Dion is perhaps known for including Because you Loved Me and Think Twice and plenty of chat, the second half exploded into some more up beat sing along numbers including I Drove All Night, River Deep Mountain High, The Voice, Love Can move Mountains and That's the Way it Is, all of which saw the audience up on their feet.
It was clear this was no normal tribute act, with more than two hours faithfully dedicated to the glamour and sounds of one of the biggest selling artists of all time. January had clearly honed her carefully crafted show with hours of study, rehearsal and on stage experience with the band which has seen them perform worldwide as well as all around the UK.
The rapturous encore featured perhaps Dion's most famous song, My Heart Will go On from Titanic which obviously went down well and the meet and greet afterwards, which was a nice touch, saw a large queue form to get closer to the singer who had royally entertained the audience at the Civic.
The new season of entertainment at Brierley Hill Civic Hall has just been finalised. It includes music from rock to pop, country and tribute acts – for more details go to www.bhillcivic.co.uk/whats-on/live-music
