Cher: Live in Concert from Las Vegas

This show was taped entirely during ONE performance on August 28, 1999, and was first broadcast on August 29, 1999 on HBO. Nothing was edited, and no retakes from earlier performances were used . This is the CHER show just as it was performed, mistakes and all. CHER flubs a lyric at the beginning of "All or Nothing" when she sings "I've been calling out name...", which could easily have been edited, but they left it in. When CHER's cape got caught on the stairs when she removed it during the opening song, different camera angles were used so as not to show her struggling with the cape to untangle it. (You can barely see it getting caught as the camera switches to a closeup of a guitar.) NOTHING WAS CUT OR EDITED OR CHANGED, this is the entire performance just as it occurred! I think CHER deserves credit for this. Streisand would have retaped it over and over and over and over, using only the best takes. (Ask anyone who was ever present at a Streisand taping!)

I originally taped this show on my home VCR when it premiered on HBO. I watched it the day after it was first broadcast, having just returned home from Las Vegas where I had witnessed the live taping. I originally thought the HBO-aired version was great, until I saw the DVD version. What a difference in quality! The DVD transfer is so superior to the quality of the video tape version that HBO aired, that it is like seeing an entirely different show!

The DVD and VHS versions sold in stores are identical to one another, yet these versions are not the same as the version you could have taped directly from an HBO broadcast of the show. They were recorded during the same performance, yet not only is the video quality remarkably different, but completely different camera angles were used for the two versions. This makes the DVD/VHS versions of the show quite different from the HBO broadcast version! (For total CHER fanatics, try watching the two versions side-by side!)

The DVD presentation, digitalized and surround-sound enhanced is quite an incredible experience. If you are a CHER fan (and who isn't, HELLO!), then you MUST purchase this DVD and watch it often. All-in-all, this is a must-have CHER experience on DVD!

The DVD also offers some great extras (not available on the VHS version) that can honestly qualify as "never-before-seen". The film clips that were shown on the large on-stage screen behind CHER as she performed, are presented here in their entirety. If you were at the show in person, there was too much happening on stage to keep your eyes on the big screen. If you saw the show on HBO, they didn't show all the footage that was projected on the big screen. The ONLY way to see these film and video clips is to watch it on the DVD version. That alone is worth the price of owning the DVD.

The only complaint I have with the DVD version is that the ending has been altered somewhat from what we witnessed at the actual show, and from what was originally broadcast on HBO. At the very end, CHER comes back on stage to thank everyone and tell the audience "You're gonna look real cute on TV". Then a recorded version of "Believe" was played, to which CHER and the cast all danced. On the DVD version, you can't hear this music, and the cast looks rather silly standing there dancing in silence! I have no idea why they deleted the music, and it is very strange. WHY?

Also, the end credits were originally broadcast over a sweeping panoramic helicopter view leaving the MGM Grand and flying out of Las Vegas. The DVD version shows the credits on a plain black background, the neon spectacle of Las Vegas nowhere in sight. It was a spectacular ending, and they cut it. A minor deletion, but again, WHY?

CHER, we love ya! Thanks for the free tickets to the taping of this show. We'll never forget you for it! This DVD is a great way to remember and relive the magic! BELIEVE IT!

NOTE: Hopefully someone will eventually release a DVD version of CHER's current 2002 LIVING PROOF show (being taped in Miami on November 8, 2002 for later broadcast on NBC) in it's entirety. I personally feel that the LIVING PROOF show, while essentially the same as the BELIEVE show, is even better. Although it will probably be chopped and cut for the original television broadcast, they could always restore it and include bonus footage for the DVD release. Let me be the first to pre-order that DVD!

• Genres > Television > HBO
• Genres > Music Video & Concerts
• Genres > Special Interests > Religion & Spirituality > Christian Video
• Styles > Pop > Adult Contemporary
• Styles > Pop
• Styles > Rock

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