Taiwanese fans who just last Friday were celebrating the news that Celine Dion would be appearing in Taipei in October discovered late on Wednesday that she had canceled her planned Asian tour and other performances.
A statement posted on Dion’s Facebook page on Wednesday said that she had decided to “postpone all of her show business activities indefinitely, in order to focus 100% of her attention on her husband Rene, their family, and associated health issue.”
“Since Rene’s surgery last December to remove a cancerous tumor, it’s been a very difficult and stressful time for the couple as they deal with the day-to-day challenges of fighting this disease while trying to juggle a very active show business schedule, and raise their three young children,” the statement said.
“Celine has also been fighting an illness that has caused inflammation in her throat muscles, and has not been able to perform any of her scheduled shows in Las Vegas since her last show on July 29th. She has still not recovered from this condition,” the statement said.
Dion was also quoted as saying that she wanted to “devote every ounce of my strength and energy to my husband’s healing” and “it’s important for me to dedicate this time to him and to our children.”
She apologized to her fans for the inconvenience and thanked them for their love and support.
The organizer of the Taipei concert, Kuang Hong Arts, confirmed that Dion had canceled all nine concerts on her Asia tour.
The company said that it had no further information other than what had been posted in the Facebook announcement.
However, Dion’s announcement gave renewed hope to Mariah Carey fans.
Carey had been planning an October performance in Taipei, but her organizers, Yu Kuang Music, canceled it after losing out on the Taipei Arena to Dion’s representatives.
“We were previously told that she was able to come between Oct. 27 and Oct. 30. After being told that the Taipei Arena was not available for use during that time, Carey’s team gave the spot to other Asian countries on the waiting list. They then scheduled a concert in Manila on Oct. 28, launching ticket sales yesterday,” Yu Kuang media contact Amy Ke (柯曉雲) said.
Ke said that her company contacted Carey’s agent as soon as it heard the news of Dion’s tour cancelation and are hoping that they can arrange for her to perform in Taipei on Oct. 30.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS