Toronto Reviews
	Cher is back, babe You better Believe it, icon wows crowd By Jane Stevenson, Toronto Sun Do you believe in a career after infomercials? Cher, who is on the road for the first time in eight years, thanks to her No. 1 dance hit, Believe, was living proof last night during a sold-out show at the Air Canada Centre. After some embarrassing years spent hawking hair products on late-night TV -- which she herself brought up during her fast-paced, hour-and-20-minute show -- music's undisputed comeback queen enthralled 14,500 fans with new and old tunes alike set amongst a multi-media, big-budget show that combined Las Vegas camp with Cirque Du Soleil spectacle. Cher clearly has never met a wig, --or a sparkly, over-the-top outfit for that matter -- she didn't like. Meanwhile, her ever-present six dancers strutted their limber stuff in clothes ranging from flowing monk robes to looking as if they had walked straight off the stage of Cats. Whatever. Cher can still put on a concert that ranks right up with the best of them after 35 years in the record business. "As you can see, I'm more mature now. I'm dressing my age," she joked, after making her dramatic first appearance rising out of the stage floor in a flowing, red, curly wig, sparkly headpiece, and matching medieval garb. "I'm in my Braveheart outfit. I feel very comfortable. I'm dressing my age when I get old and not until then!" Backed by a five-piece band and two back-up singers, Cher opened the tightly choreographed, 17-song set with a strangely representative cover of her larger-than-life personality -- U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Following that, she dug immediately into material from her latest album, 1998's Believe, which has gone five-times platinum in Canada. But those first three new songs, All Or Nothing, The Power Of Love, and We All Sleep Alone -- the latter of which featured her in a Louise Brooks-like black bob wig, a Napoleon hat and a revealing body suit -- couldn't match the kitschy medley that followed. For such '70s hits as Half-Breed, Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves and Dark Lady, Cher switched to a retro-long wig and evening gown --Bob Mackie, perhaps? -- straight from her days on the Sonny & Cher TV show. (She even showed a clip from the variety series and later treated the audience to scenes from some of her films, including Mask, Silkwood, Witches Of Eastwick, Mermaids and Moonstruck.) Those songs were only eclipsed by such showstoppers as Walking In Memphis, which she called "a big flop -- not quite up there with the infomercials but very close," and managed to turn it into one of the biggest crowd pleasers of the night. Particularly since she debuted the long-lost video for the song, in which she plays Elvis, that never saw the light of day in Canada. Also worthy of a mention was the new song, the Flamenco-tinged Dov'e L'amore, featuring her dancers in more restrained black attire and Cher in a form-fitting, black jumpsuit with a long, red-feathered tail. But the audience seemed the most excited about her newest hits, Strong Enough, and the show-ending Believe, which were wedged between the equally strong If I Could Turn Back Time. The last tune of the night, believe it or not, saw some of Cher's dancers suspended from bungee cords while she moved around in a sparkly silver outfit and matching headpiece that resembled a Christmas tree ornament. Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 Cher camps for a new generation And Cyndi Lauper still knows how to have fun By Betsy Powell, Toronto Star Pop Music Critic Do you believe in comebacks? You'd have no other choice if you were at Cher's concert last night at a jammed-to-the-rafters Air Canada Centre before a capacity crowd of 20,000. Indeed, the high priestess of snappy one-liners, info-mercials and the silverscreen is back as a pop chart-topper singing to a new generation who may have missed her the first, second, or third time around. But believing in comebacks is one thing. Proving the return is convincing and required is another. On the basis of Cher's stage show, the verdict is not unless you're satisfied with campy Vegas theatrics, multiple costume changes, ego-stroking film and video clips and lots of twirling, whirling eye candy (dancers) to match the ear candy pumping out of the speakers. She opened the show by rising up through an elevated runway belting ``I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For,'' a U2 classic rendered a souless pop confection by the singer who wore a ruby-red headress and outfit she described as ``Bozo meets Braveheart.'' ``See, I'm more mature, dressing my age,'' she said playing the self-deprecating card. Three songs signalled time for a costume change, the first of many that seemed to keep Cher off the stage more often than not. ``Has she gone for a frappucino?'' muttered a voice in the crowd during one protracted absence. Mind you it is Cher, and who in the crowd didn't come to see at least a few Bob Mackie moments. There were at least a half-dozen more, including a humorous Napoleon/pirate/flapper number, but there's less skin now, the 53-year-old entertainer deferring to scantily clad dancers wearing floor-length Indian costumes who cavorted about during ``Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves.'' Speaking of classic Cher . . . while nostalgia for her older tunes is part of the revival, the singer missed an opportunity to modernize old chesnuts, including ``Gypsies,'' ``Half-Breed'' and ``Dark Lady.'' Disappointingly, they were reduced to a few choruses and verses during a quick medley. When Cher ended the 90-minute concert with ``Believe,'' her massive comeback hit, it proved a predictable single-encore finale, even with two aerial acrobats hanging from stage scaffolding. By comparison, '80s pop survivor Cyndi Lauper delivered a fun, fast-paced 45-minute set. Barefoot and wearing a blue-wig, Lauper worked up the crowd by prancing through the aisles and having a blast - just like we remembered.