The Colour of My Love works hard, as does Dion, to convince us she's already a major diva, and the approving crowd of hometown fans obviously agrees. Dion, her hair cropped in a shorter, curly 'do, is equally chic in black suit or blue gown, a troupe of dancers invades for strategic uptempo pieces, and her studio duet partners for both "When I Fall in Love"(Clive Griffin) and "Beauty and the Beast" (Peabo Bryson) pop up to repeat their roles. The star attacks each song with laser-like focus, and she radiates a sense of theatrical drama.

Technically, however, the special suffers from direction that mistakes swooping camera movement, sudden zoom shots, tilted frames, and other concert video clichés for real drama. More problematic is abundant evidence of considerable post-production sweetening in the star's vocals--like other post-rock divas with arena-sized ambitions, Dion (or perhaps her producer) is apparently determined to reproduce the surreal sonic precision and scale of the records. It's a slippery slope that tempts perfectionists to leave less and less of the actual performance on the soundtrack, even though Dion's huge voice would still be impressive (and possibly more exciting) if rendered without such editorial tweaks. --Sam Sutherland