The tour marked Dion’s return to performing on a global scale, after five successful years with her groundbreaking Las Vegas residency, A New Day....

Taking Chances was, indeed, an ambitious tour; kicking-off with nine shows across five cities in South Africa, the tour saw Dion performing for fans in Dubai, Tokyo, Osaka, Macau, Seoul, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur before visiting five cities in Australia—with further planned shows in Beijing, New Zealand, Qatar and Turkey being canceled for various unforeseen reasons.

The show, directed by Jamie King (famously known for his work with Madonna), combined Dion's performances with color, fashion and dance.

One show featured a set-list mostly of English-language songs, and was performed in-the-round using the full system of mobile screens, elevators, and conveyor belts.

The second show also featured the center stage arrangement, but included ten of her best-known French language songs for performances in Francophone countries.

An end-stage setup was used in these cases (as they were mainly indoor arenas), featuring a massive central video screen, and a lighting system that engulfed the stage in brilliant blue and red on three sides.

[4] When the tour ultimately reached Dion’s home province of Québec, Canada, she performed eight sold-out shows in Montréal and two in Québec City; furthermore, although not an official date on the Taking Chances Tour, on 22 August 2008, Dion performed a free show for 250,000 people—the single largest audience of her entire career—as part of the 400th anniversary of Quebec City; the concert was held at the legendary Plains of Abraham site.

The show, exclusively performed in French, featured many special guests, including: Garou, Dan Bigras, Ginette Reno and Jean-Pierre Ferland.

There are all kind of photographs from walking on the River Thames, in a park with lions, a safari in Africa, to travel in private aircraft, including the arrival of trucks in the early morning in New York City and the spectacular assembling the scene.

[21] For a 22 August 2008 free concert (not a part of the Taking Chances Tour), Dion sang in front of her biggest crowd, up until that point, when she performed on the Plains of Abraham to help celebrate Quebec City's 400th Birthday.

[26] According to her official website, Dion became the top-selling performer for three venues: Montreal’s Bell Centre, Kansas City's Sprint Center, and the New Orleans Arena.

Performing in a stadium that ordinarily holds rugby fans and flanked by two huge screens, Dion used her astonishing voice to captivate the near-capacity crowd."

[29] Jon Caramanica of the New York Times wrote that Dion "showed off a few new tricks without violating her core tenets of scale and pomp."

"[31] Randy Lewis's article in the Los Angeles Times was more enthusiastic, opening with, "It's a no-brainer why Celine Dion's Taking Chances tour is shaping up as one of the highest-grossing North American concert attractions of 2008... hundreds of thousands of fans are filling arena after arena to hear Dion deliver emotional climax after emotional climax, goosebump-inducing vocal thrill after thrill, sweeping chorus after chorus filled with spirit-lifting affirmations and enough technical razzle-dazzle to dwarf the Super Bowl halftime show.

The article was expanded, claiming "her vocal workouts are all about perfection — and without a hint Auto-Tuning in sight — she succeeds at letting her human side come through in the spaces between songs.

Sarah Rodman of the Boston Globe wrote positively, "There was never a dearth of stimulation, be it her own costume changes, the intricate lighting, the video imagery, or her cadre of dancers, deployed judiciously.

The 'Taking Chances World Tour' marks Dion's return to the road after a five-year gig in Las Vegas and Celineophiles were tingling with excitement as they lined up to get into the Bell Centre.

Dave Simpson of The Guardian gave the Manchester concert 3 stars out of 5 and stated, "in her nine-year break from touring (apart from a residency in Vegas), Dion has clearly been abducted by aliens and replaced by CelineBarbie, a dancing sex goddess who makes raunchy smiles at the camera, dances with musclemen, performs rockers penned by Pink's songwriter Linda Perry and, bizarrely, turns Roy Orbison songs into gay disco.

"[34] An article in Sun Media gave the Toronto concert 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated, "Is Celine Dion really taking chances anymore?