Cher at the Colosseum

Cher at the Colosseum
Tour by Cher
Start date	May 6, 2008
End date	February 5, 2011
Legs	13
Shows	192 in North America
Cher tour chronology
Living Proof: The Farewell Tour (2002-2005) Cher at the Colosseum (2008-2011) Never Can Say Goodbye Tour (2012-2013)

Cher at the Colosseum was a series of concerts by Cher at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. For the three-year engagement, Cher received $180 million. Performing at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the first show occurred on May 6, 2008 and the last show was on February 5, 2011. The singer planned to perform 200 dates over a three-year period but due to eight cancellations only 192 shows were done. The show included 14 dancers and four aerialists, with a total of 25 costumes designed by Bob Mackie.

Set list

This setlist is representative of the last show on February 5, 2011. It doesn't represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.

1. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
2. "The Fire Down Below"
3. "Old Time Rock and Roll"
4. "The Beat Goes On"
5. "All I Really Want to Do"
6. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves"
7. "Dark Lady"
8. "Half-Breed"
9. "Don't Leave Me This Way"
10. "Take Me Home"
11. "Love Hurts"
12. "After All"
13. "Walking In Memphis"
14. "Strong Enough"
15. "If I Could Turn Back Time"
16. "Believe"

Costumes

Designer Bob Mackie created a total of twenty-two unique ensembles for Cher at the Colosseum.

• For "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Song for the Lonely", Cher wore a gold-feathered cape (resembling bird wings on her shoulders) and a headdress/crown with an Egyptian asp. In the back, the headdress had gold feathered spikes that went down to her neck. The cape was removed after she got off of her “Flying Death Mobile” to reveal a much skimpier gold fringe sequined outfit, the same gold-fringed sequined outfit that she wore for the Living Proof: The Farewell Tour's introduction, "The Power", the Love Medley, and "Love Hurts". She also wore gold boots.

• For her Laverne skit, Cher wore a leopard-skinned dress/jump-suit and coat with purple, green, and pink feathers. She had her typical Laverne red curly wig, tacky jewelry, and purple pointed glasses.

• For "All or Nothing" and "I Found Someone", Cher wore a bronze and gold sultan themed outfit (with pants) covered in gold jewels and sequins. She had long gold tassels that hung from her arms and midsection. Her hair was a large curly red wig and had a gold forehead crown attached.

• For "Love Is a Battlefield", Cher wore a ram horned headdress adorned with a big apricot colored wig with black tips. She wore leather thigh high boots, a skin tight ripped flesh colored and brown mesh outfit, a cape, and leather gloves.

• For "The Beat Goes On", Cher wore a red sequined mini-dress with matching boots, rings, and earrings. She also wore a black-and-white fur/feather coat and her wig was her signature 60s styled long black hair.

• For "All I Really Want to Do", Cher had her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour's 60s hippie bell-bottom outfit remade. The fur vest was bright purple, the sweater was red-orange, and her bell-bottoms had new colors to match her sweater and fur vest with teal, red, orange, and black. She still wore several rings on her hands, bright purple earrings, and belly-button length ankh necklace around her neck. Her wig was her signature 60s styled long black hair.

• For "Half-Breed", Cher wore her classic Native American feathered headdress war-bonnet over her trademark long straight black hair. She wore her pink, yellow, orange, and red floor length loin cloth covered in jewels. She also had wrist cuffs with jewels and white feathers.

• For "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" and "Dark Lady", Cher wore a purple, yellow, and green gypsy styled dress covered with jewels, a heart, a star, a club, a moon, and a diamond. The skirt part of the dress was large and flared. She wore a matching headdress with purple rasta hair. She wore wrist cuffs and teal blue leather boots with a gold trim at the top.

• Bob Mackie had made a new gypsy styled outfit when Cher started her new leg of shows in September 2009. It was worn for the opening show and was not worn again; she went back to the original gypsy outfit. The newer version was made to transform from a gypsy outfit (very similar to the original) to a gown for “Dark Lady”. The newer gypsy outfit did not have a large flared skirt, but it had strips of jeweled purple and blue sheer fabric. The designs on the dress were more or less the same as the original gypsy outfit, but the headdress and rasta purple hair had slightly changed. When it was time to go into singing “Dark Lady”, two of Cher’s dancers came out to remove a piece of the gypsy skirt which let a longer train of a gown fall to the floor. The gypsy outfit was now a “Fortune Queen” gown of a midnight blue sheer color. A black feathered floor length hand muff was put on her left arm and a black jeweled feathered wreath hat was placed over her gypsy headdress.

Sketch for "Don't Leave Me This Way"

• For "Don't Leave Me This Way", Cher wore a teal blue feathered hat and coat/wrap that had lights flashing on it and green, blue, and purple geometric designs.

• For "Take Me Home", Cher wore a sequined disco outfit with matching sequined wig. The same costume she wore for the Live in Monte Carlo concert, Do You Believe? Tour and Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, only now it was in teal blue.

• For "The Way of Love" and "Love Hurts", Cher wore a midnight blue floor length gown and elbow high gloves with a sequined floral design all along the right side of her torso along with a midnight blue flower themed headdress/cap. It was a newer version of the gown she wore for her Cher: A Celebration at Caesars shows.

• When Cher started her new leg of shows in September 2009, Bob Mackie had combined Cher's previous "The Way of Love"/"Love Hurts" midnight blue gown with the gown he made for her Time magazine cover photo in 1975. The gown was silver now and still floor length. She continued to wear the floral themed headdress/cap. The gown’s design had a feather mystique that covered all the right spots with sequins, beads, and giant pastel colored stones and jewels.

• For "After All", Cher wore an “Ice Queen” light periwinkle fur coat with sequined designs on the back of the coat, pointed hat, leather gloves, and chain mail neck scarf. A newer version of the white “Ice Queen” coat she wore for her Heart of Stone Tour and Love Hurts Tour.

• For "Walking In Memphis", Cher had her peasant girl blouse and jeans outfit from Living Proof: The Farewell Tour redone. She now had Chrome Hearts jeans with blue Gothic crosses, Chrome Hearts silver and diamond jewelry/chains, and Loree Rodkin rings. Her peasant girl blouse was a light blue-purple color, but she had gone back to the original white color for the blouse. Her wig started out as above the shoulders and curly, to below the shoulders and wavy, to below the shoulders and straight, and then finally changed to a long straight wig that goes down to her chest. All have been blond wigs.

• For "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", Cher wore a mini black dress with flared open sleeves, pointed shoulder pads, and pink and green floral jeweled designs. She wore a curly hot pink wig that had bangs in front and curly pig-tails on the sides. She also wore bright pink heels.

• For "Strong Enough" and "If I Could Turn Back Time", Cher wore her classic biker-chick jeweled ripped leather and fishnet black body suit with thong, thigh high leather jeweled boots, and a jeweled black leather jacket with fuchsia lining. This was the same costume design from her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, Heart of Stone Tour, and Love Hurts Tour. She wore her classic giant curly black wig.

• For the closing number, "Believe", three outfits were made. The first outfit she wore for her first leg of concerts in May. Cher wore a silver-and-white costume with feathers and jewels, resembling a goddess or angel. The costume had wings that hung down from both arms and she wore a platinum white wig with bangs in the front. The wig bumped up on the top of her head and had a long pony tail in the back with a goddess crown. The wig came down on her neck and throat and covered it almost like a helmet. Her chest and torso were covered in flesh colored fabric with jewels in an hour glass shape.

• Her second "Believe" outfit debuted her first night back for her second leg of concerts in August 2008. Bob Mackie was quoted as saying, "Cher told me that she wanted to be more naked...It's not vulgar, but it's quite shocking. It's like we dipped her in glue and rolled her in diamonds. Not enough of them to cover up the girl." Her left hand and arm had diamond tassels hanging from them. Her torso was covered with flesh colored material that was completely covered with bubble shapes made of diamonds, jewels, and sequins. She had a new headdress that resembled the headdress-crown she wore for the opening outfit when she sang "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Instead of being gold, it was silver and it did not have the Egyptian asp, it had a rounded crown on the top of her head. In the back, her hair looked like dread-locks but they were silver beaded chains.

• The third outfit was a combination of the “Believe” outfit from the Living Proof: The Farewell Tour and the second "Believe" outfit from Caesars Palace. It had beaded chains hanging down over all the right places but was still revealing. She wore a jeweled thong revealing almost her entire buttocks, revealing her infamous tattoo. She wore a jeweled bra that was flesh colored and covered in silver jewels, it had a jeweled red heart over her left breast. Her sleeves were long beaded chains that wrapped around her arms. She had a bright candy-apple red straight wig with slanted bangs that went down to her shoulders. She also wore silver beaded wrist cuffs and platinum silver boots.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
May 6, 2008	Las Vegas	United States	The Colosseum
May 7, 2008
May 10, 2008
May 11, 2008
May 13, 2008
May 14, 2008
May 17, 2008
May 18, 2008
May 20, 2008
May 21, 2008
May 24, 2008
May 25, 2008
May 27, 2008
May 28, 2008
May 31, 2008
June 1, 2008
August 6, 2008
August 7, 2008
August 10, 2008
August 12, 2008
August 13, 2008
August 16, 2008
August 17, 2008
August 19, 2008
August 20, 2008
August 23, 2008
August 24, 2008
August 26, 2008
August 27, 2008
August 30, 2008
August 31, 2008
September 2, 2008
September 3, 2008
September 6, 2008
September 9, 2008
September 10, 2008
September 16, 2008
September 17, 2008
September 20, 2008
September 21, 2008
September 30, 2008
October 1, 2008
February 21, 2009
February 24, 2009
February 25, 2009
February 28, 2009
March 1, 2009
March 3, 2009
March 4, 2009
March 7, 2009
March 8, 2009
March 10, 2009
March 11, 2009
March 14, 2009
March 15, 2009
March 17, 2009
March 18, 2009
March 20, 2009
March 21, 2009
April 25, 2009
April 26, 2009
April 28, 2009
April 29, 2009
May 2, 2009
May 3, 2009
May 5, 2009
May 6, 2009
May 9, 2009
May 10, 2009
May 12, 2009
May 13, 2009
May 16, 2009
May 17, 2009
May 19, 2009
May 20, 2009
May 23, 2009
May 24, 2009
September 19, 2009
September 20, 2009
September 22, 2009
September 23, 2009
September 26, 2009
September 27, 2009
September 29, 2009
September 30, 2009
October 3, 2009
October 4, 2009
October 6, 2009
October 7, 2009
October 10, 2009
October 11, 2009
November 19, 2009
November 21, 2009
November 24, 2009
November 25, 2009
November 28, 2009
November 29, 2009
December 1, 2009
December 2, 2009
December 5, 2009
December 6, 2009
December 8, 2009
December 9, 2009
December 12, 2009
December 13, 2009
December 15, 2009
December 16, 2009
December 19, 2009
December 20, 2009
April 10, 2010
April 11, 2010
April 13, 2010
April 14, 2010
April 17, 2010
April 18, 2010
April 20, 2010
April 21, 2010
April 24, 2010
April 25, 2010
April 27, 2010
April 28, 2010
May 8, 2010
May 9, 2010
May 11, 2010
May 12, 2010
May 15, 2010
May 16, 2010
May 18, 2010
May 19, 2010
May 23, 2010
May 25, 2010
May 26, 2010
May 29, 2010
May 30, 2010
June 15, 2010
June 16, 2010
June 19, 2010
June 20, 2010
June 22, 2010
June 23, 2010
June 26, 2010
June 27, 2010
June 29, 2010
June 30, 2010
July 3, 2010
July 4, 2010
September 4, 2010
September 5, 2010
September 7, 2010
September 8, 2010
September 10, 2010
September 11, 2010
September 21, 2010
September 22, 2010
September 25, 2010
September 26, 2010
September 28, 2010
September 29, 2010
October 2, 2010
October 3, 2010
October 5, 2010
October 6, 2010
October 9, 2010
October 10, 2010
October 16, 2010
October 17, 2010
October 19, 2010
October 20, 2010
October 23, 2010
October 24, 2010
October 26, 2010
October 27, 2010
October 30, 2010
October 31, 2010
January 11, 2011
January 12, 2011
January 15, 2011
January 16, 2011
January 18, 2011
January 19, 2011
January 22, 2011
January 23, 2011
January 25, 2011
January 26, 2011
January 29, 2011
January 30, 2011
February 1, 2011
February 2, 2011
February 4, 2011
February 5, 2011

Cancellations

Cher canceled eight shows. Seven were due to an illness that she called "Vegas Throat". Rumors spread saying that the star had cancer. Cher made an appearance on the Today show and Access Hollywood saying, "If I had cancer everyone would know about it. I wouldn't tell them but someone would." She also said she could not wait to return to Las Vegas in February 2009. The canceled dates were: September 7, 23, 24, 27, 28 and October 4 and 5 in 2008. The eighth cancellation was on May 22, 2010, as Cher was suffering from a stomach bug.

Box office score data

Billboard BOXSCORE - The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
Dates (MDY)	Position	Gross sales	Tickets sold / available	Sellout (%)
05-21-08	3	$2,547,560	16,870 / 16,870	100%
05-28-08	4	$2,569,083	16,962 / 16,962	100%
06-04-08	3	$2,584,217	17,022 / 17,022	100%
06-11-08	12	$2,589,078	17,056 / 17,056	100%
08-16-08	2	$1,895,526	12,477 / 12,808	97%
08-23-08	2	$2,591,497	17,078 / 17,078	100%
08-30-08	5	$2,573,670	17,061 / 17,061	100%
09-13-08	9	$2,538,438	16,634 / 16,945	98%
09-13-08	11	$1,739,643	11,600 / 12,375	94%
09-20-08	10	$1,290,796	8,517 / 8,517	100%
09-27-08	2	$2,596,618	17,081 / 17,081	100%
10-18-08	3	$1,294,960	8,530 / 8,530	100%
03-14-09	2	$3,331,455	22,134 / 23,819	93%
03-28-09	3	$1,844,510	12,606 / 14,909	85%
03-28-09	2	$1,912,403	13,124 / 15,069	87%
04-04-09	6	$1,911,450	13,095 / 15,166	86%
05-09-09	2	$3,294,601	22,442 / 24,595	91%
05-30-09	9	$1,781,525	12,716 / 15,771	81%
06-06-09	1	$3,845,125	26,493 / 29,983	88%
10-10-09	28	$3,199,085	21,939 / 25,176	87%
10-17-09	6	$1,956,710	13,747 / 15,991	86%
10-24-09	5	$2,326,062	15,992/ 16,967	95%
12-12-09	2	$3,221,147	23,432/ 26,914	87%
01-09-10	1	$3,335,106	26,867 / 31,033	87%
01-09-10	10	$1,271,451	11,826 / 14,564	81%
05-08-10	1	$4,910,221	35,343 / 40,168	88%
05-15-10	17	$735,618	5,727 / 7,049	81%
06-12-10	1	$3,411,693	27,243 / 33,324	82%
06-12-10	11	$1,538,211	12,042 / 16,216	74%
07-10-10	6	$1,727,400	14,296 / 16,660	86%
07-10-10	7	$1,553,125	13,255 / 16,565	80%
09-04-10	3	$1,363,671	12,121 / 15,968	76%
10-09-10	5	$2,180,153	18,084 / 23,113	78%
11-20-10	5	$3,630,738	29,043 / 33,560	87%
11-20-10	9	$3,102,204	23,690 / 25,254	94%
11-20-10	4	$3,846,894	30,342, / 33,723	90%
2-26-11	3	$4,577,104	31,131 / 33,038	94%
2-26-11	2	$4,802,550	32,147 / 33,656	96%
TOTAL / AVERAGE	4	$97,421,298	697,765 / 776,556	90%

Ticketing sales

Top Vegas events Result January 31, 2011-February 5, 2011 No.2 February 1, 2010-January 30, 2011 No.1 November 23, 2009-January 31, 2010 No.2 November 9, 2009-November 22, 2009 No.1 September 21, 2009-November 8, 2009 No.2 September 14, 2009-September 20, 2009 No.1 September 7, 2009-September 13, 2009 No.2 August 31, 2009-September 6, 2009 No.1 May 18, 2009-August 30, 2009 No.2 March 23, 2009-May 17, 2009 No.1 March 16, 2009-March 22, 2009 No.2 March 2, 2009-March 15, 2009 No.1 February 23, 2009-March 1, 2009 No.2 January 12, 2009-February 22, 2009 No.1 December 29, 2008-January 11, 2009 No.2 December 22-December 28, 2008 No.3 December 8-December 21, 2008 No.2 December 1-December 7, 2008 No.3 November 3-November 30, 2008 No.2 September 29-October 5, 2008 No.5 September 22-September 28, 2008 No.2 July 21-September 21, 2008 No.1 May 26-July 20, 2008 No.2 March 10-May 25, 2008 No.1 February 18-March 9, 2008 No.2 February 4-February 17, 2008 No.1

Top concerts events Result September 1-September 7, 2008 No.5 August 25-August 31, 2008 No.6 August 18-August 24, 2008 No.6 August 11-August 17, 2008 No.3 August 4-August 10, 2008 No.9 May 19-May 25, 2008 No.10 May 12-May 18, 2008 No.7 May 5-May 11, 2008 No.3 April 28-May 4, 2008 No.7 February 4-February 10, 2008 No.8

Top combined events Result September 1-September 7, 2008 No.16 August 25-August 31, 2008 No.13 August 18-August 24, 2008 No.16 August 11-August 17, 2008 No.10 May 12-May 18, 2008 No.12 May 5-May 11, 2008 No.6 April 28-May 4, 2008 No.13 April 21-April 27, 2008 No.18 February 11-February 17, 2008 No.18

Broadcast and recordings

On February 26, 2009, Entertainment Tonight aired a segment featuring clips from the show, including "Believe", "Love Is a Battlefield", "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" and "Half-Breed". The audio of all performances was replaced by a remix of "Believe". In early May 2009, a complete recording of the May 9 show was posted in her official community. "Let The Good Times Roll" was also posted, from the May 6 performance, in which Cher's former boyfriend Robert Camilletti was present. Many other recordings have been posted on YouTube. Also clips of "Believe" and her monologue were shown on the May 10th, 2010 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Cher also performed "Take Me Home" from an Oprah Winfrey Show episode from May 6, 2008 live from Caesars Palace. On the May 21st and 22nd episode of "Extra" there were multiple clips of Cher while performing "Believe" and "The Beat Goes On". Cher reported on her official Twitter, that none of the shows were filmed, and none will be released.

However, in late 2012 a full, professionally recorded copy of the show surfaced the internet and made its way to her online forums and YouTube.

Merchandise

Located at Caesars Palace just to the left of the Colosseum entrance doors was the Cher Boutique. There, fans were able to purchase various memorabilia and souvenir items including CDs, DVDs, programs, t-shirts, and mugs. Prices ranged from $5 to $1000+. These items are rarely seen on eBay, but usually sell for double for what they were sold for at the store.

Personnel

• Lead Vocals: Cher
• Musical Direction & Choreographer: Doriana Sanchez
• Costume Design: Bob Mackie
• Aerial Choreographer: Dreya Weber
• Dance Captain: Kevin Wilson
• Aerialist: Sagiv Ben Binyamin
• Aerialist: Katia Sereno
• Aerialist: Mam Smith
• Aerialist: Maximiliano Torandell
• Dancer: Melissa Cabrera
• Dancer: Jackie Dowsett
• Dancer: Suzanne Easter
• Dancer: Scott Fowler
• Dancer: Stephanie Landwehr
• Dancer: Sumayah McRae
• Dancer: Marlon Pelayo
• Dancer: Jamal Story
• Dancer: Jaymz Tuaileva
• Dancer: Claire Louise Turton
• Dancer: Tovaris Wilson

Band

• Background Vocals: Stacy Campbell
• Background Vocals: Jenny Douglas-Foote
• Background Vocals: Patti Russo
• Background Vocals: Danni Gee
• Background Vocals: Nichelle Tillman
• Musical Director/Keyboards/Vocals: Paul Mirkovich
• Guitars/Background Vocals: David Barry
• Drums: Mark Schulman or Nate Morton
• Keyboards: Darrell Smith
• Bass: Alexander (Sasha) Krivstov
• Tenor Saxophone: Glenn Erwin

External links

• Cher's Official Web Page
• Cher at the Colosseum Official Site