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Author Topic: Celtic Woman, Best Of PBS Special  (Read 2929 times)
celtic4life
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« on: March 04, 2020, 07:26:33 PM »

Georgia Public Broadcasting aired Best of Celtic Woman last night. If it wasn't for my DVR settings to record anything "Celtic Woman" I would have missed it. I'm sitting down tonight and watching it. I'll post the songs that are featured.

Show description:
Celtic Woman celebrates 15 years with a performance that features uplifting anthems and classics.
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celtic4life
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« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2020, 07:51:55 PM »

Opening credits show all the past and present ladies during the past specials with their names flashing all around in the order they joined the group.

1. Ballroom of Romance (Ancient Land)
Méav talks about Celtic Woman with Chloë, Mairéad, and Megan standing in front of Slane Castle
2. May it Be (CW Original Concert)
3.Granuaile's Dance (ANJ)
4. Dúlamán (ANJ)
5. You Raised Me Up (Songs from the Heart)

First pledge break (disappointed because they showed Homecoming Promo pics with Eabha and Susan still with the group)

6. Amazing Grace (Songs from the Heart)
7. The Voice (ANJ)
Mairéad and Chloë talk about the 15 Celebration tour
8. Ave Maria (Believe)
9. Mo Ghile Mear (My Gallant Star) (Homecoming) [No a capella intro]

2nd pledge break

10. Nil Sé'n Lá (Emerald) [No Fun Intro]
11. I See Fire (Destiny)
12. Danny Boy (Homecoming)
13. Their Abhaile Riú (Believe)
Mairéad talks about continuing the legacy of CW. Megan thanks for sharing the journey.
14. The Parting Glass (Ancient Land)

I watched the the credits at the end while the PBS host spoke, they listed all the ladies names in order of appearance. Loved that they shared Musical Direction with David Downes and current Gavin Murphy. The creative consultation for the special is of course Méav.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2020, 07:59:56 PM by celtic4life » Logged
celtic4life
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« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2020, 07:55:57 PM »

I just noticed, the only CWs who was not featured on CD nor this special is Órla amd Hayley. Her name was shown on opening title.

Now they did include Deirdre name in opening title!
« Last Edit: March 04, 2020, 07:58:05 PM by celtic4life » Logged
GlenS
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« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2020, 10:20:05 PM »

On the celebrations cd Orla sings in You Raise me up it's Orla Chloe Lisa and Lynn as far as i can tell anyways it's been along time since i heard Orla on a CW cd I will have to look back
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CWazyTom
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« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2020, 08:08:22 PM »

I finally watched the "Celtic Woman: Best Of..." PBS special!

Some of this may be redundant, but I'll write it all up from my perspective anyways.

Opening

The show opens a quick video montage to the tune of Ballroom of Romance. For those who are curious, this was the set of clips they aired during You Raise Me Up. They looped them a few times during the first 2 shows (and might have slowed them down a little, I can't remember) and shows it only once near the very end of YRMU during subsequent shows I attended. The montage lasts about 17 seconds and features video clips from previous Celtic Woman DVDs and most of the current and previous Celtic Woman members. Members that appeared in the video were: Meav, Lisa Kelly, Orla, Chloë, Mairead Nesbitt, Alex, Lynn, Lisa Lambe, Megan, Mairead Carlin, Tara, Susan, and Eabha. Deirdre and Hayley's names appeared during the video package, but no clips of them were shown (yes, it would have been technically possible to show clips of Deirdre, since she appeared in clips on The Greatest Journey DVD's "The Journey So Far" documentary.


Set 1:

Ballroom of Romance (Ancient Land)
--> A brief interview clip with Chloë, Mairéad, Megan, and Méav at Slane Castle
May It Be (original CW special)
Granuaile's Dance (A New Journey)
Dulaman (A New Journey)
You Raise Me Up (Songs from the Heart)

It's interesting that Tara wasn't in any of the interview segments. I assume they were all filmed at Slane Castle and I guess Tara wasn't available?

Pledge Break 1:

They kept the pledge gifts pretty simple for this broadcast on my PBS station: Celebration CD, Celebration DVD, or both. No tickets available. The 1st pledge break wasn't anything too special. The PBS reps delivered generic, highly scripted donation plugs. That's in stark contrast to the enthusiastic pledge breaks during the Celtic Thunder: Ireland special, where at least one of the PBS hosts spoke enthusiastically and from the heart about the actual group. I get their job is to get people to pledge instead of promoting the group, but personally, I think helping the audience get emotionally invested in the group is an effective strategy for getting them to pledge for that group's gifts. If you get someone interested in the group that wasn't before, it could inspire future pledges from that person too once they get hooked.

Set 2:

Amazing Grace (Songs from the Heart)
The Voice (A New Journey)
--> Brief interview clip of Chloë and Mairead (inside Slane Castle, I think) talking about how they were excited for Celebration Tour
Ave Maria (Believe)
Mo Ghile Mear (Homecoming)

Pledge Break 2:

The 2nd pledge break was by far the best of the show in my opinion. The hosts talked briefly about how, although the cast has changed over time, the high standard of performances has persisted since the beginning and never wavered. My words, not theirs. They also mentioned how Celtic Woman was the most successful all-female Irish group in history! Although most of the rest of the pledge break was generic and highly scripted, one of the PBS hosts shared a really nice, heartwarming story. Early in Celtic Woman's touring days, the hosts little girl went with her mom to the show. The little girl watched those incredible women on stage. She looked up to her mom, "stars in her eyes," and said "mom, when I grow up, I want to sing just like them." Aww. That was cute. I think they mentioned the girl ended up doing some singing when she grew up, but though I mean no disrespect, nobody sings like those ladies up on stage.

Set 3:

Níl Sé'n Lá (Emerald)
I See Fire (Destiny)
Danny Boy (Homecoming)
Teir Abhaile Riu (Believe)
--> Very quick interview clip of Mairead, Megan, and Chloë, presumably still inside Slane Castle
The Parting Glass (Ancient Land)

Pledge Break 4

After the last song, the did another pledge plug. They mentioned Parting Glass is the closing song for every CW concert. Umm, not true, but they do go to that well often. The rest was pretty much scripted, generic plugs, to engage the audience in supporting PBS because of this and similar programming that wouldn't be possible for PBS to bring to us without our support, but very little to get the audience invested in the group specifically. I suppose it's just biased thinking on my part, but doesn't PBS have a responsibility to do a great job promoting the group too? It would be in their own best interests long term to do so, would it not? I mean if I enjoy a program, I'm probably not pledging anything. If I fall in love with a group...well let's just say various PBS stations have gotten thousands of dollars out of me thanks to Celtic Woman.

Thoughts and Initial Reactions:

Overall, I enjoyed the PBS special. It certainly didn't have as much emotional impact as the live tour show did though.

My first reaction after one watch-through is that it was reasonably well-balanced in terms of showing material and performers from different eras. I do wish they'd done a LOT more with the interviews.

Based on what I've seen on vendor sites and what they said during the broadcast, the DVD will have 3 extra tracks but no documentary or extra interview footage (like the Celtic Heart DVD did). I get that it would be challenging (really challenging) to get some of the former members to agree to interviews. But surely there would be enough of them to put together a good interview package of current AND previous members. That would make it more of a true 15-year celebration.

I really wish they would have done another "Journey So Far" documentary for the DVD at least. That would have been so amazing and meaningful to us devoted, passionate fans, especially those of you who have been supporting this group since almost the very beginning. A lot has happened since The Greatest Journey. Many fans probably never got to know some of the ladies and haven't been following close enough to know what's happened over the past decade or so. There's still hope, but I'm not going to hold my breath for it. If they really don't have one of those 15-year documentaries though, it will make me sad.

I also wish the tribute video at the start had been longer. A thought that ran through my head while watching it was that it felt as rushed as a Meet and Greet. There are so many wonderful memories over the past 15 years, let us savor some of them a little longer than split-second scenes crammed into a 17 second video.

There were definitely some of my favourites that appeared in this special, but also a LOT that didn't. I'll write up a little more once I've thought about it, but I'd like to hear your thoughts too: based on what WAS in the PBS special, which of those tracks were good choices and which tracks should have made the cut that didn't?

I hope you enjoy it!
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dbbii
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« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2020, 10:01:03 AM »

While I haven't seen the PBS special (my local station doesn't seem to know about it), I would have to agree that these shows do not have the impact of a live show.   Granted, that's typical about a lot of things -- sporting events, etc.  Take a football game, for example.  (College or pro).  You can see the game better at home on your big screen TV.   I had the rare opportunity a couple years ago to go to "The Game"  (Ohio State/That School Up North).  Was sitting more or less at the goal line so you couldn't really see a lot of the game well.  However, the emotion in the stadium was unbelievable. 
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