'AWESOME," said Keali'i Reichel when asked to comment on Celine Dion's concert Thursday night at the Arena. And awesome it was. The sexy lady from Canada tore the place apart with a string of her hit ballads and tossed in some rock, jazz and blues. Celine doesn't just sing a song; she sells it, making it work with plenty of body language and emotion. She really can move. The lady is a champ. Her backup singer-dancers, musicians, lighting and staging all contributed to the smash performance. Two huge screens provided extra viewing of her while on stage. "Titanic" clips were mixed with her live performance on screen as she sang "My Heart Will Go On." It was quite moving. And she displayed much aloha to the many fans that streamed to the stage with flowers and leis, which she called "necklaces" ... Dion awesome
in Arena show
The mellow Reichel and his cast opened the show and they put on their usual outstanding performance. It would be great if Dion took Reichel & Co. on tour with her. When Reichel sat in the audience, fans gathered to take photos and get autographs. Margaret Murchie, in the row behind him, gazed at his long ponytail and gushed, "Ooooooh, now I get to pull Keali'i's hair" ...
DION DINED with a group of about 12, including a very large bodyguard, at the Kahala Mandarin's Hoku's Tuesday ... Mari Frey has a Valentine's fashion show Thursday at the Mandarin's Plumeria Cafe, with prizes ...
Makaleka Boys are hot
STECK'S G.M. Zyron "Z" Shoniwitz has a full slate of entertainment at the Kahala Mall Shopping Center restaurant, with the hot Makaleka Boys as his centerpiece. The vocal-instrumental group has the stage Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Singer-guitarist Randy Doctorello performs Wednesday through Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m., and Kelly Dela Villaverde, a singer-guitarist, plays Wednesday at 9 p.m. "We're eclectic," said Makaleka lead singer Alika Souza, describing their music. Their music covers Hawaiian, hapa-haole, pop, Latin and light rock. Souza's dad is Kamehameha football coach Kanani Souza. Alika played wide receiver for the Warriors before college. Makaleka is a street in Kuliouou. "We're still learning," Souza said. "We want to produce music, have fun and put in a lot of work and see what comes out of it." Other members of the group are Nate Mata, Mark Marumoto, John Chong and Fred Alcain ...HAIR stylist Paul Brown marked his 50th birthday at A Pacific Cafe recently. Joyce Herminau and Janet Bender sang special lyrics to the tune of "California Dreamin' " for Paul, starting with: "All the roots are gray..." Cherye Pierce and Elizabeth Ann Lacy threw the party. Guests included Jean Ariyoshi, Sue Damon, Jean Ikeda, Terry Lee and Eileen Mortenson, who had a birthday Sunday ... Cecilia Blackfield's daughter, Pam, tossed mom a birthday party at Duc's Bistro. Bernie and Helen Hurtig, Cynthia Marnie and Janet Wimberly were among guests ... Joyce Tsunoda's name was misspelled here last week ...
Four Season's 'hockey'
"WE are hosting our own National Hockey League Olympic event here on Maui," said Four Seasons G.M. Randy Morton, who played semipro hockey. On Friday, Celebs and NHL players take part in the Nestle Pro-Am /Celebrity Charity Face Off in the Kalama Park in-line skating rink. NHL players include Luc Robitaille, Cam Neely, Rick Tocchet, Bernie Nicholls, Russ Courtnall, Ken Sutton and Marc Bergeven. Celebs are actors Cuba "Show me the money" Gooding Jr., B.B. Sweeney and Cam-eron Bancroft. A golf tourney next day is on Makena North course, $125 entry. Call Karin Lamla, 874-8000 ...