LAS VEGAS -- She flew. She sang in Italian. She even lost her shoes -- momentarily.

So went Celine Dion's launch of her new singing-dancing-visual spectacle, A New Day, which began its three-year run at the Caesars Palace Colosseum showroom last night.

The flying part came, as expected, during Dion's rendition of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, a stunningly beautiful piece that saw the 34-year-old Quebec singer -- dressed in a ballerina-like lavender and red dress -- float around the stage along with her dancers before she disappeared high up into the rafters.

As a matter of fact, that was the reason she came out shoeless for the next number, Ammore Annascunnuto, which she belted out in Italian.

"We had a little problem backstage," said a barefoot Dion, who returned to the stage in a white tuxedo shirt and black tuxedo pants.

"That's what happens when you get high up in the air."

Eventually, one of her dancers managed to find the missing shoes and she sat down on stage and put them on in front of the crowd of 4,100 without missing a beat.

"That's showbiz," she said while shrugging her shoulders.

Otherwise, Dion's 100-minute show went off without much of a hitch, which is to be expected of a highly technical production that has been in rehearsals since last June in Belgium before arriving in Sin City in December.

Dion kept telling her mother -- who along with her father was in the audience (and no doubt countless other relatives) -- that she could relax now.

"I can't believe tonight is the night," she said of the launch.

"We've been looking forward to that day so much."

Despite all the hype, A New Day, created and directed by Cirque du Soleil mastermind, Franco Dragone, began subtly.

It was just Dion, dressed in a black pantsuit, appearing on stage bathed in two spotlights singing Nature Boy .

But it didn't take long before she was joined by some of her dancers -- eventually 51 in all. And in a gorgeous red chiffon and beaded pant suit, Dion hit her vocal stride with the second song, The Power Of Love, which garnered her a standing ovation.

Sometimes her dancers, as talented as they were, proved to be a bit distracting given Dion's big voice and that other big thing in the room -- the much-talked about 120-foot-wide LED screen which changed dramatic backdrops at a wink of an eye.

It could be everything from a lightning and thunder-filled sky to Times Square.

There was also plenty of other eye candy such as a blooming tree, which emerged from beneath the stage during If I Could, or a flying orchestra, which moved across the stage during I've Got The World On A String. And the crisp sound was hard to beat.

Still, when the dancers-with-Dion combination worked -- like it did during the sexy Seduces Me, featuring her seated on a chair while shirtless men writhed around her on the floor -- it was spectacular.

"Hey, want to try that chair?" a flushed Dion joked afterwards.

Sure. Move over. (More on Celine Dion)

JAM! Rating: 5 out of 5