MONTREAL -- Celine Dion returned to where her reign atop the Billboard charts began last night.

And by all appearances, it looks like a long reign.

More than 14,000 loyal devotees braved Montreal's damp chill to fill the Molson Centre for Dion's first return to live performance in two years.

Not a Dion concert, mind you, but a guest appearance on SRC television's insanely popular musical game show La Fureur.

This was no ordinary television taping. Part Electric Circus, part WWF RAW, sharing the stage with host Veronique Cloutier, gave Dion the chance to find her stage feet again.

And by the looks of things, she didn't miss a step.

The live-to-tape 90-minute performance, which airs on SRC April 14, proved an electrifying promotional event for her new Sony album A New Day Has Come.

If Dion was battling any stage fright, it didn't show.

"I haven't sung in two years," Dion explained at the pre-taping press conference. "I do what I say, and I said that I would be back in two years. Here I am. When I say I will do something, I do it."

This was Dion at her best, rapt attention of 14,000 screaming fans focused on her and her alone.

The high-energy disco inferno, performed entirely in French with local celebrities and a bevy of sexy dancers with energy to burn, hinted at the show she has planned for Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, a 600-performance engagement that begins in 2003.

Dressed in black chiffon with leather pants (size zero) and backed by a live band and singers, she plugged six songs, beginning with her first single off New Day, following that up with I'm Alive, At Last, Have You Ever Been In Love? and Ten Days.

"Do you want to hear more?" Dion joked before the taping. "It's not a concert. I thought I would do two numbers, but the producer, Guy Clouthier, asked for six. It's a game show, not a concert."

Her between-song kibitzing with host Cloutier seemed to drive time-sensitive producers to distraction.

Then again, who's going to say 'no' to Celine?

Regardless of the constraints of producing television, the free-for-all atmosphere was infectious, keeping most of the sold-out Centre on their feet.

She closed the show with The Greatest Reward and Right In Front of You.

You might have guessed that the world had been totally deprived of all music during that time, judging by the response in the expansive hockey arena.

That's not overstating the matter. Here, in Montreal, where the mythology of Celine first began almost 20 years ago, she remains a national symbol.

"Celine is God," said Jason Campbell. "I love her sensuality," enthused Carine Brisebois.

Of course, Dion's new album, which premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard charts after selling more than 152,000 copies in Canada alone since its release on March 26, wasn't the only thing that's kept her in the news.

Media were instructed not to ask Dion or husband-manager Rene Angelil questions regarding his recent sexual-assault civil lawsuit.

"There's way too much news about me all the time," she explained. "That's why I took two years off. Then, the media found more stuff to say about me and Rene. So, after Las Vegas, I will take more time off."

In the end, it proved a sentimental sendoff for the Quebec diva. She has no plans to perform in Canada until 2005 at the earliest. She launches her European promotional tour next week in France and will record a French-language album later this year. (More on: Celine Dion)