But it makes the point that this concert presents the popular Elton John, playing his most popular music before his biggest fans. Director David Mallet seems obsessed with audience sweet shots of people singing along there are so many of them, it becomes a leitmotif for the film. No one, of course, outshines the star, who is in his element playing his many warhorses of the early '70s and a smattering of the hits achieved afterwards. John plays talent scout with Ronan Keating and Anastacia, both recently emerged European stars in 2000 who had not yet made their marks in the U.S. Blige ("I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"), even if they seem ill-suited to the material. Billy Joel ("Goodbye Yellow Brick Road") and closer Kiki Dee (her chart-topping duet with John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart") are entirely simpatico with their host, and the crowd welcomes Bryan Adams ("Sad Songs ") and Mary J. Half a dozen guest singers appear, and they are a mixed lot. A man with a detailed knowledge of what his greatest hits actually are (he frequently cites chart statistics), he chafes somewhat at the hits concept, noting that it will force him to play more ballads than usual and deliberately slipping in the occasional lesser hit, such as "Club at the End of the Street," to keep the pace lively.
Appearing in a rose-colored jacket and wearing rose-colored glasses, John plays 27 songs over two and a half hours.
The scene setter is the first DVD, "One Night Only: The Greatest Hits Live," performed at Madison Square Garden on October 21, 2000, and originally the basis of a network TV special and a live album that followed quickly after. Patterned after the Rolling Stones' four-DVD box set Four Flicks, Elton John's Dream Ticket packages together three concert videos and a career retrospective documentary.