Winnipeg Cher fans disappointed after show suddenly cancelled

Cher fans in Winnipeg groaned in disappointment after waiting more than an hour to see the legendary performer, only to be told the Tuesday night show was postponed.

"Cher has become unwell and is unable to perform at tonight's performance," announced a spokesperson from Cher's touring company.

"We apologize for the long wait. We were back discussing to see if it were possible, but unfortunately she is unable to perform tonight."

Colleen Simard was in the audience dressed as Cher from her 1989 video, If I Could Turn Back Time, and didn't believe the singer had actually cancelled.

"I didn't think that she was not coming out. I thought it was some kind of ploy to get us all super excited and go, 'Oh no she's not coming out,' and then she would come out, because Cher's a diva, right? She's an amazing performer and I thought maybe it was part of the performance," Simard said.

Longtime Cher fan Corey Quintaine said you could feel the tension building in the audience as people waited from 8:45 p.m. to close to 10 p.m. before the announcement was made. 

"They were pumping the disco songs and playing the music to get us all hyped up and we were getting hyped up, everyone was getting pretty excited," Quintaine said.

"After every song that they played the crowd would cheer in anticipation of Cher coming out and then they would start another song, and then of course eventually it got to be more concern than anything in the crowd going, 'Oh, what's happening? What's wrong?'" Quintaine said.

Simard, who calls herself the Anishinabe Cher, gained some instant celebrity after the announcement.

"So people started coming up to me and saying, 'Can I … take your picture. Can I be in a picture with you?' I said, 'Sure.' It was a lot of fun. Like it was a very tiny consolation for all the Cher fans."

Simard is an avid costume person, or Cosplayer, and plans to wear her costume again to the rescheduled show.

"There's a lot of Cher looks to choose from, but I chose Cher If I Could Turn Back Time, which is a little risqué. My daughter was not like the hugest fan of it. She thought I was a little bit over the top, but I thought it was pretty cute — so like a slinky black, a lot of big hair, showing a little bit of skin, but I tried to do her justice," Simard said.

On Twitter, Quintaine joked about rioting at Portage and Main after the show was cancelled.

"Looking at the crowd, big crowds on the street, thinking, 'Hey, if we can have something at Portage and Main for the [Winnipeg] Jets, we could have something at Portage and Main for Cher,'" Quintaine said.

"Maybe even a vigil if she's at the Fairmont [Hotel]. A get well soon vigil," Quintaine joked.

Live Nation Canada asked fans to hold on to their tickets and not delete their e-tickets as they will be honoured for the rescheduled date.

That date is expected to be announced within 48 hours.