TORONTO (CP) - After a few days to reflect on Canada's Live 8 show, organizer Michael Cohl said Tuesday that he "loved it all" but conceded he was disappointed by crowd reaction to Celine Dion's video performance.

The audience booed when Dion's words and music, recorded earlier at her show in Las Vegas, were shown to the audience Saturday at Park Place in Barrie, Ont. Cohl said he didn't know if Dion was aware of what happened.

"I think everybody who gives, in whatever way they give, should be applauded," Cohl said in an interview.

"And that includes her. She's one incredibly successful Canadian star. She's locked into a situation in Las Vegas that prevented her from being in two places at once.

"I'm disappointed people would choose to react that way. But it's a free country. I appreciate what she did and I respect her for it."

At the time, Live 8 host Dan Aykroyd admonished the crowd: "No, no, no . . . . Be proud of Celine Dion. She's here to help and entertain us. She's working hard, hard, hard."

One concertgoer, Michael Le Clair, 18, of Barrie, had explained the jeering by saying if Dion was sincere about the cause, she would have shown up in person.

"She has so much money, how could she not afford an airplane ticket to come home to Canada to do this?"

The awkward Dion moment aside, Cohl said that from a show standpoint, Gordon Lightfoot's performance was one of the highlights for him because "we almost lost him a few years ago," referring to a burst blood vessel in the abdomen that landed the troubadour for a long stay in hospital.

Likewise, Cohl was impressed to hear Neil Young sing after he was forced to cancel his appearance at the Junos earlier this year because of a brain aneurysm.

The young acts - Simple Plan, Our Lady Peace - were "terrific," he said, adding that DMC, without Run, was a "bit of a gamble - it seemed to really work."

But the day was really about the message, and Cohl felt energy was behind the cause - raising awareness about poverty in Africa and pressuring leaders of the wealthy G8 countries, Canada included, to devote more resources to the problem.

"The click moment was brilliant, I thought," he said, referring to the snapping of fingers every three seconds, signifying the child death rate in Africa.

"I wasn't sure how it was really going to work ... all the producers worldwide knew it was coming."

Since the concert, a lot of people have spoken to him about the music and the message, he noted.

"A lot of people have said things like 'hopefully it'll make a difference, it certainly motivated me."'

The tickets for the 35,000 concertgoers were free, and Cohl expects to know more by the end of the week about whether the event will break even.

"Overall, I think we're going to be fine.... TV did well, the sponsorships did well, the food did well. I don't know what the merchandise number was but I saw a lot of people in blue T-shirts, so I'm hopeful."

It would have been nice to have more time to organize, and a bigger venue, but overall, he's pleased with the outcome as attention shifts now to the G8 leaders meeting Wednesday in Gleneagles, Scotland.

"My thoughts are I hope they listen," he said. "It would be optimistic to think they'd all just lay their cards down and say yes, we're doing it, we're adopting it, we're going for it and that's it. That would be great. What would be good would be at least some meaningful progress."