Call her Miss Ross

Her dark spell of the past few years probably began in 1999, which saw both the end of her marriage to Norwegian shipping magnate Arne Naess, and her dispute with a HeathrowAirport security guard over an unwanted body search. In 2000, she embarked on a flop Supremes reunion tour that featured no other original members of the girl group, and in 2002 she entered a Malibu rehabilitation centre "to clear up some personal issues".

Earlier this year, Naess died in a climbing accident, and only last week Ross was told that she may have to go back to prison for a

second 48-hour stint, just when she thought her 2002 drink-driving charge was finally behind her.

So without any new product to promote, her current UK tour seems to be simply an attempt to appear to the public in a positive light for once. As the dazzling spectacle of Diana Ross the megastar swooped onto the stage singing Take Me Higher, wearing a huge feathered eruption on her head, her period of ignominy was pushed to the shadows and forgotten almost instantly.

She then raced through the highlights of her time with the Supremes almost without pause, songs such as Baby Love and You Can't Hurry Love still sounding like some of the greatest pop music ever created.

Initially seeming slightly subdued despite the brilliance of the material, she went on to give plenty of passion and energy to You Keep Me Hangin' On and an electrifying Love Child.

An array of her later hits and slower Billie Holiday covers followed.

She looked tearful as she thanked the crowd for their love during "some difficult times", but as she sang I Will Survive in her sixth spectacular outfit of the evening, she seemed far from broken.

Diana Ross