No holding Ms Minnelli back

The fact is that people are in a constant state of worry about this little lady. Rumours abounded before last night's performance that there may have been problems with her voice, that she might not be in the right frame of mind, that the whole thing might be called off at the last minute. None of this wild speculation turned out to have any basis, in fact, but the erratic emotional patterns associated with Ms Minnelli will always lead us to fear the worst.

The first half of the performance was relatively subdued, and the appearance of a fake rapper was most unwelcome. There were even mutterings that Liza's performance was mimed; the sound quality was uneven, suggesting the use of backing tapes.

But while she did appear a little nervous at first - her three-octave voice showed signs of rustiness around the edges - it soon improved considerably. If all else failed, the audience would have kept her going anyway simply from her initial entrance in a quickly-discarded white fur coat.

Graham Norton's unsubtle introduction left us in no doubt as to where he thought her true fan-base lay, but Liza Minnelli has not reached the loftiest of heights by merely being a gay icon. When her voice did start to move through the gears, it was a salutary reminder that nobody in the world sings with such intensity.

She is a paradoxical figure on stage. Even surrounded by dancers and backed with a large band, this can seem a lonely figure trapped in the spotlight. Doubtless much of her seeming vulnerability is cleverly heightened by a lifetime's experience of showbusiness, but there is still the sense that she needs all the help she can get from the audience. Their adoration is not merely requested, it is essential.

On the other hand, when Liza has taken a song by the throat, she is all-powerful, the audience hanging on every kooky smile, every cute rustle of the boyish hair. And nobody wears outfits like this any more. She clearly has first refusal on any large amounts of glitter in circulation, and is also at great pains to reveal that whatever traumas she has put her body through have had no lasting effect. Put bluntly, Liza has the soul of a striptease artist.

It is a long show, and she can use some help, but she deserves better than the uninspired dance support she got last night. Yet none of this mattered as the climax approached. A short selection of songs from Cabaret, plus the inevitable New York, New York, were what the audience had come to hear, and they got their wish in true, scalp-tingling passion. Liza loves us. We love her back. It's as simple as that.

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Liza Minnelli