Considering Lemar is one of the few TV-spawned pop stars to have carved out a recording career lasting longer than the average pregnancy, it was perhaps unsurprising that TV featured heavily in his live show.

No fewer that eight screens adorned the stage, and the show began with a montage of clips of the Fame Academy runner-up receiving numerous awards. Why does an audience who have paid £25 for a ticket with his name on it need an introduction to the star of the show? Is this all part of some grand scheme to big up Lemar as a soul superstar in waiting?

It seemed that way when he emerged out of the darkness on a raised platform, complete with P Diddy-esque suit, scowl and shades, as police sirens flashed on the screens around him.

Quite an entrance, but the true star of the show, as ever, was the warm, rich soul voice that got him noticed in the first place. His songs have a touch of class too - they have that instant familiarity that comes from echoing classic soul songs without actually plagiarising them - notice the hints of Walk On By in If There's Any Justice, for instance.

His adoring, female fans were out of their seats from the first song, encouraged by some tidy dance moves on more funky tunes like Soulman and Tick Tock. His crowd interaction also worked a treat. It was only when he tried to sex things up that he seemed a little too British to quite convince.

Is some misguided soul looking to "rebrand" Lemar as a bumping, grinding lurve god in the R Kelly mould?

During Beauty Queen he picked a crowd member to come up on stage and be serenaded as he stripped down to his six pack before they disappeared behind a screen and we saw their shadows slow dancing suggestively.

Yet there was something tentative about Lemar's body language that suggested he's yet to truly get in touch with his inner Theophilus P. Wildebeeste. He looked more like he was stripping off for a stint in the gym.

The highlights of the show ended up being the heartfelt love songs - a spellbinding Caroline delivered solo on piano, the melancholic Your Face and the aforementioned If There's Any Justice.

Lemar is clearly very good at singing from the heart. Do we really need to bring his groin into it?