Three distinctive voices and three very distinctive ladies here.
With a combined age of about 156, it's hard for them to peddle the "girls" myth.
Yet mere girls in the true sense of the world just wouldn't do this show justice. You need three strong women.
Almost every number a team effort, the show also played to their individual strengths.
I'm still not a fan of Lulu Kennedy-Cairns OBE (61). She's been plugging away since the mid-60s and although she earned some respect tonight she was the weak link among some very strong voices.
Of course there was the American, Chaka Khan (56), best known for the late 70s hit I'm Every Woman, the girls' curtain-raiser. She was the graceful elder stateswoman of the trio. Feel For You and Respect were among her big solo numbers and yet while she wowed with her disco and up-tempo catalogue, sadly her wonderful voice became somewhat indistinct for many of the soul classics.
The lovely Anastacia (a mere 41) proved the brightest star.
How she sprinted, jumped and moved around the stage in those heels remains a mystery.
Taking a lead in Dancing in the Street and (rather cheekily) Relight my Fire she was also allowed to perform her own biggest hits solo: Left Outside Alone and I'm Outta Love brought the house down.
Together, the girls sang along and danced to their favourite songs down the decades. An all-too-short disco medley, a meaty Motown set, the dancers and a couple of anthems set off this well thought-out show perfectly.
But I've never really been a fan of that loud, little Lulu lady. Perhaps that's because they always get her to sing that Shout song – and so she did, to one of the biggest cheers of the night.
But it didn't work for me.
