Express & Star

When the rarefied talents of prima ballerina Darcey Bussell and opera star Katherine Jenkins come together, their fans are more than happy to indulge them - despite the unlikely pairing.

The NIA in Birmingham was packed-out last night for their two-hour song and dance show Viva La Diva, which paid tribute to the divas who inspired them.

Doris Day, Barbra Streisand, Edith Piaf and Natalie Wood for Jenkins; Fred Astaire, Audrey Hepburn, Cyd Charisse for Bussell, to name just a few.

Jenkins looked the part as Doris Day, but her voice-style was out of sync with the 1950s star. Darcey Bussell in hot pants looked sexy but out of her comfort zone in Fred Astaire’s Putting on the Ritz.

But Jenkins’ magic shone through as the 1950s opera diva Maria Callas. And Bussell nearly brought the house down with her excerpt from Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet Elite Syncopations, with music by the ragtime king Scott Joplin.