Jane McDonald, Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham

By Marion Brennan

A sell-out Birmingham audience went overboard for former cruise ship diva Jane McDonald, whose career is currently riding on the crest of a wave.

Her latest album has shot to number seven in the charts, she is a regular on TV’s popular Loose Women and even her famously lousy love life is on the up.

All are topics of conversation in between songs and these warm, comic interludes are as much a part of her performance as the singing.

Her fans clearly adore her and the feeling seems genuinely mutual. There were plenty of calls of “we love you Jane” and she declared the Birmingham audience as joint top with Blackpool on the tour so far.

She has a powerful voice which can hold a top C forever and she chooses classic songs many of them from pop’s most revered female singers. Last night she opened with Dusty and moved to Petula and Aretha.

We also had some Barry Manilow and Matt Monroe with a blast of Tamala Motown in the middle and a lively medley of Abba numbers as a encore.