IT HAS been a bad 12 months for diva comebacks at The O2. First Britney Spears caused a storm by miming to all her songs then Whitney Houston left fans demanding their money back after she managed to butcher her own iconic version of I Will Always Love You.
Dame Julie Andrews' return to the London stage after more than 30 years may not have reached the excruciating lows of Whitney's gig last month, but neither did it reach the Alpine heights fans expected the queen of musicals to reach.
It is hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for the star who gained iconic status as Maria in The Sound Of Music and as the magical nanny in Disney's Mary Poppins.
After a botched operation to remove polyps from her vocal chords more than 12 years ago, Dame Julie was cruelly robbed of her ability to sing.
So her one-off concert at The O2 on Saturday was a cause for celebration for fans who know the star's struggle to regain her four-octave voice.
But just five minutes into the show, it became painfully clear it would take more than a spoonful of sugar for the 74-year-old to sing about any of her favourite things that night.
To a montage of archive photos and footage from her celebrated career, Dame Julie opened the show half singing to The Sound Of Music's infectious title song and was greeted by a premature standing ovation from the excited audience.
But then Dame Julie broke the bad news.
“I certainly cannot sing as high or as well now as you've just seen on that screen,” she said.
“But that is not to say I can't still sing the hell out of Ol' Man River.”
As a ripple of disappointment gradually shuddered through the audience, Dame Julie was joined by a trio of Broadway performers who were wheeled on to support and fill in for the now husky-voiced singer when she couldn't quite manage to reach those notes.
Working their way through a repertoire of Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, it was a jaunty and undoubtedly enjoyable first half.
But for all the on-stage exuberance, Dame Julie was noticeably absent for the majority of the songs.
It's certainly admirable for the star to admit her limitations, but with many fans forking out £100 a ticket to hear their idol sing, it begs the question, if she can't deliver the performance people paid to see, what on Earth was she doing there?
However, when she did take centre stage, her undeniable warmth and charm more than compensated for her lack of performance, rousing the audience to sing along to Do-Re-Mi at the end of the first half.
Her only two full solos - My Funny Valentine and South Pacific's Cockeyed Optimist – both received rapturous applause and standing ovations from the audience.
Despite these brief recoveries the show remained ill-conceived and a painfully embarrassing musical adaptation of her children's book Simeon's Gift in the second half was too much for some fans, who chose to walk rather than wait for the show's Edelweiss finale.
An Evening With Julie Andrews may have been a gut-wrenching disappointment, but the after show vibe remained upbeat, with many people content just to have seen the singer perform what may well be one of her last ever concerts.
The singer may be a shadow of her former self now, but her star is still shining bright. Afterall, as Rodgers and Hammerstein once said, there ain't nothing like a Dame.
For more concerts and events at The O2, visit theo2.co.uk
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