Gig review: Madonna live

Madonna: Simply stunning in the flesh

By Radio 1's Steve Mckenna

The 42-year-old mother-of-two thanked the world for "coming to her party" like an adrenaline-soaked youth.

Emerging from beneath a massive Union Jack draped over a slightly trashed car, one of the biggest pop icons of the last two decades rose to her full height of about five feet.

She immediately found herself attached to a half naked, fully oiled muscular male dance troupe.

Madonna's opening track Impressive Instant couldn't have been better named - a lucky few thousand winners of the tickets of the year stood transfixed.

So this was the Queen Of Pop - she's tiny, but the stage was not big enough, she's petite but she was everywhere.

Britney who? Kylie...em...who cares? In the words of Sean Connery: "There can be only one."

Honed

She moved with grace and power, wearing black cowboy trousers, a black satin cowboy shirt and a diamante belt.

When she stripped down to a vest top, bearing the names of her children on the front and back, it was clear her body was as honed and perfected as her dance routine, vocals and songwriting talent.

She was stunning - this must have been where they got the idea for girl power.

I felt we were watching the source of all things good about pop.

Next up was Runaway Lover, dedicated to "all the love rats out there". The love rats went crazy and the rest of us joined in spontaneously.

Having been sonically thrashed into a frenzy we were left listening to Madonna's new protegee, Mirwais.

He was incoherent and very French but amused the singer, causing her to launch into Don't Tell Me.

She spoiled us with line-dancing and a 12-piece string section - but the rest is a haze.

We know we discovered What It Feels Like To Be A Girl, went on a time travelling Holiday and as the show closed we were immersed in Music.