Cher's show-stopper

For a concert entitled The Living Proof, it quickly lived up to its name. Proof of exactly what, however, was open to debate.

Fans would say it was evidence that, even at 56, Cher looks stunning.

Cynics might suggest that it was an equally convincing display of the wonders of cosmetic surgery.

Either way the performance in Huntsville, Alabama - part of a tour billed as her farewell after almost four decades in showbusiness - was spectacular.

The singer made her entry in a floorlength fur-trimmed hooded coat and crown, looking like Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen

As she warmed up with hits like Believe and If I Could Turn Back Time, she stripped off to a lower layer, a transparent sequined body glove revealing almost everything.

One member of the audience said: 'It was the most extraordinary outfit. She is obviously very proud of her figure but I don't think that people really had to see quite so much of it.'

Cher, who first found fame with partner Sonny Bono in 1965, readily admits she has spent a fortune over the years on plastic surgery and beauty treatments including work on her face, nose, breasts and teeth. She has said: 'In my job becoming old and becoming extinct are one and the same.'