I must admit, I had some preconceived notions going in to the Diana Ross show on June 4th 2008 at The Events Center at The Seneca-Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, NY. Could the renowned Diva still fill a concert hall (she did), could she still sing or at 64 riding her past laurels (she can still hit the notes) and would she exhibit that Diva behavior (she delivered in spades!). And one other thing, not many women at any age look as radiant in an evening gown as Miss Ross. The show started with Miss Ross singing "I'm Coming Out" before entering center stage from behind the curtain and quickly admonishing the late comers to the first few rows by telling them the show had already started. That soon followed her asking another late coming gentleman if she should start over for him. A medley of Supremes hits followed including "Where Did Are Love Go?", "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Stop! In The Name of Love" among others that showed how influential The Supremes were as hit makers in the 60's and 70's. "Touch Me in the Morning" was interrupted mid song as Miss Ross now had a complaint about an overhead stage fan that was making her cold, was affecting her voice and could it be turned off. And finally another admonishment to a lady who had the audacity I guess to take a photo with her cell phone. She was told by Miss Ross "that we can't take pictures, we'll be watching you". You'd think for seventy five bucks you could at least take one blurry low pixel cell phone picture. But I digress. A costume change, one of four on the night for those interested in that stuff, had Miss Ross return for some of her strongest material of the evening from the film Lady Sings the Blues. Among them a stunning version of the Billie Holiday classic "Fine And Mellow". An invigorating "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and an encore of the Gloria Gaynor disco classic "I Will Survive" rounded out the high points of the show.

On the other hand, the blind adulation from the crowd was a bit much at times. Every hand or arm gesture, pose or blown kiss does not deserve wild unabated standing ovation style applause. Hate to ruin the party folks but the show was good but not worth the heaped praise. For the price and the fact that the show was only a total of seventy minutes, minus costume changes and pre and post band vamps, Miss Ross' actual face and stage time of maybe sixty minutes did not equate to worth and that much praise. For more shows at The Seneca-Niagara Casino check out www.senecaniagaracasino.com