But all I can say is that if I have half the energy and look half as good as she does when I'm her age it'll be a minor miracle. How she can still put on a show of such enormously entertaining, over-the-top spectacle like the one she is doing now at Caesars Palace after four decades of over-the-top spectacles is a major miracle.

Looking fit and fabulous, full of her imperiously cheeky attitude, and sounding better than she ever has, Cher commands the massive stage at the Colosseum in a way that few others would be able to. Granted, she brings along enough costumes, sets, and dancers to stage her own Broadway show but that's all a part of the ethos of a Cher concert.

The extravaganza starts with a video montage of her life all set to a throbbing dance beat and then suddenly there she is, hovering over the audience on a flying platform that is adorned with golden lights, floating down the stage while singing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Her costume is a nod to the Vegas showgirl, complete with a gigantic glittery headdress of sorts and lots of skin, naturally.

That's the just the first of roughly a dozen costumes (there may have been more, I lost count), each one a Bob Mackie original, that recount the almost endless reinventions of her career.

There are the mod-60s boots for "The Beat Goes On" (sung as a "duet" with a video version of Sonny); the outrageous feathered headdress for "Half Breed" and a fortune teller get-up for "Dark Lady;" a silky disco era pantsuit for "Take Me Home;" her classic almost not there leather ensemble for "If I Could Turn Back Time;" and the glittery dance floor Diva costume for "Believe." In between there's everything from a "Mad Max" style ensemble for a cover of Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield" to a relatively simple jeans and blouse outfit for a cover of Marc Cohen's "Walking in Memphis."

The costumes are endlessly entertaining, jaw dropping wonders but if I have to find something to whine about it's that the time required for her to make the dozen or so changes means there is a lot of time when she's not on stage. There are plenty of distractions - from Cirque style aerialists and strength performers to dancers to lots of video from "Sonny and Cher" to "Moonstruck" but when she disappears for five minutes to change into a costume that she will wear for one four minute song, something about that math just doesn't quite add up.

But that's just a quibble really, because while she is on stage she owns it. As mentioned, she looks fantastic but more importantly she sounds fantastic as well. Despite what has been said about her live concerts, most of what she was singing here was definitely live - no lip-synching. And on songs like the torchy "Way of Love" or the heartfelt "After All" she proves that she's more than just a studio invention like so many of today's singers.

Cher will be doing 200 shows over the next three years at prices that range from $95 for the nosebleed seats to $250 for most of the main floor. Spectacle doesn't come cheap, you know.