What? Girls Aloud have split? No-one saw that coming, did they? After 10 years, the girls are now all grown up and, at this stage, the elder stateswomen of manufactured pop. But goodness, it was fun while it lasted.

As ‘Sound Of The Underground’ begins, the group are lowered to the stage on an over the top illuminated ‘Girls Aloud’ sign. And as they run through the hits, the reason for their longevity is clear. Girls Aloud have always worked with excellent songwriters and have some killer tunes, songs that bury themselves in your consciousness like some infectious but glorious virus. Highlights include ‘The Show’, ‘Love Machine’, ‘Something Kinda Ooooh’, ‘Sexy! No No No’, and of course, the mega-hit ‘Biology’.
On stage Cheryl, Nadine, Nicola, Kimberly and Sarah are a slick, all-singing, all-dancing powerhouse, and it’s hard to see them as the rough diamonds from Popstars: The Rivals. As you’d expect, there are costume changes aplenty with blinging beaded corsets, shimmery dresses, and even large feathered wings. The look is part-Vegas showgirl, part-drag queen extraordinaire, and if they don’t quite reach the high camp of Kylie, it’s still pretty much excess all areas.