DESPITE it having been a full 35 years since her last tour of the UK, singer Olivia Newton-John's fans proved they have remained hopelessly devoted to her when she took to the stage at Manchester's Apollo theatre.

Looking truly sensational for sixty-four, the singer was visibly genuinely touched and humbled by the audience reaction she received as she launched into her set that spanned her career, which is now in its fifth decade.

Opening with Pearls On A Chain from her 2006  Grace and Gratitude album, the British-born Australian superstar quickly moved onto more familiar favourites.

Pitch-perfect renditions of Have You Ever Been Mellow?, her George Harrison penned hit What is Life? from 1971, A Little More Love from the Totally Hot album of 1978 and the lovely 1977 ballad Sam.

With fans queuing up at the front of the stage to present the singer with bouquets of flowers, Newton-John had the crowd on its feet as she performed the three big songs from her 1980 film Xanadu in which she got to star alongside great Gene Kelly.

Although the film was something of a critical flop, its soundtrack was a huge commercial success spawning worldwide hits for the title song, Magic and Suddenly - her duet with Cliff Richard, all of which were enthusiastically lapped up by the Manchester audience.

Then followed a lovely country medley, the music genre through which Newton-John first achieved fame in the early 1970s, featuring such favourites as If Not You, Let Me Be There, Banks Of The Ohio, Country Roads (Take Me Home), Jolene and If You Love Me, Let Me Know.

The sweet innocence of these songs to which her young voice was so well suited was immediately contrasted sharply by Physical, the singer's disco-influenced 1981 ultra camp hit single that Newton-John boasted to the crowd was 'her one and only song that got banned' for being too suggestive by some radio stations.

Next up, Newton-John revisited her Eurovision experience by performing Long Live Love, the song she represented the United Kingdom with in Brighton way back in 1974, only to come third behind a song called Angel Eyes in second place and the classic winning entry, Waterloo, by a certain Abba, both songs which Newton-John also chose to include in her Manchester set.

The pace was then slowed down considerably with a superb version of the Julie London song Cry Me A River, a real favourite of Newton-John's which she said 'reminded her of her clubbing days in London'. 

The singer followed this up with two songs from her 1994 Gaia album, the first being another slow but powerful number, the eco-friendly Don't Cut Me Down, which Newton -John said 'was a song for the trees', and, the second being the rousing and defiant Not Going To Give Into It, a battle-cry song referencing the singer's personal and well-publicised fight against breast cancer 20 years ago.

She successfully overcame the illness and dedicated this song to 'anyone in the audience who might also have battled or be battling cancer'.

The biggest cheer of the night was, unsurprisingly, reserved for the medley of songs from the phenomenon that was Grease, the movie which catapulted Newton-John into global superstardom.

You're The One That I Want nearly took the roof off the Apollo, the gorgeous show-stopping ballad from the movie, Hopelessly Devoted To You, was beautifully performed and demonstrated how Newton-John's voice remains untainted by the passage of time.

Summer Nights and We Go Together made for a storming finish with much committed audience participation.

Newton-John was ably abetted throughout the show by her three backing singers but particularly so during the Grease medley, and while her two male singers might not quite have cut the same dashing figure as her movie co-star John Travolta,  they were in no way found wanting in the vocals department.

Returning for a much demanded encore, Newton-John's penultimate number of the night was her beautiful 'thank you' song Grace and Gratitude before she proceeded to close the concert in stunning fashion with the undoubted vocal highlight of the evening, a quite magnificent rendition of her first worldwide number one hit from 1974, I Honestly Love You.

After the eternally long wait for her to return, Olivia Newton-John's most loyal band of British fans definitely got exactly what they wanted from this show as the singer fully delivered on all fronts.

They can now just hope that, in the wake of the overwhelming reception she has received on this tour, the singer might just decide to not wait quite so long before heading back to the UK once again.