CALGARY -- As Cher demonstrated before a sold-out crowd at the Saddledome last night, she is first and foremost a consummate entertainer. No matter how many times she has re-invented herself physically and musically over the past four decades, Cher has never lost her ability to connect with an audience. The primary reason for this is that she genuinely seems to be enjoying performing as much as the audience enjoys watching her perform. If this is all an act and she's just doing it for the money, then give the lady another Oscar, quick. You don't go to a Cher concert to just hear her or even see her. You go to experience her. And the experience last night was pure theatre, from the sets to the costumes and lights. It was as if Cher was trying to recreate the Village People phenomenon singlehandedly. And the crowd responded to Cher's show as if it was theatre. They sat in their seats, eagerly and hungrily devouring each new song and each new, outrageous costume. Cher's wardrobe - and it changes almost a dozen times - is remarkable not so much for what it reveals as for what it conceals, given how little material is employed. Cher opened her concert singing I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Believe her. We've seen many Chers, but judging by the energy she showed last night, there are still many more to come. No one enjoys the joke of the Cher experience more than Cher herself. She admitted she had 35 years of material to get through in 90 minutes, quickly adding: "I don't know how I did that, considering I'm not even 35 years old." (She's 53, if anyone's counting.) She claims her life and career have been an out-of-body experience, and there's a great deal of truth in that, because she's quite a mystical performer. Cher's current tour has received criticism for the stretches between numbers as she changes costumes, but it's an unfair criticism because those spots are filled with dazzling dance numbers and retrospective videos. Her tribute to Sonny Bono concludes with a rather discordant version of That's The Way of Love. This way be Cher's way of finally admitting how much discord there was in that relationship. The audience was appreciative of Cher's new material, but it wasn't until she went way back that you could feel the Saddledome swaying. Her video montage of her famous movie roles brought continuous applause. She concluded by saying: "This is just in case some of you forgot I also act on the side." No one can really forget what Cher does, from singing to acting to her wild dating pattern. She is a celebrity in the true sense of the word. She celebrates the joy of being in the spotlight, and makes no apologies for her behaviour. And that's why we love her. And love her the audience did. The all-female concert got off to an energetic start with the pop trio Wild Orchid. They did their best to warm up the crowd with songs like My Tambourine and Talk to Me. Cyndi Lauper was far more successful at achieving this goal. Her brand of electronic mayhem had the audience dancing in their seats and the isles. She belts out her lyrics while riding on the back of one of her musicians or dragging another around by the feet. Then she bounds out into the audience, imploring them to become her backup singers. As Lauper points out in her famous song, Girls Just Want to Have Fun. In this case, the girl definitely wanted to share that fun with everybody.