OTTAWA - Here's how popular the song Sweet Caroline has become: last night, Neil Diamond and the estimated 10,000 fans at Scotiabank Place sang every word of it together.

Twice.

Seriously.

Once just was wasn't enough for this beloved song that has endured for 39 years and has been sung ad nauseam in karaoke bars and sports arenas across North America.

So not so fast, there, Mr. Diamond. Immediately the first go-round, the audience demanded he -- and they -- sing it again.

And the 67-year-old music legend hasn't become one of the most successful recording artists of all time by not listening to his audience. He has sold more than 110 million albums and entertained millions more live during a 40-year career.

He's done this before.

One night after James Blunt romanced thousands of young women, Diamond did the same to their mothers and grandmothers. And they were no less enthusiastic.

"Shall we dance?" he asked the crowd, as those who could rose to their feet for a lively version of Cherry Cherry.

His voice may not be what it was in his prime, but this was more than a concert. This was a theatrical performance. Backed by three energetic dancers and a crack 11-piece band -- playing everything from the sax and trumpet to the drums and bongos -- Diamond masterfully delivered standards from the opener Holly Holy to the encores Cracklin' Rosie and Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show.

Sure, the crowd sat through a few obligatory songs from his new album, Home Before Dark -- it is the name of his tour, after all -- but no one would've felt cheated last night.

I Am ... I Said, Solitary Man, Beautiful Noise ... he played them all with the flair of a Las Vegas show.

When he sat down alone at a table with a white cloth and bottle of wine and began singing You Don't Bring Me Flowers, you could almost have expected Barbra Streisand to join him onstage.

But instead, one of his backup singers filled in, and they acted out a scene Diamond says he's been performing for longer than he can remember.

"I asked myself recently, 'Why don't you just shut up and give her flowers?' " he said after the duet, mixing laughs with applause.

"Bet I've told my story 1,000 times," he said before launching into Brooklyn Rose. "Would you forgive me if I told it one more time tonight?"

Apology accepted.

BEJEWELLED BLAZER

Dressed in a black bejewelled blazer over a silk maroon shirt, the Brooklyn native couldn't resist addressing the crowd in the way so many other visitors from south of the border do -- making a crack about the weather.

"I know a few things about Ottawa," he said, "like it's the coldest capital in the world."

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

"But my favourite thing about Ottawa is that when we come to town, you show up."

Did they ever. Not only did they pay $97 for a seat on the floor, they were shelling out for souvenirs, as well. Diamond pledged to match the amount raised through merchandise sales to the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund. Stuff wasn't going cheap. Programs were $25, hoodies $80 -- even children's T-shirts were $30, and they didn't even say "My Grandmother Went to Neil Diamond and All She Bought Me Was This Lousy Shirt."