WINNIPEG - When it comes to image overshadowing ability -- musical ability, anyway -- the ladies have always had a tougher time of it than the guys.

Aretha Franklin, for instance, still boasts the best voice in rock 'n' roll, though her considerable size tends to be the focal point these days.

Madonna's contributions as a dance-pop innovator are too often eclipsed by her penchant for dirty talk.

But no one's had it rougher than country queen Dolly Parton, whose famed physical attributes still get more press than her skills as a singer or songwriter.

The constant oversight would be harder to swallow if Parton herself weren't so OK with it, or if she hadn't spent the last 40 years proving she's more than just a cartoon.

Last night at MTS Centre, touring behind her aptly named new album Backwoods Barbie, Parton served notice she's still a force to be reckoned with, while demonstrating her own particular brand of genius has as much to do with her campy persona as it does her crystalline soprano and unparalleled abilities as a storyteller.

As always, she did so by blending cuts from her extensive catalogue of hits -- party anthem Two Doors Down and foot-stomper Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That, for starters -- with the self-deprecating quips that have served her so well over the decades.

"Thank you for spendin' your hard-earned money on me," said Parton by way of introduction, looking Vegas-appropriate in a rhinestone-bedecked jumpsuit.

"You could be spendin' it anywhere, but I do need it, I do. It takes a lot of money to make someone look this cheap!"

The joke is an old one -- a hallmark of all her shows -- but Dolly's still genuine enough to sell it, as she is heartwrenching classics like Jolene, an anguished plea to a red-headed rival, or Coat of Many Colors, inspired by her hardscrabble childhood in the mountains of Tennessee.

She was fighting a sore throat last night, but Parton's ethereal back-porch holler still rang out clear as a bell, whether she was ripping through a cover of Thank God I'm a Country Boy (abetted by a dancing hunk in overalls) or the Fine Young Cannibals' She Drives Me Crazy.

A haunting chorus and Celtic-inspired flute trills elevated Only Dreamin' to new heights, the Neil Diamond tune Brother Love's Travelin' Salvation Show set the framework for a medley of gospel gems, and recent singles Better Get to Livin' and Shinola showed Dolly can still hold her own against today's crop of new-country cuties.

And as expected, Parton saved the best for last, inviting her bandmates to centre stage for an a cappella rendition of Do I Ever Cross Your Mind before closing with can't-miss crowd pleasers Here You Come Again, Islands in the Stream, 9 to 5 and I Will Always Love You.

Sure, the image is a little cornball and contrived. But where it counts, Dolly's as authentic as they come.