OTTAWA - Tina Turner got to be our Private Dancer for one last time.

And as the sold-out crowd at the Corel Centre concurred by their loud cheers last night, the 60-year-old will always be Simply the Best.

Those legs. That voice. Those moves.

Turner's been at this entertaining game a long time. From her days as one-half of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, belting out such classics as A Fool in Love, River Deep, Mountain High and Proud Mary, Turner was born to move.

After she left Ike and his evil ways, Turner took years to get herself back on track. By the time Private Dancer rolled around, she was back on her feet again.

At the Corel Centre last night, she culminated all those years of sweat and rhythmic power in one hang of an entertaining show that spanned her long and winding career.

Opening with I Wanna Take You Higher, Turner surrounded herself with dancers galore -- including former ER star Gloria Reuben -- on a chrome stage that compartmentalized her seven backup musicians.

With lasers flashing, the crowd was up on its feet, all eyes on the tousled-blonde Turner strutting her stuff.

She can still hit the notes, too. Didn't matter if it was What's Love Got to Do With It, When the Heartache's Over or her covers of the Beatles Help or her classic Tommy track Acid Queen, there's simple no one comparable to Turner.

While the likes of Ricky Martin, Britney Spears and the recent slew of boy bands have their own clean-cut moves guaranteed to thrill the teen set, they're no substitute for the real down-and-dirty, dance 'til you drop entertainment.

That's Tina Turner.

"WAAZZUUUP!!" announced Lionel Richie, marking a bittersweet return in front of an arena-sized crowd in goodness knows how long -- probably since the late 1980s.

And it was those '80s memories -- plus a few '70s gems from his Commodores tenure -- that Richie banked on tugging a few heart strings.

A few? Hard to recall the last time a stadium-size crowd sang along to Three Times a Lady, Stuck on You or Hello, or danced along to All Night Long, Dancing on the Ceiling, or Brick House, in which Richie proved his Commodore-hood by donning a custom-fitted afro.

"I haven't seen dancing since 1975, or 1985, I can't remember," declared Richie, all decked out in a blue velour shirt. "And this one guy ... out of control, out of control!"

True, Richie was having the time of his life on stage, whether he was tinkling the ivories to Easy or Still strutting the stage to the Brazilian rhythms of new number Cinderella. His sense of humour and stage persona showed a genuine flair from the veteran entertainer.

Seems all so bittersweet when you think back that there existed a time -- the early 1980s, matter of factly -- when Richie was the main attraction, and Turner was trail-blazing a comeback as a opening act.

That datedness rang home during a synth-heavy run-through of Running With the Night and a nod to Van Halen's Jump during Dancing on the Ceiling. (We won't even get into what Richie's been through away from the spotlight).

Still, if last night's appearance was any indication, perhaps Richie deserves another shot. So long as he doesn't veer into some of the Vegas-style singing of his old hits, he'll get his wish.

JAM! Rating: 4.5 out of 5