Amazing Grace made Cheryl sound like a squawking budgie: The highs and lows of Her Majesty's tribute concert at Buckingham Palace

Television moment of the night? Was it Madness singing Our House (in the middle of One’s Street) on the roof of Buckingham Palace? A beaming Archbishop of Canterbury seat dancing in the royal box? Or magnificent 64-year-old Grace Jones singing while twirling a hula hoop around her waist? 
Close thing, but how about Rolf Harris singing Two Little Boys? A cappella. In his homemade Union Jack waistcoat. In front of a quarter of a million people in The Mall, not to mention a global audience of millions watching at home. With Lenny Henry standing next to him, trying to shut him up.
Darling Rolf would not be thwarted. Why not? He was probably one of the few people on the bill of the Jubilee Concert that the Queen had actually heard of before. And he managed to get the last heart-rending chorus in, before Henry muscled in to introduce his ‘personal hero and absolute legend’ Stevie Wonder.
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As unusual as ever: Grace Jones didn't disappoint with her outfit and took to the stage in a black and red outfit and she was seen hula-hooping as she sang

Special treat for the Royals:  Cheryl sang Need You Now with Gary Barlow and much to the surprise of fans sang live

Cheryl's a hit! Prince William and Harry were seen beaming while Kate waved her flag with plenty of enthusiasm

One thing. It’s not about you, Len. It’s about Her Maj. Like Princess Anne, she may have been wearing earplugs, but this raucous, cacophonous royal evening was all in her honour. At times she might have wondered what she had done to deserve it, but on the whole, I think it went OK.

 

The Jubilee Concert was two years in the planning, most of it done by Gary ‘Take That Knighthood’ Barlow. For much of yesterday, the event was trailed on the BBC and ITV with the relentless fervour of a manhunt. With the Duke of Edinburgh in hospital, the show had to go on.

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The question was, for broadcaster and celebrity turn alike, how to proceed with delicacy and tact? 
Naturally, opening act Robbie Williams rose to the occasion by immediately putting his hand down his pants for one of his tradition ‘grope and thrust’ groin movements. 
Nobody quite knows why Robbie does this. Perhaps it is a comfort reflex, like a chimp clinging on to a parent as they swing through the vines? Whatever the truth of the matter, the BBC camera peeled away sharpish, like a shy girl averting her eyes from something nasty in the woodshed. 
Of course, if only it had done this during the lowlight of the evening — the ‘surprise’ appearance of Cheryl Cole. It would have saved everyone a lot of pain.

One has arrived! The Queen made her entrance mid-way through the performance and looked sophisticated in her black caped coat

Rocking around: Sir Cliff Richard took to the stage in a dusty pink suit whit a diamante tie as he showed off his best moves

Get your hands in the air! Robbie looked dapper in his military-inspired outfit with his initials embellished on his cuffs. The singer told the audience to throw their hands in the air

Cheryl was singing a duet with Barlow. I say ‘singing’. Let us be honest here. Cheryl can’t sing, she never could sing — so what on earth was she doing at the Jubilee Concert? Apart from providing someone for Prince Harry to make a beeline for at the after-party. 
On the big stage in front of the Palace, Cheryl sounded like a budgie with emphysema. Previously, there has been scandal about her miming on some of her hits. In future, the Queen should make her mime, by royal decree.  
Elsewhere, Jessie J sang a duet with the inevitable Will.i.am. If the BBC promote him any more, he’ll be the new director-general. And much as I love Jools Holland, did he really deserve a place in the line-up? Or was he just there because, like Will.i.am, he fronts a BBC show?
The acts were linked together with guest turns from the likes of Rob Brydon, whose new russet hair tinged almost violet in the glow of the evening sun. He managed to get quite a few quips in about the fruity meaning of the word ‘queen’. Congrats, Rob, for it is probably the diamond jubilee of that particular joke, too.

Paying tribute: Sir Paul told the Queen: 'May I congratulate Your Majesty on 60 fantastic years'

Doing Britain proud: The setting of the concert was a spectacle in itself and the weather held out to turn into a fine evening to celebrate The Queen's 60 years on the throne

Best seats in the house: Prince Charles and Camilla were seen on the front row of the Royal box

He also said the stage crew had been working ‘quicker than Jeremy Hunt deleting a text’. Political satire also. Oh excellency, you are spoiling us.
Comedian Jimmy Carr was on eviscerating form. ‘The temptation to say something inappropriate is almost too much,’ he said, but calling the Queen ‘Liz’ was about as cutting edge as he got. ‘Let’s hear it one more time for Sir Cliff Richard,’ he cried. Rebel.
Cliff sang a medley of his hits in a pink suit, sounding at times as if he had a new set of top teeth. 
Yet at least it was clear that being there really meant something to him, bless his glitter tie. The Queen turned up at around 9pm, and caught Robbie Williams singing his second number of the night. He swaggered through a rendition of Mack The Knife. This time he didn’t stick his hand down his trousers. Royal wonders will never cease.

Think pink: Sir Elton John was dressed in a sparkling bright pink coat and a black suit and a pair of black trousers as he performed Your Song and dedicated it to the Queen and right, Pop Princess Kylie performed some of her more recent songs and her old classics in one of the longer sets during the concert

Double trouble: The Voice judges Will.i.am and Jessie J performed the Black Eyed Peas song I Gotta Feeling and were decked out in red white and blue

Singing their bit on the official song for the Queen, the Military Wives were a sensation, as they always are. If Cheryl had been caught in the slipstream of their mighty voices, she would have been blasted all the way back to Newcastle. 
The ‘utterly incomparable’ Shirley Bassey floated about in chiffon, Kylie was in a pair of pearly queen hotpants, Elton John glittered in purple sequins, Stevie Wonder was fabulous and Macca topped the bill — although was Live And Let Die really an appropriate choice for the occasion?
The Royals came on at the end, the Queen sandwiched between Cheryl Cole’s chest and Camilla’s grey silks. For once, she looked touchingly vulnerable. Prince Charles asked the crowd to shout loud enough for the Duke to Edinburgh to hear them in hospital. ‘Philip, Philip, Philip!’ they screamed, as a giant Union flag was projected on to the Palace. 
Sorry Rolf, this was the best moment of the night. Brilliant and oddly moving.

Like an angel: Annie Lennox had dressed in a glittering silver gown and angel wings

In the mood to celebrate! Large crowds thoroughly enjoyed the three and a quarter hour concert