Nana Mouskouri shows why she's still a value for-money singer at age 70. She sang her hits at her show here, and bravely took on a Mandarin evergreen.

NANA Mouskouri would probably be the last person you would expect to sing a Teresa Teng song. Her fans know she's a consumate performer of Greek, French and English songs - which she did in her show her las Saturday. But as the Greek legend's first concert drew to a close, the crowd grew visibly excited in anticipation of a Chinese song she had promised. It turned out to be Teng's "Yue Liang Dai Baio Wo De Xin" (The Moon Represents My Heart), which she sang during the encore. She may have been reading phonetics off a sheet of paper - giving a wry smile and a glance backstage whenevershe came to the difficult words - but it was delivered with such panache that nobody cared.

The soldout 1,700-strong crowd, comprising mainly well-dressed babyboomers and midlifers, seemed honoured just to be in her presence. When she first appeared on stage in billowing all-white, sporting her trademark dark-rimmed square glasses, you could almost hear them gasp, such is their adulation. But the singer, who started her career in 1959, was not just riding on her reputation. Backed by a six-piece band from France, her vocals remained crisp and powerful, whether in slow-burn numbers like Amazing Grace or fast-tempo hits like Milise Mou (Talk to Me).

Other than one costume change and one spontaneous jig, she let her voice do the talking for the entire 2 1/2 hours. The crowd mostly stayed in their seats, but many tapped their feet or clapped along to the faster numbers. Mouskouri also shared nuggets about her life. When she was young, she would get onto the stage of an open air cinema where her Dad worked as a projectionist, and pretend to be a Hollywood star like Marlene Dietrich or Ginger Rogers. The crowd did get to their feet finally to give Mouskouri three standing ovations. Visibly touched, she said "I wish I had come earlier". Yes, she may be retiring after this farewell tour of some 100 cities but many in the audience would argue that she's still good enough to sing in another 100 more.