We nearly didn't make it in time to see AJ Brown at Milton Keynes Theatre, clambering into our mid-section seats just before he strode onstage, which turned out to be a blessing for us, writes Sammy Jones.
Young singer-songwriters with average songs and ok voices are frequent enough – look and you'll find. Which is why affable AJ stands apart; His vocals are warm and on the money, and his self-penned introductory number, Zip-A-Dee Kinda Love is a cut above the rest.
A beautiful rendition of Hallelujah is a crowd pleaser, but is followed by something a little left of centre; Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody defies expectations, and brings an altogether different colour to the chart this evening.
In-between songs, AJ interacts warmly with his new fanbase who are charmed by the good looking young man in the red velvet jacket.
“I know it's 2019, but I've made an audacious comment and brought out a compact disc,” he says, giving a quick nod to his EP, Classics.
There is a definite air of confidence here, as well there might be from the fella with a truckload of talent who has been honing his craft stage-sharing with Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Lionel Richie, Alfie Boe and Will Young.
He rounds off a short, but perfect set with Living a Lie with its up-tempo vibes and cracking chorus; 'I've got melody; I've got soul, a music remedy that fills my bones,' he sings, as a sold-out Milton Keynes Theatre take up the lyrics and get all clap-happy.
And that's when his talent really shines; AJ can rouse an audience effortlessly, but actually, not everyone has melody and soul. Some of the audience were so out of time they were almost in time!
AJ Brown is a go-to support artist for the crème de la crème of easy listening and pop artists, but it could well be his name at the top of the posters before too long.
After AJ bids farewell, esteemed conductor Anthony Inglis and the London Concert Orchestra fill the stage, before Katherine Jenkins arrives, all ravishing in a deep red detailed gown. She looks stunning.
And then she sings, and takes her audience into musical heaven, with Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro, which is sublime.
She enjoys a little rugby banter with her conductor, before Sibelious' melody to the tune of Finlandia follows.
And then Katherine is gone. Time enough to swap one beautiful gown for another. There are four changes tonight, and each proves as stunning as the last.
“I'd like to ask a personal question,” she says when she returns, asking who in the audience has lost someone special.
She talks of her much-loved father, who she lost aged just 15 years. Honouring her father's memory is a regular part of her show, but when she breaks into Jealous of the Angels it feels like the first time she has done it.
Music has no purpose if you can't feel it. It should move you, and Katherine's vocals cut deep.
In the row where we are seated, three people are moved to tears. That sort of connection doesn't happen too often, does it?
“Aah, are you ok?” Katherine asks one audience member who is letting the tears flow, “I know, it gets me too,” she says.
Never Enough, taken from The Greatest Showman, wraps up the first half of a wonderful evening.
It's a song Katherine often sings to her daughter Aaliyah at bedtime, she tells us. It doesn't send us to sleep, but rather leaves us heading to the bar with anticipation for the second set...
When it arrives, it comes with a bang, and our hostess takes us to Granada with an outing of the popular standard.
During the interval, her audience were invited to scribble down questions and dedications, and Katherine returns clutching a thick pile of papers.
The house lights come on, and a little wit-filled Q&A follows.
There are a few happy birthdays to say, a few questions; 'Would you share your thoughts on Brexit?' asks one, while another asks 'Who is H?' in a nod to the TV show gripping a nation, Line of Duty.
“I know, we're missing it, aren't we?” she says in that wonderful Welsh accent, and in Milton Keynes she collects marriage proposals like the rest of us accumulate bills!
Nattering aside, and there is of course, more music for the ears to dance to; Dolly Parton's l'amore sei tu (I Will Always Love You), To Where You Are (written by Josh Groban), and Time To Say Goodbye, which calls time on a sublime evening of song.
Almost. Katherine returns once more to deliver Queen's We Are The Champions.
It is no accident that Katherine is the number one selling classical artist of the past 25 years - she has the voice of angels, and oodles of charm alongside. Magnificent.
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