It was a leaner sexier Michael Flatley who leapt onto the
                              Point's stage for the opening night performance of Lord of
                              the Dance, his new, very glossy show. Gone is the big
                              blouse and the cummerbund to be replaced by a series of
                              tight muscle hugging tops - even his hair isn't big or blond
                              anymore. But his dancing is as mesmerising as ever.

                              Flatley's first appearance on stage earned him a huge
                              round of applause and he finished the first set by
                              disappearing in a cloud of white smoke. That set the tone
                              for the entire evening.

                              The show is designed by Jonathan Park, who has worked
                              with the Rolling Stones and U2. Arlene Phillips, of Hot
                              Gossip fame, is the director and one of the producers,
                              Harvey Goldsmith, is a man more used to rock 'n roll than
                              jigs and reels. Hence the dry ice, glittery costumes and the
                              sort of dancing that would have been banned at the
                              crossroads.

                              At one point the female dancers whipped off their candy
                              coloured diaphanous dresses and finished their routine in
                              black bras and matching tights. But no matter what the
                              ensemble of very fine female and male dancers did, there
                              was always the sense that everyone was waiting for
                              Flatley to come back on stage. Apart from the Lord of the
                              Dance himself, star spotters were disappointed. The
                              rumoured appearance of Elton John turned out to be just
                              that - a rumour.

                              John Reid, Flatley's new manager has also managed John
                              hence the speculation that he might be there. There was a
                              very large, overwhelmingly Irish, VIP section. Colm
                             Wilkinson, a veteran of big venue musicals was there. A
                              big supporter of Flatley, he came over from Toronto.

                              Marianne Faithful looked to be enjoying herself as did
                              singer Joe Dolan. Half of RTÉ were in the VIP section
                              including the radio names in the news - Joe Duffy, Gay
                              Byrne, and Pat Kenny.

                              Flatley's dad, Michael Snr, and his mother, Elizabeth, flew
                              in from the US while his wife, Beata, flew in from Poland.
                              All the talk at the interval was of Flatley's comeback and
                              Ronan Hardiman's extraordinarily powerful score. If the `R'
                              word was mentioned at all it was whispered. In fact, it
                              seemed to be banned on an official level - in Flatley's
                              73line biography in the glossy programme, the `R' word
                              isn't mentioned even once. There was, however, a brief
                              mention of the Eurovision. The touts outside the gates
                              can't have had a good night - opening night wasn't booked
                              out but it does hold 3,500 people and the vast majority of
                              the seats were full.