Review: Pussycat Dolls and Lady Gaga at Vector Arena

The Doll Domination Tour is rumoured to be the Dolls' last as Nicole Scherzinger breaks away to go solo. Photo / Getty Images

Both have number one chart hits, platinum-selling albums and an apparent distaste for pants. But when Lady Gaga and the Pussycat Dolls faced off at Vector Arena on Saturday night, only one proved herself a class act - Lady Gaga.

Although she was the support act of the night, Stefani Germanotta - Lady Gaga - outsang, outshone and out-sexed the Dolls, in half the time and half the space.

In just 40 minutes, she raced through four costume changes - including a nude body suit with strategic plastic baubles that were part of her "bubble dream" set.

Compare this with the Dolls, who occasionally added or subtracted various sequinned accessories but never deviated from the theme of low-rent showgirls.

Gaga's bubble dream set ditched the 23-year-old's her back-up dancers and guitarist so she could play a cabaret-style set on a glass piano (also filled with plastic bubbles), turning the over-produced electro beats of Poker Face into a seductive vaudeville number.

Standing on the piano stool, doubled over but continuing to play and sing, Gaga proved she could well be this generation's - and the next's - true Queen of Pop.

But where Gaga was every bit as outrageous, salacious and irrepressible as her music videos suggest, the Dolls proved they are best left as poster girls. Nice to look at but you really don't need the sound track.

They took the stage half an hour after Gaga, the black curtain dropping to reveal a total lack of staging - a black staircase was the only prop on the disappointingly budget set.

Singing to pre-recorded music and backing tracks, with no live musicians to accompany them, their show soon turned into a glorified karaoke night. Karaoke at the strip club, to be precise.

Some bands can pull off the stripped back set. The Dolls simply don't have the talent or variety to hold 12,000 people's attention for 90 minutes without some bells and whistles.

At one point, they dragged four competition winners on stage to compete for the "ultimate" prize - what appeared to be an autographed hoodie. To win this gem, the four lucky fans - one no older than 10 - had to bump and grind like the Dolls.

It was beyond painful and simply confirmed they really are nothing more than a cheap Vegas cabaret act.

By the time they got around to their original hit - the interminably annoying Don't Cha (Wish Your Girlfriend) - it seemed several people just wished they would shut up, as they began scuttling out of the arena before the end of the encore.

The Doll Domination Tour is rumoured to be the Dolls' last as Nicole Scherzinger breaks away to go solo. Sounds like a good plan. Saturday's show proved the Dolls aren't dominating anything.