When Dame Kiri Te Kanawa walked on to the stage of the Rotorua Convention Centre in a plush, turquoise-blue dress, there was no doubt who the audience was there to see.
And when she started to sing, not another sound could be heard in the auditorium.
Dame Kiri performed a one-off New Zealand concert in Rotorua last night with New Zealand tenor Ben Makisi and pianist Terence Dennis and it was an evening of glitz and glamour as Rotorua locals, and people from further afield, turned out for the black tie event.
STAGE PRESENCE: There was no mistaking Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was the star of the show at the Rotorua Convention Centre last night. PHOTO /ANDREW WARNER 260412AW12
Co-organiser Grahame Hall said the night could not have gone better.
"We have had so much support and everybody got behind it to make it a very special and historic occasion for Rotorua."
Among the audience were The Daily Post and Wairiki Institute of Technology competition winners, mother and daughter Pauline and Olive Bushett.
"I really loved the last song - and I want her dress!" said 16-year-old Olive, who is an aspiring singer.
Dame Kiri's last song was an off-the-programme unaccompanied encore with her signature song Pokarekare Ana - a song Olive sang at her uncle's wedding when she was 8.
The event started with a three-course meal at the Convention Centre, with lamb or duck liver and orange pate for starter and roast sirloin of beef or roast chicken breast for main, followed by a selection of desserts.
But no matter how good the meal was, people were there to hear the woman co-organiser Ian Edward described as "a very unique and special New Zealander".
Dame Kiri did not disappoint, starting with a little personal chatter about her variable experience of Australian hotels and her beloved puppy, before launching into a set by JM Canteloube. After several Puccini arias and an interval, she veered toward traditional songs like Scarborough Fair and Danny Boy, coming back to an operatic set to finish the official programme.
Her performances were interspersed with Makisi's tenor voice and he earned his own share of the applause from the appreciative audience.