Mariah Carey, Leeds Arena

Christmas albums are part and parcel of Christmas in America and although the trend has caught on here it is still not as prolific as it is across the pond. Mariah Carey has released two Christmas albums so far and toured her All I Want For Christmas Tour in the States but never in Europe - until now.

It was a gig not just for her fans but children too, in fact she even brought her twins on stage which brought a personal touch to the night. Apparently they want Santa to bring them an I Pad each for Christmas.

It's partly bonkers but totally Mariah Carey: there is a huge Christmas tree, a dancing bear and Snowman, ballet dancers and of course Father Christmas with Carey in the middle of it all. Naturally it all runs immaculately.

The Sugar Plumb Fairy dances across the stage, the huge red curtain drops and there she is dressed in white with angel wings! Hark! The Herald Angels Sing never sounded as good or as apt.

She is very fond of reminding the audience that Christmas is her favourite time of the year, mind you with her young family you can understand why.

Trey Lorenz is on hand as he leads the Uplifted Voices Gospel Choir on Jesus Oh What A Wonderful Child whilst Carey goes off stage to get changed. It was hard not to feel the joy and love coming from the stage.

Then the Christmas songs keep coming Silent Night ran into Joy To The World, it was glitz and glamour throughout, like all your best Christmas adverts rolled into one.

It would have been a shame had she not sung at least one track off her new album, thankfully she did treat the fans to The Distance then continued with some of her usual songs such as We Belong Together finishing off with a note perfect version of Hero.

Returning to the stage dressed in red and showing off her long legs for an encore of All I Want For Christmas Is You was the perfect end to what had been one of the most unusual gigs of the year. Fake snow falls over the audience, bells ring and Carey thanks us once again for coming. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

It was classic Mariah, classic bling with attention to detail with everything you expect at Christmas.