are reporting that the NBC two-hour showing last night of Cher’s concert in Vegas brought in the biggest ratings of the season for a music special.

It was a good show. She opened with “The Streets Have No Name”, she looked good, she was funny. She was Cher and she put on a decent Cher show.

But the best ratings for a music special? 16.3 million people?

I like Cher, but no way would I have expected her to beat Faith Hill’s ass or the ultra-hyped Celine Dion. Hill and Dion only managed to scrounge up 12 and 10 million viewers respectively in their concert specials this year.

I love concerts on tv. It is beyond me why MTV doesn’t make more Unplugged or even Plugged events.

This year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awards on VH-1 had enough material for several big-time concerts on par with friggin Faith Hill, and I bet if you asked the average american to tell you four songs by the Police and/or AC/DC they would have an easier time reeling them off for you than they would Faith or Celine.

And Sting is definitely easier on the eyes than Ms. Dion, despite his advancing age.

Which brings us back to Cher.

I thought she looked terrific and im not even gay, but the video effects i thought were tedious and unnecessary. Sure she cant dance as much as she could in the 70s but theres no reason to have cuts and split screens and shots of video every other second. It made me tired. I had to pause my Tivo.

Fortunately America didnt mind, and I say fortunately because Cher isnt getting the fondest farewell at the hands of the likes of other critics, many of whom wouldn’t look good in a blonde wig or Bob Mackie dress no matter how out of the closet they got.

Cher was inspirational last night. Her songs sounded new, her dancers were awesome, and she continues to re-invent herself as if that could even be possible at this point.

Sting has a lot to learn from Cher, as does Mick Jones, and Elvis Costello could learn a few tricks from her as well. Very few performers have aged as gracefully and kept up with the current trends as well as Cher and maybe thats one reason that her show was a hit last night.

I just want to know where the hell Rupaul’s review is.