TRANSLATED from primetime television and glossy albums, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe’s stage show is a masterclass in easy charm that tickles the belly of its audience and finds few duff notes among its harmonies.

Backed by three female vocalists as part of an 18-piece orchestra fanning from a white grand piano, the mighty-voiced pair, as Ball beamed, have had an exceptional year, effortlessly selling out arenas.

But rather than pronouncing their success with the dead-eyed smugness many polished veterans give away, Ball and Boe are tangibly thrilled at their popularity, using it to pay accessible tributes to some of the acts they admire.

A series of Queen melodies were carried off with an affectionate sense of fun, and Bring me Sunshine, made popular by Morecambe and Wise, felt like the kind of candyfloss-coated variety that only the grumpiest malcontent could resist laughing at.

There was little complicated interplay between their two voices, with Ball’s offering understatement and shade next to the operatic Boe, who could probably have blown aside all those accompanying musicians at will. Boe is, as Ball put it, “the yin to my yang”, and their reward was a succession of standing ovations, in between some consummate audience interaction, including a style parade and some faux-cute calls for less heckling.

After a few of the West Side Story numbers they perform so slickly on record, they ended, improbably, with a tribute to another pair unafraid of lampooning themselves and indulging in a little innuendo. Ball and Boe are heartfelt admirers of Wham!, so the chance to sing Wake me up Before you Go-Go - a surefire crowdpleaser in the scheme of such a relentlessly feelgood setlist – was too good to leave out.

Flinging themselves into another medley, they turned a tacky prospect into a gloriously swinging finale.