Divas: Why Betty Pamper adores them

Bring on the divas

I can barely contain my excitement. Tonight on BBC2 there is a drama about  Shirley Bassey."A Very British Diva" promise to portray Basseys rise from poverty in Wales to world wide super stardom and I for one can't wait.I can indulge my love for the Diva whilst sipping on a cocktail-I may even wear a tiara.

The magnificent Shirley Bassey

Ive always loved a Diva. From being a small child I was fascinated by Liza Minnelli,Judy Garland, Billie Holiday and Shirley Bassey. Its that irresistible combination of misery (which all true Divas must suffer) and self belief. You can hear it in the voice. Women who had suffered many bumps in the road but ultimately made it to the bright lights and big city (often to be dragged down again, its almost written in the diva script)

Liza-Wrapped in furs of course-She's a Diva

As well as the voices (and what voices-capable of wringing a tear from the most hardened heart) its the unashamed glamour of Divas which like a magpie caught my eye as a little girl and continues to fascinate.

Never knowingly under dressed


Floor length sequined gowns, diamonds sparkling, hair a foot tall with heals to match and lip gloss so thick you could canoe in it. It embodies an old ideal of glamour which in an age where most film stars are more often photographed in jeans and a tee keeps some of that Hollywood ideal alive.

I love the mythology which grows around these exotic creatures  kittens backstage, repainted dressing rooms, rose strewn stages it all adds to the feeling that they are somehow on a different planet-planet Diva where everything is shiny except the noses.
My all time favourite Diva is Barbra Streisand I simply adore her. Her neurosis, her stage freight, her vast collections of antiques which take up whole aircraft hangers of space, even her Fu Manchu fingernails all adds up to the perfect Diva. One of my all time favourite songs is "make it like a memory" it encapsulates dramas, heartbreak, despair-perfect Diva fodder.

There are of course some modern day Divas (Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey   seem to be burning the flame quite nicely) and Cher always exhibits some Diva like tendencies although she always seems more "trooper" than full on drama queen but its the magic of Bassey and Streisand which for me sums up the Diva. Better go and put on my false eyelashes.

Cher-Such a trooper

Who is your favourite Diva?