ORGANISERS of the Welcome to Wales concert at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium pulled out all the stops to bring Wales' biggest stars to the opening event of Ryder Cup.

With a stellar line-up which included Catherine Zeta-Jones, Katherine Jenkins and Dame Shirley Bassey, it was a bit disappointing to see so many empty chairs as the audience took their seats in the vast stadium.

But for those who had bought tickets, there anticipation in the audience was palpable, with a number of Welsh flags in the crowd as well as American accents.

The concert was opened by Swansea-born Hollywood A-lister Catherine Zeta Jones, giving the show a real sense class and glamour from the word go.

Prince Charles and First Minister Carwyn Jones were then welcomed on to the stage to address the thousands of golf and music fans gathered under the Millennium Stadium’s closed roof.

The crowd were delighted when Prince Charles opened his speech in Welsh, before saying the Ryder Cup would leave a “fine legacy” for the game of golf and this “special country”.

The music was kicked off by Katherine Jenkins who performed a flawless set of three songs.

Her cover of Evanescence’s Wake Me Up Inside saw her transformed from a full length black gown into a white dress with a huge pair of butterfly wings in the middle of the song, and she flew through the air performing some impressive aerial acrobatics for her final song In The Arms of An Angel.

The European and American Ryder Cup teams were then introduced on stage, before Lost Prophets gave all their energy to a lively set of three of their best-known songs.

At just 13-years-old, former Britain’s Got Talent singer Shaheen Jaforgali gave a confident and accomplished performance of two Jackson 5 songs.

He was joined on stage for Blame it on the Boogie by the Mark Jermin Stage School, whose slick choreography got the crowd moving.

Only Boys Aloud got one of the biggest cheers of the night with plenty of proud parents in the crowd and their mentors Only Men Aloud put on a great show with three Tom Jones songs, before Dame Shirley Bassey made her spectacular entrance in a full length gold gown and cape.

She produced note-perfect performances of Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Big Spender, proving at 73 she’s still a world-class act.

The organisers put on a fantastic show. It was just a shame there weren’t more people there to see it.