Christina Aguilera/Dido/The Corrs: Boston Providence Civic Centre

This is ladies' night. This year's installment of PRO-FM's holiday Jingle Mingle is giving girls and mothers exactly what they want and the throng of leather-trousered, spangle crop-topped teens are thanking them with all the squeals they can muster.

First up is The Corrs, lead vocalist Andrea Corr slithering up to the mic for 'Only When I Sleep'. It's not slim hips that are gonna sell this crowd though - there is no shortage of those accoutrements around here. Sure, some skin may stop them from thinking too hard about this tin whistle and violin business, but it's the overblown pop-sensibility, the massive "whoa-oh"-warbled chorus of 'Breathless', that gets The Corrs past customs with their trad-tendencies intact. Drummer Caroline Corr does the most for the cause, adding a much-needed Keith Moon thunder to their standard blue sky/fluffy cloud sound.

Next up is Dido, and by the adoringly shrill reception, it seems trip-hop's little sister has turned into a full-grown den-mother diva overnight. Unfortunately, her years of hovering on the fringe haven't taught her anything about stadium-worthy showmanship. As she belts out 'Here With Me' over some dreamy drum'n'bass skitter, the people take their seats, and it's clear she's not in her element. These sorts of torch songs for lovers are more suited to an intimate chill-out room in bohemia than a hockey stadium in suburbia. In here, her voice dissipates along with the drama somewhere high in the rafters, and without Eminem to tattoo it into our foreheads, 'Thank You' is merely beguiling, if not boring.

So, it's time now for the person the girls really want to see - the skinniest girl with the most cake, Christina Aguilera. There's a problem though. The girl who brought us 'What A Girl Wants' can't seem to make up her mind about whether she's a Britney or a Whitney. On the Britney side, she steps through the electro-pop goo of 'Genie In A Bottle', rubbing everyone the right way with a crash-in chorus and a squad of breakdancers in '80s gear pulling one-armed cartwheels. On the Whitney side, she pours out some over-sung soul on the Disney theme-in-waiting, 'I Turn To You', which she is sending out to all those fans who supported her in her "more controversial times" this year.

The problem is that she isn't rocking either quite like she should be. For the Britney half, she is just coasting though her dance steps and on the Whitney side, she seems more concerned with proving she can sing than with the songs themselves. In a moment of identity crisis, she manages to muck them both up. So the capper, 'What A Girl Wants' is more of question than a statement, and in lieu of an immediate answer, we are left to just scream as expected. Oh what a night.

Ben Wolford