Hmm. She's not doing anything Cher didn't already do, with similar results. Or Michael Jackson, who toward the end appeared barely human!

Not only does it show a deep lack of confidence in her own abilities, but a deep distrust of her audience. A fear that unless she stays 'young', they will abandon her, perhaps? Or that her original audience has outgrown her and she must continually capture a new and younger one?

It's not necessary. One need only look at Cilla Black. I never admired her music, or her hypocrisy about her Liverpool background. But her re-entry into the public eye in the 1980s was a lesson in how it should be done. No effort to mask or alter the now-plump face or matronly figure. But her warmth, her humour, her gift of the gab, all of them captured hearts even more than her singing had ever done. She aged with grace and style and todays' female celebrities should take that lesson to heart.