Proms in the Park 2013, review "What a glorious sight you are to behold," said Terry Wogan to the audience as he tottered onto the stage to present this year's Proms in the Park. Clearly Wogan had wandered among the crowds beforehand and caught a glimpse of the kaleidoscopic lunacy. Apart from the sea of Union Jacks - not just flags, but hats, towels, umbrellas and tattoos - people wore flashing head boppers, tiaras, and pith helmets straight out of Rudyard Kipling. Unfortunately the audience was more interesting than the acts themselves. Proms in the Park is meant to be an accessible entry level to the elite Royal Albert Hall event, but there could have been a bit more bite to the itinerary. Presumably adding Dame Edna Everage to the line-up was an attempt to sharpen things up, but the Melbourne housewife is far better when she is in control of proceedings. Here she appeared lost as a turn at someone else's show, trotting out a not-very-good song called "My Public" before engaging in some not-very-good banter with Wogan. Everage's larger-than-life presence was diminished as she failed to charm the large, slightly drunk audience who swayed against the London skyline. Joseph Calleja, the great Maltese tenor, also struggled to fill the space. Only in his opening number, Dalla's Caruso, was there any sense of his commanding a crowd. The cast of Beatles musical Let it Be certainly got people moving (the couple twisting enthusiastically in front of us looked like something from a Beryl Cook painting) but their reedy voices disappeared quickly into the night. Things improved with the arrival of Nigel Kennedy, fresh from the Royal Albert Hall in his Aston Villa top, and clutching what looked like a Tesco bag. He may have looked shambolic but Kennedy's performance - of his own work Melody in the Wind - with 15-year-old Palestinian violinist Mostafa Saad was the highlight of the evening. Bryan Ferry on stage as part of Proms in the Park at Hyde Park The headline act was Bryan Ferry and he swaggered louchely onto the stage in a stunning smoking jacket that ought to make him trend on Twitter. The set was Ferry's usual mix of uninspired jazz standards and alternative takes on Roxy Music numbers (a surprisingly good Jealous Guy with haunting string accompaniment) - all delivered with the usual sneer, eyelids fluttering with disdain. The strange thing about Proms in the Park is that the last 45 minutes is essentially just a live link-up with the Royal Albert Hall. I've always thought that this is like paying for a party to which you're not invited. Still, the crowds in Hyde Park didn't care. They gamely sang along to the usual mix of Rule, Britannia!, Land of Hope and Glory, and Jerusalem, and some even took on Granville Bantock's tricky Sea Reivers through the art of interpretive dance. From her podium at the Albert Hall, the magnificent Marin Alsop praised Proms audiences for their focus, their energy and their sensible shoes. And that pretty much summed up what I saw. It's just a shame that these enthusiastic Park Promenaders weren't treated to a better show.