Critic Reviews

[Adele] went into the Winfrey interview ready to say what she wanted to say, and not a single thing more. ... It was genuinely fascinating to watch Winfrey contend with a subject who truly does not seem to care about what most celebrities care about. ... As breathtaking as the aerial shots of the observatory were, they wouldn’t have been half as effective without the towering voice soaring right alongside them. She reminded the world why she’s become such an icon.

One Night Only finds Adele personally refreshed and professionally primed, a place her legions of adoring fans will certainly enjoy hearing about in both performance and interview.

Despite the rarefied air it occupied — “How posh is this?” Adele asked early in the special, to which the answer obviously was very — it also reminded her fans why they missed her. Her voice is like a memory and an active emotional trigger, a robust glass of Zinfandel that heats your insides and makes you wistful.

It’s the music where she’s most expressive, which was certainly borne out Sunday night by her uneventful and distinctly nonrevealing interview with Oprah, which only succeeded in interrupting the momentum of the performance.

She certainly didn’t seem too bothered about winning over Winfrey. And so One Night Only ended, as it had begun, with Adele resplendent as pop’s ultimate girl next door – but also as an enigma who refused to be unlocked.