Minnelli collapses during concert in Sweden after 'feeling dizzy'

The actress and singer Liza Minnelli has flown back to the United States for medical treatment after collapsing on stage during a Christmas concert in Sweden.

The Oscar-winning performer passed out as she walked off stage after the fourth song, said Zlatko Nedanovski, a spokesman for the organisers of the event in Goteborg. A crew member was said to have caught the 61-year-old as she fell. The cause of her collapse was not known, and she has returned to the US to consult her doctors.

"She had felt a bit dizzy before she got up on stage," said Mr Nedanovski. "As she walked down the steps, she passed out. She was taken immediately to her hotel where a doctor was waiting. They decided together with her management that it's best for Liza to go to the US right away."

Minnelli was appearing alongside Swedish artists in the final performance of a four-night run of a show called A Classic Christmas Night when she collapsed on Wednesday.

She flew back to the US yesterday, as her spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg confirmed she had "complained of dizziness" before the show and "became very ill after the show began".

"As a result, she was unable to finish her performance and was rushed back to her hotel by her manager," said Ms Rosenberg. A doctor had, in consultation with her New York physician, determined that it would be necessary to return to New York for further medical evaluation.

Minnelli's manager Gary Labriola said: "We don't yet know what happened. We are all very worried."

Minnelli, the daughter of the actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli, has been a singer, dancer and actress since childhood. She won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her leading role as Sally Bowles in the 1972 film Cabaret. In 2004 she was treated in a New York hospital after falling out of bed at her home in Manhattan.