When Diana Ross performs at the Sunrise Theatre next week she might see a familiar face in the crowd.

One that has traveled to Fort Pierce all the way from Germany to see the diva on stage.

She has seen him at concerts around the world. She knows him by name and on different occasions, they have sung together on stage.

Andreas Hirsch, Ross' self-proclaimed die-hard fan, has been to about 90 of her concerts since 1982, when he was a 15-year-old who fell in love with her hit "I'm Coming Out." He travels twice a year from his native Bavaria, Germany, to see his idol and has been to shows in Europe, the U.S., Australia and South Africa.

"To think about my very first concert in 1982 gives me goose bumps," Hirsch, 45, said. "I was totally overwhelmed by Miss Ross' aura and her performance on stage."

Ross has gotten used to seeing Hirsch at meet-and-greet events before her performances. They talk about upcoming concerts and recordings. He usually asks her when she will release a new album — her latest release was "I Love You," which came out in 2006.

She usually asks him, in a playful way, "What are you doing here again?" She also wonders how he affords to travel to see her.

"It's a really expensive hobby," Hirsch said.

That hobby can cost him about $4,000 every time he travels. But Hirsch has the perfect job for that, he said. He works as a travel agent and gets discounts on airfare.

And he gets his money's worth.

Ross pulled him on stage to sing her song "Reach Out and Touch" during a concert in Oslo, one of the many occasions when they shared the stage. In Frankfurt in 1993, she gave him her microphone and he sang her final song. She told him he should sing louder, Hirsch said.

When Ross saw him in the crowd at a concert in California, she reached out to him again.

"She came to the edge of the stage and hugged me a lot because she knows that I am always there to show her my support and love," Hirsch said.

And when he mentioned to Ross at another concert that he couldn't find good seats for her concert at the Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl in 2008, the diva herself got his phone number and asked staff to reserve tickets for him. On concert day, the tickets were waiting.

Hirsch dismisses rumors about Ross' diva-like behavior. A recent book depicts her as the boss from hell, claiming that she has emotional outbursts, bad-mouths her staff and demands them not to make eye contact with her. The book also alleges she demanded dressing rooms to be redecorated.

But "she is down to earth and so lovely," Hirsch said of Ross. She is my diva in a positive way."

Ross did not have any special requests other than enhanced security for her performance at the Sunrise Theatre, management said.

Hirsch, who travels around the globe for Ross, dreams about a dinner with her — at Ross' choice of restaurant, of course — where he would ask her how she became a famous singer. He wants to know more about the beginning of her career, such as the time she worked as a secretary for Motown founder Berry Gordy in the 1960s.

"What a dream. It will never happen anyway. But as Miss Ross always says, 'Go for your dreams,'" Hirsch said.