LAURYN HILL CAN'T CARRY THE WAIT.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

The word ``diva'' has come to mean two things: either a stellar female singer or difficult star. At Global Divas III at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday night, South Africa's Mahotella Queens and Portuguese Fado singer Mariza clearly fell into the former category while hip-hop princess Lauryn Hill was, well ...

First of all, Hill - whose latest album, ``MTV Unplugged No. 2.0,'' has been roundly panned by critics - kept her audience waiting more than 20 minutes beyond the normal 15 between acts. Since the setup was minimal, it wasn't a production problem. (Hill reportedly kept her audience waiting 90 minutes on Saturday night at the Grove in Anaheim.)

Ambling out in sunglasses, Hill sat down and, accompanying herself solo on acoustic guitar, began with the first cut on ``Unplugged,'' ``Mr. Intentional.'' Like most of the songs that followed, it was more a rambling diatribe. That might have been forgiven if the songs had more musical substance, but rhyming everything in sight does not qualify.

What's more, Hill isn't much of a guitar player - her strumming is very mechanical. And while her vocals can be expressive, she doesn't boast a killer voice. (Even the eventual addition of a drummer didn't help much.)

Her second song, ``Selah,'' showed a kernel of a good idea, but those kernels were few and far between on this night. ``Save me from myself,'' Hill said at one point. She should take her own advice and find someone to help shape her musically.

And though she owned up to the criticism of ``Unplugged's'' meandering monologues (``I get it now; the songs are self-explanatory''), it didn't stop Hill from pulling out notes and singing essentially song sketches. While the five-time Grammy winner may see her act as being her own woman - and there were many in the audience who seemed to cheer that stance - Hill comes across as a diva, and not in the good sense.

Luckily the Mahotella Queens, formed in 1964, preceded Hill and made the evening memorable. Backed by a four-piece group, the three queens - two in their late 50s and the leader, Hilda, 60 - were energy personified, dancing with abandon as they sang during their 40-minute show. Having survived the oppressiveness of apartheid, the three were notable for how much joy they brought to their performance.

Opening the night was 26-year-old Mariza, the new voice of Fado, sometimes referred to as the ``Portuguese blues.'' She was anything but blue, with an impressive full-bodied voice and a compelling stage presence. Despite her imperfect English, Mariza quickly connected with audience members and had them clapping along to her upbeat songs.