MARTIN PUTS ON (SURPRISINGLY) GREAT SHOW AT STAPLES CENTER.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Critic

I was all set to start off by saying something nasty about Ricky Martin.

Something about how while he may be reasonably attractive, cute looks and flashy dance moves don't make a career. Or perhaps a biting comment about his formulaic Latin-pop music, designed to go in one ear and out the other while leaving behind the subliminal message ``buy me.''

But then I went and saw the Puerto Rican heartthrob in concert Saturday at Staples Center along with 17,000 committed fans.

And I've gotta tell ya, Martin's dazzling, fast-paced show was easily the most purely entertaining event I've sat through all year - and that includes Court TV's all-day ``Cops'' marathon and the night I spent in the woods with a bug zapper and a six-pack.

The guy's got what it takes to thrill the masses, that's for sure. He's an exciting dancer in the Elvis ``Hips `R' Us'' mold, he's got charisma, and he's an adequate enough singer for the mostly so-so material.

Some even say he's sexy. But I wouldn't know because I was too busy journalistically observing the audience, which consisted almost entirely of well-dressed females, ages 6 to 60.

I wanted to scream, ``Hey, gals, with just a slight twist of the genes, I'd look just like that guy on stage!''

Anyway, one thing's clear. Whoever staged Martin's ``Livin' La Vida Loca'' tour, which comes to the Pond in Anaheim on Saturday, deserves some kind of award.

The nearly two-hour concert opened with a high-energy bang, seamlessly moving from a video projection of Martin behind the wheel of a speeding video-game car that raced up and down skyscrapers before coming to a halt just as the singer himself rose from the stage on the hood of a vintage Mustang.

The ubiquitous ``Livin' La Vida Loca'' kicked things off, and it seemed by using the smash hit as the evening's first number, Martin was saying, OK, here it is, folks - now, let's move on.

The big production number gave way to equally effective staging on other set pieces, including the Spanish-sung ``Marcia Baila,'' which sprung to life from a second piece of video footage, this time of a sizzling Latin club, a scene carried onto the Staples stage with help from Martin's Vegas-style dance troupe.

Martin, 27, brought a contagious sense of joy to the month-old downtown venue, at one point splitting the house and asking each side to mimic his sometimes admittedly goofy moves. The place came apart, and crowd members let themselves go with genuine abandon.

Later, confetti and streamers fell from the ceiling, lending the show even more of a party atmosphere.

The evening opened with a mercifully short set by over-excited teen thrush Jessica Simpson, who screeched her Top 10 hit ``I Wanna Love You Forever'' in a register apparently audible only to any bats that might have been circling nearby.

And a final note about the sound at Staples Center: The truth is, it's no better or worse than any other arena in the world. OK?

The facts

Who: Ricky Martin, Jessica Simpson.

Where: Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: Sold out, try brokers.

Information: [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Ricky Martin performs his hit ``Livin' La Vida Loca'' atop a battered classic Mustang on Saturday at Staples Center.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2) no caption (Ricky Martin)