POP MUSIC REVIEW : Honest to Gosh, Marie’s a Country Singin’ Star

Marie Osmond, the second to youngest member of the clean-cut clan from Utah and the only member of the family to have long-term success in the music industry, has been consistently hitting the country charts all by herself. Last year she had two No. 1 singles in a row, making her an honest-to-gosh country singin’ star by Nashville’s (admittedly rather loose) standards.

As befits a country singer, Marie has been on the road almost nonstop; she played 250 dates last year alone. Monday night’s stop at the relatively intimate Crazy Horse in Santa Ana found her backed by an eight-piece band, , dressed in a purple and green spangly suit and applique cowboy boots, and putting on a highly professional show that included most of her hits.

Her voice, though technically excellent, has the emotional range of a Disney character, but, also like a Disney character, she’s absolutely unhateable. Despite the mawkish flirting with middle-age men in the audience, the dumb jokes, the bland pop songs, Marie manages to convey a real feeling of warmth and fun to her fans. For every false quiver and rehearsed throb on such ballads as “I Only Wanted You” or “Read My Lips,” there’s an equal and opposite genuine spark during her more raucous pop songs, a look of real sincerity in her smile. She’s so familiar, so trustworthy: the voice and face of our collective childhoods.

Marie herself has no illusions about her current role in country music: “I love country music, I always have, but I’m no hillbilly,” she said after the show. “For me to sing traditional country wouldn’t be right. I don’t have an accent and I’m not into bluegrass, and my audience isn’t really like that either.”

In person, Marie is tinier than she seems on stage, and just as enthusiastic, waxing ecstatic over being back in the L.A. area--”I’m a real Valley Girl at heart!”--and giving directions to her favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. Close up, she is far more approachable than the wax doll figurine on stage would have it.

“You know, even though I’m 28 years old,” Marie continued, “I feel like I’ve just started to do what I love. When you’re young and naive and you have to rely on managers and producers to do everything for you, it’s so totally different. But now that I’m really involved in all the decision making--picking which shows I want to do, and when to take time off, and which songs I’m going to sing--it’s just so great! It’s as if I spent the last 25 years in school, waiting to do everything myself.”

Asked about her family’s reaction to her country success, Marie says its a misconception to view the other Osmonds as failures. “From my point of view . . . well, I was the tag-along for years while they were superstars,” she said. “I mean, I saw all the massive crowds cheering for them in England, and all their gold records and everything; everyone takes their turn at success, in every family, you know? It’s not like a competition.”