POP MUSIC REVIEW : Osmond: Comeback Kid Stops in Anaheim

For the next two months, you’re going to be bombarded with pop-culture trivia about the ‘80s: The biggest new star . . . the top-grossing movie . . . the best and worst TV shows.

But why wait for all the recaps? The instant-history award for most surprising comeback, pop music division, goes to Donny Osmond.

Osmond, who headlined the Celebrity Theatre in Anaheim on Saturday, had been counted out by virtually the entire music industry. But Osmond, the butt of a thousand “squeaky-clean” jokes, has had the last laugh. The Utah native scored back-to-back Top 15 singles this year with the frisky dance hit “Soldier of Love” and the soulful ballad “Sacred Emotion,” and is in the early stages of his first tour in more than a decade.

The singer--a star at 13, a has-been at 21--is now 31, and at the Celebrity he appeared remarkably untouched by his ride on the pop roller coaster. He made just one brief reference to his struggle for re-acceptance. “I’ve got to tell you, I have been looking forward to this year for a long, long time,” he said.

Osmond’s well-paced, hourlong performance featured all the songs on his current album, a mix of trendy pop/dance songs in the style of George Michael or Prince and a few medium-tempo ballads. His only nod to his teeny-bopper past was a loose, rhythmic version of the Osmonds’ bubble-gum smash, “One Bad Apple.”

The performance showed that Osmond is a far better singer than such other faded teen idols as Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy, whose success owed more to their dimples and their TV exposure than their vocal chops. Osmond has a sturdy, elastic voice, which served him well on a tender reading of Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today.”

Osmond also showed that he has an understanding of, and an affinity for, contemporary music rhythms. It would have been easy for him to go the Wayne Newton route, but he chose the much harder road of seeking credibility in the pop/rock world.

The key to earning that credibility lies in developing his own style. Osmond’s recent hits are too much in the George Michael vein.

Osmond, who is set to headline the Wiltern Theatre next month, interacted well with his racially and sexually integrated seven-member band. But he needs to loosen up, reveal more of himself, preview some new songs, take more chances.

Osmond was effective on the one b-i-g chance he took--a loose, playful version of Sly & the Family Stone’s funk classic “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” (Osmond didn’t fool anyone, however, when he pretended the performance was ad-libbed. That’s the kind of show-biz phoniness the singer must purge if he wants to be taken seriously.)

The strong response from the audience--a mix of new fans and women who remember Donny fondly as their first big crush--should give Osmond the confidence to experiment more as the tour progresses.