Pop Weekend : Lisa Lisa: By the end, she was extorting applause by saying she would call it a night unless the crowd made her feel welcome.

Lisa Velez figured that lasting six years on the pop-R&B; scene was a milestone worth noting during a pause in her show Friday night at the Celebrity Theatre. Judging from the blandness of her hour’s work, becoming a seasoned trouper has taken some of the spice out of Lisa Lisa’s once-peppery stage persona.

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam has some of the stuff it takes to keep things fresh, with its blend of hip-hop beats, Latin rhythmic accents and rock-style guitar all folded into a polished urban pop package. The New York group presented the package proficiently enough, but it didn’t contain much sass or personality.

The tiny, cutely chunky Lisa Lisa has played the role of an emphatic young woman determined to hold on to her independence in romantic relationships, while still keeping a soft spot open for a lover who would be respectful and true.

But, artistically at least, Velez doesn’t have much independence. Her music is crafted by the New York songwriting-record producing team known as Full Force. And while the best of the songs that Full Force gives Velez feature catchy, hit-making hooks, the Lisa Lisa repertoire is generic pop product that doesn’t form much of a basis for her to communicate a story or an identity of her own. On stage at the Celebrity, Lisa Lisa hardly even tried.

The smoothly tuneful funk hits, “Head to Toe” and “I Wonder if I Take You Home,” and the bouncy pop fluff of “Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star” were pleasant enough diversions. An attempt at a rap-dance workout was the flattest number, with Velez and most of the rest of her ensemble (except for percussionist Mike Hughes) proving to be unremarkable dancers.

Velez, originally one of those thin-voiced Madonna clones, has improved her singing over the years, but she still doesn’t have anything approaching the range or authority to elevate routine material on vocal power alone.

With nothing much to say with their music, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam (Velez’s regular sidekicks, Hughes and guitarist Alex “Spanador” Mosely, were joined by six other singers and players) spent an inordinate amount of time trying to stroke the crowd or cajole applause.

By the end, Lisa Lisa had turned downright schoolmarmish, extorting applause by saying she would call it a night unless the crowd made her feel sufficiently welcome to continue. After singing a brisk “Head to Toe” as their reward, Velez ended with another teacher-like command: “Everybody say good night to Lisa.”

By that time, many in an audience that was definitely not interested in an encore had already bid a tacit adieu by heading for the exits.