POP MUSIC : Diana Ross, Revised

In a typical Diana Ross concert, she manages to squeeze in some songs between the endless gown changes. But her Thursday show at the Universal Amphitheatre--the opener of a four-night engagement that ends Sunday--wasn’t typical Ross.

For one thing, the fashion show was secondary. Yes, there was a parade of gowns--each more dazzling than the other. But in the 90-minute show (with no opening act) the emphasis, much more than usual, was on singing, and less on the glamour and glitz.

It wasn’t the usual manic, gushing Ross--that artificial affection machine that showers the audience with love and kisses. She was more relaxed and genuinely friendly--dishing out the sentiment in smaller doses.

For a change, the primary focus was her distinctive pop-soul vocalizing. She’s one of best singers in that adult-contemporary, Las Vegas-showroom genre. But with all that glitz and schmaltz usually cluttering up her show, you often lose sight of that.

Musically, Thursday’s show was thoroughly satisfying. Sprinkled in among the usual oldies, Ross, accompanied by an exemplary small orchestra, included some songs from her new Motown album that’s due out next month, as well as a few pop-jazz tunes from her 1972 “Lady Sings the Blues” movie and two closing numbers with the Andrae Crouch singers.

There was nothing challenging, daring or even surprising about the show, but that’s understandable since that’s not what her generally conservative audience wants.

That may be what’s keeping Ross from a long overdue change from her traditional, sappy closing number, “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” to something fresh. She must be sick of it by now. If she scrapped it, though, some of her old fans might feel cheated at first . . . but they’d get over it.