POP MUSIC REVIEW : Diana Ross Supremely Confident Doing It Her Way : Her Irvine Meadows appearance is a combination concert-fashion show-love fete, all vintage Ross.

Being Diana Ross, like being the bearer of a certain plastic card, has its privileges.

Thunderous, Vegas-style entrances, for instance-- even when it’s to an amphitheater that’s only two-thirds full, as was Irvine Meadows Friday night. Ninety-minute performances minus time out for multiple costume changes. Five shimmering new outfits in a recession year.

And who else but the 30-year pop veteran and part owner of Motown records would even think of asking a barely lukewarm audience to sing along on the opening song, then reward it with a medley as the second number on the program?

Lady Diana long has been known to do things her way, and Friday night was no exception.

Initially bedecked in a gold-sequined, full-length sheath and cape, Ross didn’t so much bound on stage as shuffle (Morticia-style dresses don’t exactly encourage M.C. Hammer moves) to a lackluster rendition of “Chain Reaction” followed by that even more lackluster medley, of Supremes songs.

Clearly, Ross has no love lost for “Baby Love,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “Where Did Our Love Go?” ad infinitum, despite her mid-medley attempt to rewrite the history books by insisting: “I have wonderful memories.” It doesn’t take a Mary Wilson to notice that Ross, if she had respect for even one of these songs, wouldn’t be lumping them into a stilted, Wayne Newton-esque arrangement that turns them into parodies of themselves.

Even Diana Ross can’t make an opening as flat and calculated as that one fly.

Luckily, next up was “Missing You,” Ross’ ode (by way of Lionel Richie’s pen) to the late Marvin Gaye, which contained all the heart and soul her previous numbers had lacked. Buoyed by the soft, lush notes of a nine-piece orchestra and three backup singers, her vocals soared.

They were, however, to crack more than once during the numbers that followed. Generally, innocuous dance-pop numbers--such as a guitar-heavy, “Shaft”-like version of “Mirror, Mirror”--fared the worst, and soulful, jazz-flavored ballads scored highest.

Two of the highlights were “The Man I Love” and “Good Morning Heartache” from “Lady Sings the Blues,” each featuring intimate, jazz-club style arrangements that complemented Ross’ supple vocals in the way that no prefab disco can.

A few bars of the “Theme From Mahogany” (aborted for a costume change) and a heartfelt rendition of “Endless Love” played to another of the singer’s strengths: slightly sappy, radio-ready ballads.

On the more upbeat side, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” is too snappy and infectious not to like, despite whatever pretensions the singer might desire to invoke.

There were, of course, the patented Ross forays into the crowd--to greet, to touch, to bask, and sometimes even to sing. On one such excursion, Ross, so swarmed by adoring fans that she could barely get a lyric in edgewise, wondered aloud: “Is anybody listening to this song?” The natural answer being: “Could it possibly make a difference?”

As preordained, the show ended with “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand),” the symphony of swaying arms and lifted spirits that long has been her signature finale. Predictable as it is, it would be hard to find a more apropos closing for Ross’ concerts/fashion shows/love fests, so she sticks with it.

And who is any of us to argue?