POP MUSIC REVIEW : Chayanne’s Latin Style a Fan Pleaser

Puerto Rican singer Chayanne might be to Latin music what Michael Jackson is to American pop--a performer whose emphasis is on a personal style of dancing and entertaining and whose concert impact rests largely on intense fan reaction. On Friday at the Universal Amphitheatre, Chayanne put on an impressive visual spectacle in which music seemed to be his least concern.

The singer opened with his current hit, the love ballad “Provocame” (“Turn Me On”), immediately sparking hysteria among his primarily female fans. He generated even more response during the frenzied songs in which he shook his hips and removed his shirt.

During the dynamic two-hour performance, the singer alternated love ballads such as “Desde el Centro de mi Corazon” (“From the Middle of My Heart”) and dance-pop songs such as “Fiesta en America.” His six-member band exhibited talent on the softer selections, but the high-tech instrumentation’s artificial sound was incompatible with the songs that had tropical rhythms.

Employing an enormous platform as a stage, Chayanne, as in his earlier days as a member of the Menudo-like group Los Chicos, was accompanied by a group of dancers who displayed intense, acrobatic choreography but who overstayed their welcome.