2 out of 3 ain’t bad

When Alicia Keys and Beyonce agreed to go on an arena tour together, there was a bit of risk involved for both.

Keys may be the more compelling artist, but the young New Yorker has tended to stay behind the piano and play relatively intimate settings until now, offering little hint of the showmanship necessary to hold a crowd’s attention in a large, arena setting.

The concern for her was whether she would look foolish trying to compete with Beyonce on a high-energy, spectacle level or whether she would be totally overshadowed if she stuck to her conservative club approach.

The danger for Beyonce was that, for all her charisma and those catchy R&B;/pop hooks in such hits as “Baby Boy” and the Grammy-nominated “Crazy in Love,” she might seem lightweight next to the more artful and ambitious Keys.

At the Arrowhead Pond on Saturday, Keys overcame her challenge with breathtaking ease, but Beyonce stumbled badly with a show that -- given the skimpiness of her many costumes -- one might say was all flesh and no blood.

By contrast, Keys added striking showmanship without detracting from her artistry. In fact, she looked as if liberated on this tour by the larger setting.

A singer-songwriter who brings marvelous contemporary instincts to soulful, old-school R&B; tradition, Keys not only moved with a seductive, self-assured aura but also sang with increased freedom and range than before.

It’s a good thing Keys has blossomed as a performer because she has to follow Missy Elliott, another superior artist, on stage every night of the national Ladies First Tour, which returns to the Pond on Wednesday.

The challenge for Elliott in playing live is putting on a show as dynamic as her high-energy, hip-hop infused music -- and she indeed moved so furiously Saturday that it was as if she were performing barefoot on a hot grill.

Hoping to be as colorful as possible, Elliott employed an army of dancers, customizing their look or attire to fit the tone of individual songs. She had the dancers don eerie skeleton face masks, for instance, during the irresistible “Get Ur Freak On.”But nothing worked as well as when she jumped from the stage and moved about the arena floor, stopping at several points to lead the audience in a massive, nonstop dance party.

Elliott, backed on the tour by a DJ, is an immensely likable artist who knows her appeal rests in the dynamic beats of her music and that all she really has to do live is serve as a party hostess, making sure those grooves keep coming. She did exactly that in her brief but fully satisfying half-hour set .

Keys too had showmanship on her mind.

When the curtain was raised for her hour set, Keys wasn’t at her usual place behind the piano. Instead, she was standing on a platform at the rear of the stage, looking as poised as Prince as she gazed teasingly at the crowd.

Keys then turned herself over to her seven-piece band’s funky, aggressive textures, moving her hips in such a cool, seductive manner that even some of her biggest fans might not have noticed that she was also singing.

After demonstrating her ability to compete on a purely physical level, Keys turned more deliberately to the music, giving the band a break as she held the audience’s attention with just her piano and voice on songs about relationships, the good times and bad.

Keys’ version of Prince’s “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” was one of the standout tracks on her debut album, 2001’s “Songs in A Minor.” But Saturday’s version had a far more desperate intensity.

Whether at the keyboards or employing the aggressive body language while working with the band, Keys was in glorious command throughout. She may be in love with old-school R&B;, but she’s a new-school performer.

Then it was Beyonce’s turn and she didn’t waste time in getting to the heart of her art: spectacle.

Entering the arena at the opposite end from the stage, she was carried, princess-like, the entire length of the floor on a lounge chair of sorts by male attendants. To add to the royal flavor, she threw rose petals at her screaming fans.

If that seemed a tad pretentious, it was atypical of her manner. Part of her appeal is that she is far more down to earth than most of her rival divas, a sort of genuine girl-next-door -- though clearly a gorgeous girl-next-door.

It wasn’t that Beyonce didn’t do everything expected of her during her 70-minute set, including shaking her booty furiously and singing creditable versions of the hits. But there was no hint of character, passion or surprise in her vocals or even her choreography. She seemed to put exactly the same amount of energy into every hip shake, giving her set some of the careful, mechanical feel of a TV-show taping.

Beyonce may have sung “Purple Rain” with Prince during the recent Grammys telecast, but if Prince is looking for a knockout partner for his next tour, Keys is his real Princess.

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Ladies First Tour

Where: Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Price: $50.50-$90.50

Contact: (714) 704-2500

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Hilburn, pop music critic of The Times, can be reached at robert.hilburn@latimes.com.