Holiday Cooldown keeps the crowd on its merry toes

The Beat 100.3 Holiday Cooldown is always about stars and their hit songs and giving devoted listeners a little piece of as many of them as possible, but the station’s 12th annual Christmas show managed to be more than that.

In a four-hour show Wednesday at the Universal Amphitheatre dominated by soaring R&B; from end to end, mega-divas from Destiny’s Child to Faith Evans transcended the canned nature of their shortened sets to give away moments that were both body-rocking and real.

The evening was defined, in large part, by the first songs from Destiny’s Child, rewarding early arrivers by being the first act on stage.

Right away, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams and Beyonce Knowles turned away from their bombastic backing tapes and eight frenetic dancers to do an a cappella version of the Christmas classic “Carol of the Bells,” bringing the house down with their spot-on harmonies and, for once, toned-down vocal fireworks.

The urge to medley never seemed far away, but with full versions of “Soldier” (with the crowd roaring the background vocals: “Where they at? Where they at?”), Knowles’ hit “Crazy in Love,” “Survivor” and their newest, “Lose My Breath, and with Knowles and Rowland working up a sweat with nonstop gyrating and popping, this was more than just a promotional show appearance. The crowd rarely sat down the rest of the night.

Working with a DJ and record mogul and rapper Irv Gotti, who seemed to relish the stage time, Ashanti offered a similarly generous set.

Highlights came in a duet with a newcomer who goes by the name Lloyd on his song “Southside,” and with an appearance by Ja Rule, who added his gravelly flow to a long version of his pimp epic “Wonderful.”

The younger kids in the audience squealed with delight at the appearance of crooner Mario, whose recent hit “Let Me Love You” was a singalong event and one of the show’s few tedious, showy moments.

Closing the concert, Evans brought it all back to slow jams, way back, using the night’s only live band for a bit of a comeback set, hitting classics of her mid-’90s career such as “Come Over” and “Soon as I Get Home.”

With her always-there air of sadness, the widow of Notorious B.I.G. used her big, smoky voice to drive home the night’s holiday message with full songs and an urgent delivery: We are all together, this is our music, and it’s about real living. The audience surged toward her; they know when it’s real. Cooldown, indeed.