Sink or soar

IN the peculiar matter of Janet Jackson and her Super Bowl stunt, judgments have been rendered by the usual microphone crowd -- the pundits, politicians, stand-up comics, morning radio DJs, etc. -- but the most important and unpredictable jury has not yet returned its verdict. How will the American consumers rule?

Jackson, who this weekend is shooting a music video here in Los Angeles and tidying the final mix of her new album, won’t hear the definitive answer to that question until late next month when that disc, “Damita Jo,” arrives at stores. There are already indications, though, that Jackson’s infamous exposure at the Super Bowl has stirred more interest than offense among music fans. Whether that interest holds is another matter.

Caller requests for the single “Just a Little While” have caught the ear of Top 40 radio programmers, among them John Ivey, the vice president of programming for Clear Channel Los Angeles, whose stations include pop giant KIIS-FM (102.7).

“It’s a great little pop song,” Ivey said. “The requests have been real positive and we’ve been aggressively getting it out there. Look, we’re in the Janet Jackson business; she’s a big artist for us and the Super Bowl didn’t change that. What happened at the game was not a career-turning move. It was just some controversy.”

The controversy, of course, was the exposure of Jackson’s breast at the climactic moment of her performance with Justin Timberlake during the high-viewership halftime. Timberlake reached over and tugged at a rip-away part of Jackson’s costume, revealing her breast and body jewelry. Apologies and consternation followed, as well as accusations and denials about who knew the stunt was planned. The chief of the FCC angrily promised an investigation and events such as the 46th Annual Grammy Awards and the halftime show of the NBA All-Star Game were abruptly fitted with multiple-minute delays that would allow network crews to clip out any similar surprises.

Jackson has apologized but kept a relatively low profile, skipping the Grammys (she was told by CBS, which had aired the Super Bowl, that if she attended the awards show she would have to offer an on-air mea culpa).

Ivey said the size of the Super Bowl audience and the lurid topic made Jackson’s stunt “a lot of fun for Letterman and Leno and the morning jocks,” but in pop radio all that really matters is “having a good song, and if she has good songs on the album, everything moves on. The requests are good, but (with research data) it’s too early to tell if this will be a big hit.”

Some stations have gotten early data back and, when coupled with the requests, mixed signals surface.

“It’s in our top five as far as requests, and that happened quick, which is huge,” said Romeo, the assistant music director and a DJ at Z100, the New York Top 40 station that has more radio listeners than any other in the country. “But it hasn’t done nearly as well with call-out research. That tells you a lot of it may be hype and, not that this is a novelty song, but that it might have the sort of short-term interest you see with a novelty song.”

Romeo compared the call-in requests to the dramatic surge in Internet searches on Jackson’s name in the days after the Super Bowl. “I think a lot of people said, ‘OK, you did this at the Super Bowl to draw attention to your new album, so let’s hear it -- what’s this all about?’ You know, this is nothing new for Janet. She’s always been willing to be a little shocking.”

From her photograph on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine with the hands of an unseen man cupping her bare breasts to her concert ritual of plucking male fans from the audience for lap dances, the singer has never been shy. Her last album, “All for You,” sold 3 million copies, a respectable number but one that’s half that of some of her early work.

Despite her statements that her Super Bowl stunt was folly, the new album has a cover that, while shot before the game, may seem to mock the furor when it arrives in store aisles March 30. The image shows Jackson, smiling brightly, photographed in profile with her folded arms obscuring her bare breasts.

The handling of the album -- and its success -- are paramount concerns for Virgin Records, the music label that has undergone major changes in the last two years and looks to the disc as a linchpin to its 2004 fortunes.

Before the Super Bowl, the label decided it would release the single the day after the game -- a decision that later would be held up as cynic’s proof that the entire stunt was manufactured and conspired, said Matt Serletic, Virgin’s CEO and chairman.

“It’s not true, but it’s part of all of this,” he said. Asked whether Jackson would do everything differently now, he said: “That’s a question I would not ask her....On the music, I can say it’s fresh and exciting and maybe the best of her career.”

Virgin officials choose their words carefully while speaking on the matter, unwilling to offend their prized artist but also not wanting to risk ruffling the feathers of the FCC or MTV, the producer of the halftime show. MTV’s executives reportedly were unaware of Jackson’s plan and incensed by it.

It’s difficult -- not impossible, but difficult -- to have a massive pop success in the U.S. without MTV, so Serletic and company are hoping the music channel can be counted on. “We need our friends at MTV and we hope we can all move forward together.”

MTV officials could not be reached for comment by press time.

Despite the attention, Jackson’s raunchy Super Bowl stunt becomes a prank of the mildest order when compared to something such as the alarming child pornography charges and freedom-threatening trial now facing R&B; star R. Kelly. There was good reason to assume that Kelly, with a fan base of mostly women, might have been ruined by the scandal, but instead he never missed a beat. His album “Chocolate Factory” went to No. 1 on the pop charts and, unlike Jackson, he was welcomed at the Grammys.

“It’s the songs that matter,” Romeo said. “All will be forgiven.”