J.Lo leads TV's pop star invasion

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 20, 2001

Wanna know what Jennifer Lopez aims for when she's creating a record?

"I always want to make music people want to clean the house to," Lopez said during a conference call last week, laughing a little. "I want an album (that) . . . makes it a little less bad to have to clean. I know it sounds kinda funny, but it has a lot of value to it."

If you say so, J.Lo.

Certainly, NBC is gambling that Lopez's mix of homegirl charm and movie-star glamor brings ratings gold tonight as the singer-actor presents her first televised concert -- okay, first hourlong performance snipped from a two-hour concert.

And she's just the latest in a string of pop music superstars -- including Garth Brooks, Mick Jagger and 'N Sync -- taking on TV this week in an attempt to breed cross-promotional magic.

For the artist, it's a no-brainer: more viewers (and potential record buyers) will watch the poorest-rated TV special than will buy all but the biggest-selling records. Networks, thrown off-balance by the terrorist attacks and tanking reality shows, can always use the boost of advertiser-friendly young viewers that a pop artist provides during November sweeps.

But such projects are a gamble: Michael Jackson's 30th anniversary special on CBS on Nov. 13 drew nearly 26-million people. But country star Brooks' show on the same network a night later -- he's doing another one Wednesday and another Nov. 28 -- attracted just over 8-million, one-third the viewership of the time-period winner, NBC's Law & Order.

On Sunday, Britney Spears offered a chaotic, ill-produced live concert for HBO. Her boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, and his 'N Sync bandmates will hit the stage (with country star Tim McGraw?!) at 10 p.m. Friday on CBS. ABC at 10 p.m. Thursday offers Being Mick, an hourlong documentary by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger that seems little more than an infomercial for his new solo record, Goddess in the Doorway.

The key, it seems, is to catch an MTV-friendly star with wide appeal in a program special enough to draw a crowd. NBC and Lopez are betting that tonight's performance -- filmed during a concert in her parents' native Puerto Rico -- hits the mark.

Unlike Spears, whose lip synching during nearly every number Sunday proved a painful sight, Lopez's pretaped show features seamless (and, we'll assume, live) vocals.

Vaulting from a syrupy tribute to slain Tejano star Selena (whom Lopez played in the 1997 film Selena) to muscular versions of dance hits Play and Love Don't Cost a Thing, Lopez's special offers lots of MTV-ready dancing, six costume changes and a surprisingly supple band.

"Even from the beginning of my career, there's been a happy ignorance . . . where I jump into the water and don't realize how cold it is," said Lopez, reflecting on why she chose to turn her first full-length concert into a TV special aired worldwide.

Doesn't hurt that the show likely will boost sales of Lopez's J. Lo record without the hassle of a full-fledged concert tour, which she won't have time to tackle until next year.

Ditto with Jagger's Being Mick: Watch Mick hang with Lenny Kravitz and Pete Townshend! See him grouse about Britain's royal family passing him over for knighthood, just before meeting with Prince Charles! Marvel as his ex-wife Jerry Hall spends loads of time with him despite a bitter and well-publicized divorce!

If this attracts a fraction of the 12-million souls who saw ABC's telecast of the Victoria's Secret fashion show on Thursday, the 58-year-old singer will reach more people in one hour than he could in a year's worth of live shows.

Lopez shrugs off news of a Nov. 28 Law & Order episode loosely based on a nightclub shooting that involved her and then-boyfriend Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. ("When you're in the public eye, these are the things that affront you on a daily basis," she said.)

For the star, now planning a sitcom pilot for NBC, TV is just another vehicle for her ever-expanding showbiz career.

"I kinda don't force things," Lopez said when asked about choosing between TV, music or movies. "I'm a real believer that your path is always there in front of you. You just have to follow it."

AT A GLANCE: Jennifer Lopez In Concert airs at 8 tonight on WFLA-Ch. 8. Grade: B.

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