LOS ANGELES -- Certainly Janet Jackson has the look -- and many of them.

She's got the moves -- limited though they may be. But whether she has the substance

to fill out her elaborate wardrobe is another matter entirely.

Michael's younger sister, and the only Jackson sibling currently hawking her musical

goods, had just sung "I Get Lonely" from her latest album, The Velvet Rope, when

she pulled a male fan onstage and began serenading him with the album's title track.

After sitting him down in a chair, Jackson folded her arms and watched with a seductive,

vixen-like pose as her dancers tied the surprised fan's hands down.

Though his back was to the crowd, the fan's gleeful face was projected onto a large

screen at the back of the stage.

The audience watched as his expression changed and his excitement built while

Jackson -- who at the time was wearing a black bra and black pants -- teased him. First

she stood with her chest inches from his face, then she performed a stripper-style dance

with a pole. Finally -- after letting him suck each one of her fingers -- she planted an

elaborate kiss on his lips. With his hands still tied, he bounced up and down ecstatically,

making the chair rise with each upward jolt as he mouthed the words, "I love you."

There it was -- the purest and most spontaneous moment of a show that hinged more on

well-acted, Broadway-style vignettes than on any display of live music.

Resembling Madonna's 1990 "Blonde Ambition" tour with its elaborate choreography,

dramatic stage sets and flashy costumes, Jackson's show at the Great Western Forum on

Thursday night was a technically wowing extravaganza. Even the smaller nuances --

such as chandeliers that dropped from the ceiling for an early ballad segment -- added to

the show's highly theatrical feel.

With red streaks running through her long black hair, Jackson made several costume

changes during the show. But of all of them, her Chester outfit was the most wild.

"Rhythm Nation" featured the characteristic, Russian-style military suit she wore in the

video, corresponding with the song's rigid, robotic dance movements.

Though the show was heavily choreographed, many of the dance movements were right

out of her music videos, excerpts of which were shown on the venue's large television

screens.

The most striking set came in the second part of the show, when the stage took on an

"Alice in Wonderland" appearance, complete with a giant moon and a dancing clock.

With her backup dancers clad in brightly colored, carnival-style get-ups, Jackson wore a

red halter-top, purple pants and a Chester hat. She performed her hit songs "Escapade,"

"When I Think of You," "Miss You Much" and "Love Will Never Do," giving each a distinct,

celebratory feeling.

"That was my favorite part," said fan Lorraine Brown, 24. "It was such a surprise to see

the stage like that all of a sudden. I felt like I was transported onto the fantasy planet. It

was so fun."

Very much a crowd-pleaser, Jackson -- accompanied by her backup band, two backup

singers and eight dancers -- performed her biggest hits, drawn from throughout her

career, grouping them together to correspond with the show's changing mood and style.

She abbreviated many songs, delivering them medley style. Early in the show, while she

was wearing black pants and a vest over a white shirt, she performed a medley of cuts

from her 1986 breakthrough album, Control -- including the anthemic title track,

"Pleasure Principle," "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" and "Nasty."

Though the velvet-rope motif literally loomed throughout the show, with a gigantic gold

and maroon cloth "rope" suspended from the ceiling, Jackson artfully balanced the new

tunes with her older material. While "Free Xone" and "You" provided dance bliss, the

ballad "Special" was a distinctly personal touch, with pictures of Jackson's childhood

projected onto the screen behind her. She encored with the high energy "Got 'Til It's Gone" (RealAudio excerpt), which features Q-Tip from the hip-hop outfit A Tribe

Called Quest.

"It feels so good to be home," she told the crowd after the set. "Thank you so much, L.A."

Opening the show was R&B singer Usher, who recently held the #1 single in the country

with his hip-hop number "My Way." He too had an elaborate wardrobe, and the sexy

moves to go along with each.

Changing clothes four times during his 40-minute set, he played a mixture of ballads and

dance hits. New Jack-ed up in a red outfit and hat, Usher performed the Bobby Brown

hits "Every Little Step" and "Rock Wit'cha." Though Usher was more compelling during

his dance songs, the crowd responded most fervently to his ballads, which included such

erotic routines as humping the ground, putting his hands down his pants, pouring water

on himself as he squiggled around and eventually dropping his drawers.

"That was my favorite part -- when we got to see his Tommys," said fan Sara Jeffries, 18,

referring to Usher's choice of the Tommy Hilfiger underwear brand. "I thought he looked

so good."