POP WEEKEND : The King and the Princess Hold Court : Tiffany Draws Cheers, Shrieks in ‘Talent Show’

Wait a minute!

What was that all about Saturday night at the Pacific Amphitheatre?

I mean they held what looked like a talent contest, but why was this one teen-ager on stage 80% of the time?

A bunch of grade schoolers literally called the Visiting Kids did get to do a few numbers at the beginning of the evening, and the teen-ager’s backup band (six adults) got to do one song in the middle of the show.

Otherwise, it was just this 16-year-old redhead from Norwalk named Tiffany.

She did leave the stage once to change sweaters, but you could tell it was the same girl who returned because of the rather stiff stage presence and the tentative way she reached for certain notes.

The people behind the contest not only gave her the most time on stage, but it looked like they also packed the house with Tiffany relatives and friends.

There were a few adults in the surprisingly small crowd of approximately 3,500--probably uncles and aunts, but most were, no doubt, schoolmates. The contest sponsors have such high hopes for Tiffany, in fact, that they scheduled additional performances Sunday night and tonight at the Universal Amphitheatre.

At the Pacific, the youngsters in the audience cheered and shrieked and held their arms in the air even when Tiffany did nothing more than sing her version of an old Beatles song (“I Saw Him Standing There”) and an “oldies” medley that included--would you

believe?--both “La Bamba” and “Twist and Shout.”

The cheering must have impressed the judges, but the performance itself hardly did. The degree of difficulty on the oldies medley: 3. Execution: 2 1/2.

I didn’t stick around long enough to see if Tiffany actually won the contest because there really wasn’t any doubt. The audience made their choice clear by all but hissing the Visiting Kids, the clever, if cutesy, revue headed by performance artist Nancye Ferguson.

When the singing tots finished their brief set (which included such pigtail naturals as “Who Stole My Barbie Doll?”), some poor sports in the crowd shouted “good riddance” and “get lost.”

The people backing Tiffany tried to give her part of the evening a professional look. Some props, including smoke, two boating docks and seaside rocks, were employed to give the stage a harbor effect--though it was hard to see what that had to do with her music.

If those trimmings seemed corny, the people behind Tiffany served her far better when it came to material. The best of her tales of teen angst and desire are a cross between the sharp, seductive pop trademarks associated with such light-but-infectious teen-oriented hit makers as ABBA and the ‘70s production team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn.

Though the audience seemed most enthused over the remake of Tommy James’ old hit, “I Think We’re Alone Now,” songs like “Should’ve Been Me,” “Could’ve Been” and “Kid on a Corner” are winning teen exercises.

If someone recorded these songs and made a flashy, energetic promo video on Tiffany (one with plenty of quick cuts to camouflage her limited stage moves), they might have a hit on their hand. They might even sell 4 million copies.

It’d certainly be refreshing having teens daydreaming to their own teen heroes, rather than having to listen to singers in their 30s and 40s.

The challenge for the people behind this young Tiffany (or any other girl with a reasonable degree of singing ability and a fresh, everyteen manner) is to find her audience. The wardrobe of the female supporters in the audience Friday (a cross between Madonna “boy toy” lingerie and standard Seventeen mag issue) might be a clue.

What about a tour of shopping malls?