Prime-time television has long been a launching pad for pop stars _ from Elvis and the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" to Ricky Nelson and the Monkees on sitcoms to Linda Eder on "Star Search" and O-Town on "The Making of the Band."

Think what you will of Fox-TV's recently popular singing talent show "American Idol." There's no question, though, that the latest making-of-a-pop-star vehicle is the oddest translation to the stage of all these made-by-TV situations. American Idols Live on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center was, in part, the most expensive karaoke night you've seen, and, in part, an overproduced amusement-park variety show starring some familiar TV faces.

Watching the 10 "Idol" finalists carry on _ first on solo turns in the opening half, then during ensemble numbers after intermission _ made one appreciate how hard 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys must have worked. Not that the Idols are untalented, but they were under-prepared. Four of the five Idol men looked as if they haven't been in a gym in months and, frankly, couldn't sing their way out of the chorus into a boy band.

Justin Guarini, 23, Idol runnerup, was the only fellow with a consistently strong voice and commanding stage presence. He seemed like a natural entertainer, although Broadway, not pop, might be his future. Now if he would just get rid of that Barbra Streisand-in-"A Star Is Born" Brillo pad hairdo.

Kelly Clarkson, 20, who won the TV competition, showed that she has a bravura voice. Now if she would just skip the Mariah-Whitney-Celine vocal gymnastics and let believable emotions carry the song. Guarini's reading of "Let's Stay Together" may have been the night's vocal highlight simply because it connected emotionally without histrionics. Similarly, Clarkson's best turn was "Natural Woman," which featured her fewest vocal gyrations.

Unlike the other four "Idol" women, Clarkson didn't feel compelled to bare her belly-button. She let her voice speak volumes, to the delight of the screaming (mostly female) fans. However, all the other "Idol" women except Ryan Starr (who came across like a Spice Girl headed for disco land) showed voices with potential.

Pink wannabe Nikki McKibbin's treatment of "Piece of My Heart" couldn't touch Janis Joplin's original but was superior to Faith Hill's hit country version, and she was solid on "Rhiannon." Christina Christian did a sultry reggae-tinged, shake-your-booty take on "Ain't No Sunshine." And Tamyra Gray manifested alluring soulfulness before exploding into over-the-top territory on "I'm Every Woman" and "A House Is Not Home." Perhaps this was a case of the "Star Search" disease of prematurely bursting into vocal histrionics to impress the judges.

Considering the solo selections and the ensemble medleys of disco and Motown hits, it was apparent that they don't write pop songs like they used to. Only three songs in the two-hour concert were written after 1990. The one new song that everyone was expecting _ Clarkson's "A Moment Like This," which rose to No. 1 in meteoric and record fashion _ wasn't even performed. Instead, she did her new single, "Before Your Love."

"American Idol" was all about vocal showmanship. Now it's time for the Idols to learn something about stage showmanship.