WILDWOOD - "We're about to have a show today. You ready?" Raven-Symone asked the crowd as she walked on stage. The fans, tweens, teens and their parents, shrieked their approval. They'd been holding up posters and wearing T-shirts with Raven's face on them for 2 hours.

The singer-actress was late to Saturday's Radio Disney concert at the Wildwoods Convention Center after getting stuck in traffic - but her opening acts stalled and played longer sets, and Raven delivered an hour of singing, dancing and yelling that kept her fans, young and old, pumped.

She opened with pop-R&B songs from her 2008 self-titled album, her most mature work. She tackled a soured relationship in "Love Me or Leave Me," then moved to the female anthem "Girl Get It," in which she sings, "There is one thing that you never let 'em see/And that's your tears/That's a sign of the weak."

About halfway through her set, she focused on her old staples: songs from movie and Disney soundtracks, such as "Some Call it Magic" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." She closed with her cover of the Frankie Smith funk song "Double Dutch Bus," wrapping up 3 hours of kid-friendly fun.

The show opened with Drew Seeley, one of the singers from the TV movie "High School Musical." The 26-year-old only prepared a few songs but killed time by singing a duet with an audience member and playing tracks from the direct-to-DVD movie "Another Cinderella Story," which will be released in September.

"I'll probably get in trouble for playing this," he said.

"Hannah Montana" cast member Mitchel Musso followed with 12 songs of his own. He got the girls swooning with songs such as "Lean On Me" and "Wasn't Your Girlfriend," asking audience members to crowd in front of the stage.

But then 22-year-old Raven-Symone arrived in her tutu and sleeping mask (she also wears one on her album cover). Raven has the star power to hold the audience's attention by just talking to them, so between lyrics she waves and says hello to her fans. Teenagers idolize Raven, who stays out of the tabloids and is proud of her body. She addressed body image during the concert.

"You gotta be healthy and fabulous," she said. "A little thickness never hurt anybody."

During a question-and-answer session, an 11-year-old fan asked Raven-Symone about her idols. "Janet Jackson. ... Love her!" she says. Aside from public-image gaffes on Jackson's part, the two have a lot in common. Both grew up in the spotlight, starting their performing careers on the small screen.

Jackson's first two solo albums weren't very successful, but she broke free and grew up with her independence concept album, 1986's "Control."

One can't help but think that Raven-Symone's "Control" moment is approaching, but she's not letting it happen too fast.

- Dan Good (Atlantic City Press)