Destiny’s Child Fails to Save Glitchy New Year’s Eve Show

Destiny’s Child proved in 2000 not only that it’s ready to give TLC a run for itsmulti-platinum money, but also that it is committed enough to its future to survive one adversity after another.

So odds are the Houston trio also will survive the dud of a New Year’s Eve show Sunday at Staples Center that should have been its crowning celebration after a year of challenges transcended.

The multi-act R&B;/hip-hop bill, hosted by Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal, lurched from one logistical or technical glitch to the next, and further suffered the unexplained absence of firebrand rapper Mystikal.

That gave Destiny’s Child little momentum to build on when the women arrived a few minutes before midnight.

Quick opening sets over prerecorded backing tracks by crooning Houston quartet IDEAL and then by rap-soul trio Next served as little more than icebreakers. Both acts were further hampered by uncooperative microphones and distorted amplification of their vocals, problems that resurfaced for Destiny’s Child.

Still, the red-hot trio should have easily been able to ignite the party-ready crowd.

Its latest single, “Independent Women Part I,� remains locked atop Billboard’s pop and R&B;/hip-hop charts, while its album, “The Writing’s on the Wall,� has sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S.

Throw in the behind-the-music drama of the departures early last year of founding members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson in a dispute with lead singer Beyonce Knowles’ father over his management of the group, and the subsequent exodus of replacement singer Farrah Franklin, and you’ve got a “Rocky�-like story of triumph over hardship.

For all that, plus the fact that it was a New Year’s Eve show, the threesome didn’t share any sense of celebration they may have felt in closing the book on a tough but ultimately successful year.

Knowles says the lineup is now firm with original member Kelly Rowl and replacement singer Michelle Williams. But Sunday it seemed that all the changes gave 19-year-old Knowles little time to focus on developing as a communicator instead of simply as an energetic dancer with an impressively elastic set of vocal cords.

As co-writer of most of the group’s hits, Knowles has helped extend the run of pop songs chastising no-good boyfriends. With the slightest encouragement from her, the evening could have turned into a good-natured empowerment session for the women in the house.

But other than a few taunting hip thrusts by Knowles during “Say My Name,� the group did little to capitalize on the emotional nerve they’ve touched with their lyrics. If Knowles hasn’t mastered the elusive art of connecting with a crowd, to be fair, she didn’t have much of a crowd to connect with.

Barely a fraction of the 4,000 to 5,000 fans--who had paid between $100 to $400 to celebrate the new year at Staples--hung around for hip-hop balladeer Jon B.’s show-closing set. That sheer shortage of bodies would have it made it a challenge for even the most seasoned acts to whip up much enthusiasm.