Sparks Fly, Some Fizzle In Mtv's `Rock In Rio Ii'

MTV climaxes its weeklong coverage of the ``world's biggest international rock festival,'' ``Rock In Rio II,'' tomorrow at 7 p.m. The rock cable channel began running special programming taped at the festival last Saturday. ``Rock in Rio'' was held in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium, a soccer arena that holds about 170,000, Jan. 18-27. The three-hour finale will be highlights from the event.

In the preview tape made available by MTV, not all of the participants to appear on the show - which will include George Michael, INXS, Guns N' Roses and Deee-Lite - were assembled for viewing. Of those on the preview tape, the performance quality was mixed - just what you'd expect from an affair of this magnitude.

Billy Idol, who tops the program, starts strong but quickly runs out of steam. The songs don't end so much as come to a anticlimactic, rolling stop. Granted, there is plenty of actual concert footage missing, and Idol is still recovering from the motorcycle accident last year in which he mangled his leg. He brandishes a silver-headed cane for much of his performance, using it both as a prop and a crutch. But there's a lackluster, rote feeling to the performance that all the scantily costumed backup singers and patented rock-star moves can't dispell.

INXS, on the other hand, crackles. Michael Hutchence is the new Lizard King, and the rest of the band plays with snap and a palpable sense of dangerous funk. ``Bitter Tears'' maintains its tension throughout what in lesser hands could have been another tired three-chord exercise.

Run-DMC does a perfunctory version of its crossover hit, ``Walk This Way.'' The band seems scattered and out of touch with the vast audience. Perhaps it pulled it together with other numbers, but this wasn't it.

George Michael, on the other hand, is skin-tight. But this representation of his set, well-mounted as it is, has few surprises. He draws from his old band Wham, his last release (``Father Figure'') and his new single, ``Freedom.'' What is unusual is the singer's looks. He's still sporting a ``Miami Vice'' stubble, but he's traded in his bushy, blond hairdo for a Caligula cut - little, tiny, ugly bangs.

The hottest band previewed was San Francisco's Faith No More, led by singer Michael Patton, a squirming, screeching, bug-eyed lunatic who doesn't sell a song so much as wring its neck and toss the remains to the hungry mob. The band stampedes through its monster 1990 hit, ``Epic.'' According to people in the audience, ``Rock In Rio II'' should firmly, once and for all, establish the band as a star - not a novelty - act.

New Kids on the Block mouth their way through a by-the-book version of ``Step By Step.'' The Kids may be the biggest thing since sliced white bread elsewhere, but in Rio the house was less than full.

Also on the program, but unavailable for screening, are the Queensryche. Martha Quinn points out in her introduction that ``Rio is a long way from Seattle.'' Geography lesson aside, the home-grown band reportedly does very well by itself.

Others appearing in the MTV show are the club dance acts Lisa Stanfield and Deee-Lite and the festival's biggest draw, Guns N' Roses, who perform ``Patience,'' ``Mr. Brownstone'' and ``Knockin' On Heaven's Door.''

The surprise hits with the largely Brazilian festival audience was the Norwegian group a-ha, who have not had a U.S. hit since 1985, and that old dog, Joe Cocker. Unfortunately, neither act is in the MTV program.

The concert footage itself is what you'd expect from MTV: quick cut. But it isn't frantically irritating, and with the multi-camera approach and some deft direction, the cameras almost always manage to show the right person on the right instrument at the right time.

Crowd shots are kept to a tolerable minimum.

The festival itself was less than successful. Only an estimated 800,000 people showed up, far less than the 1.3 million expected. With an average ticket price of $25, and an average Brazilian's monthly earnings around $50, it's surprising even that many attended. International attendance was low, perhaps because of the Gulf conflict and the accompanying fear of flying. The big moneymakers like New Kids and George Michael fell far short of the mark.

And, as one disgruntled attendee groused, ``It rained half the time.''