Entertainment

GRAND PRAIRIE – If one asked who ruled the night, it would be a hair-splitting tie between the self-proclaimed King and Queen of the South – rapper/actor T.I. and singer/actress Ciara – as to who kept fans the most crunk as Screamfest made its third tour stop at Nokia Theatre on Monday night.

What was undeniable was the A-Town (Atlanta) influence, since many on the roster were either rooted or raised there. Ciara's set was met by piercing screams and began with a montage of video clips as the singer rose to the upper platform through a plume of smoke. Surrounded by four male dancers and two female, she was a lean and lithe concentration of blurred limbs as she danced her way through a medley of favorites ("1, 2 Step," "Lose Control," "Goodies"), even paying homage to the old school by donning a cropped jacket and supersized gold dookie chain and moving to Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It." She's a focused and confident performer, but did little singing until the slow burner "Promise," and since most of that was done as she straddled and spun around a pole, bookended by just-as-skimpy gyrating female dancers, that fact probably didn't register.

Now five albums deep in the rap game, T.I. was met with almost more hysteria than the headliner, stalking to center stage in denim, a gold-flecked T and a neck full of gold crosses and dog tags. "For those who don't know, this is The King potna'!" he announced, and laced the audience in short order with a mixture of old and new faves ("24's," "Why You Wanna," "Bring Em' Out"). He wasn't too hardcore to capture the heart of the ladies either; he suggestively bucked his hips, dropped his verse from Justin Timberlake's "My Love" while removing his shirt, and by the time he left them with "Bring Em' Out," he had sopped his sweaty chest with the tank underneath it and thrown it to ecstatic fans.

Even the middle acts put on a smooth show. Lloyd brought self-assured moves and a sweet, clear tenor to kick off the evening, earning screams with "You," a snippet of "Southside" (the ladies in the audience took the place of Ashanti's vocal) and "Get It Shawty," where he displayed the glides and slides of a pro. T-Pain also kept fans on their feet, accompanied by two background singers as he delivered "I'm Sprung," verses from "I'm a Flirt," "Shawty" and "Bartender," all (thankfully) without his trademark auto-toner. What set the crowd off more than his beloved "Buy You a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" was his assured dancing, ranging from archaic dances such as the Running Man to the Matrix, all done in triplicate unison.

Screamfest didn't squeak by without awkward moments, however. Ciara and T.I. alternated sets, and left many fans puzzled at first as to why their exits were so abrupt. Also, Yung Joc's absence, the result of a scheduling conflict, was never explained to concertgoers. All of that was forgiven, however, when The Royal Couple closed the show with "Big Thangs Poppin'," the two of them running the length of the stage while Ciara chimed in on the chorus. They joined in the center spotlight under a shower of sparks, personifying the concept more tangibly as a couple than either of them alone ever could.

Lorrie Irby Jackson is a Dallas freelance writer.

lorrieirby@hotmail.com