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Katy Perry's candy not so sweet

Katy Perry didn’t much look a solid candidate for career longevity when she wiggled her way into the pop consciousness with “I Kissed a Girl” three years ago.

She looked quite the opposite, in fact, more like a prefab pop tart destined to surf that one gimmicky, mildly controversial slab of bi-curious ear candy to brief cultural ubiquity and then vanish into the one-hit-wonder vortex, perhaps to surface a few years later amidst the cast of a future iteration of some reality-TV horror show.

There she was at the Air Canada Centre Wednesday night for the first of two consecutive Toronto shows on her California Dreams tour, though, centre stage before 14,000 giddy teenage girls — give or take a sizeable smattering of moms, the odd put-upon dad and the three adolescent males next to me alternately swooning and dropping lewd double entendres every time a close-up of Perry graced the big screens — and swathed in the sort of big-time production values that used to be reserved for artists who’d put in a lot more time before earning their “superstar” stripes.

The music industry is desperate for fresh superstars, however, so Perry’s been promoted quickly after just two filler-bedecked albums, 2008’s One of the Boys and last year’s slightly better Teenage Dream. And she’s competent enough at fulfilling the duties required of her position, which mainly involve lending a pretty face, a personality and a tasty, tabloid-titillating back story — former Christian rocker Katy Hudson goes “secular” and sexy and marries Dionysian U.K. comedian Russell Brand, etc. — to a bunch of otherwise completely faceless songs provided by the same army of hitmakers-for-hire responsible for putting words in the mouths of Britney Spears, Ke$ha et al.

Flitting about a garish candy land and themed to an Alice in Wonderland-esque video intro that had her following her cat, Kitty Purry, into a fantasy universe, Perry cut an amicably girly-girlish figure at the ACC.

A little off key during the opener, “Teenage Dream,” she went on to prove her church-schooled pipes strong enough to stand on their own without the lip-synching to which many of her peers resort.

Between songs she easily thrilled the young, glowstick-wielding females in attendance with a healthy serving of insidiously catchy chart-toppers, much kooky chatter and countless costume changes (including a dress with spinning peppermints at chest level and a life-sized Hershey’s Kiss get-up).

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SPOILER! Find Out Who Won The Voice

Credit: NBC Wednesday – June 29, 2011 – 10:26pm After 10 weeks of competition, the winner of NBC’s The Voice is… Javier Colon ! The Stratford, Conn., father of two first won over his Voice mentor, Adam Levine , in the blind audition round in April, and viewers stuck with him through the battle and semi-final rounds to name him The Voice’ s champ Wednesday night.

Credit: NBC Wednesday – June 29, 2011 – 10:26pm After 10 weeks of competition, the winner of NBC’s The Voice is… Javier Colon ! The Stratford, Conn., father of two first won over his Voice mentor, Adam Levine , in the blind audition round in April, and viewers stuck with him through the battle and semi-final rounds to name him The Voice’ s champ Wednesday night.

Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images Wednesday – June 29, 2011 – 7:49pm Denise Richards is a mom — again! PHOTOS: Celebrity adoptions The actress, 40, recently adopted a baby girl domestically, her rep confirms to Us Weekly. Richards named her daughter Eloise Joni after her mother, who lost her battle with cancer in 2007

Credit: David Livingston/Getty Images Wednesday – June 29, 2011 – 7:49pm Denise Richards is a mom — again! PHOTOS: Celebrity adoptions The actress, 40, recently adopted a baby girl domestically, her rep confirms to Us Weekly. Richards named her daughter Eloise Joni after her mother, who lost her battle with cancer in 2007

Credit: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection Wednesday – June 29, 2011 – 6:44pm Who knew Charlie Sheen was a method actor? For his role in 1989′s Major League , Sheen reveals that he took some extreme measures to play heavy hitter Ricky Vaughn. “Let’s just say that I was enhancing my performance a little bit

Credit: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection Wednesday – June 29, 2011 – 6:44pm Who knew Charlie Sheen was a method actor? For his role in 1989′s Major League , Sheen reveals that he took some extreme measures to play heavy hitter Ricky Vaughn. “Let’s just say that I was enhancing my performance a little bit

Courtesy House of Harlow; Inset: Donato Sardella/W She promised us purses, and purses she created. Nicole Richie officially unveiled the House of Harlow 1960 handbag collection today, and the options are plentiful — and pretty! Based on the line’s Bohemian vibe, the collection includes croc clutches, leather carry-alls and everything in between. According to a release, the concept behind the line was juxtaposing casual and luxury, combining relaxed vintage leathers with materials like young calf hair.

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