Nicholas Hytner's new musical drama Center Stage focuses on the competitive world of professional dance and, like Fame before it, features plenty of music meant to keep your feet moving. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" and the Stevie Wonder-influenced Jamiroquai's two contributions would've found better company among the classical works of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev featured in the movie than with the pop product that fills this soundtrack. New teen sensation Mandy Moore bookends the album with "I Wanna Be with You," featured both as straight pop confection and as a slightly techno-ed remix (the Soul Solution Mix). This time, the Diane-Warren-songwriter-for-hire tune is the ballad "If I Was the One," performed perfunctorily by the Baltimore duo Ruff Endz. The rest is the teen quartet P.Y.T., undistinguished stylists such as Ashley Ballard and Cyrena, and a Michael Jackson tune from Bad. Might sound OK during a workout at the gym, but not as serious listening. --Rob O'Connor
