At about 8:30 p.m. on Friday, the audience at the Roanoke Civic Center - made up largely of tweenage girls waving glow sticks - resembled a swarm of fireflies. And they fluttered in anticipation of Hilary Duff.

After a three-minute countdown on the stage's two Jumbotrons, Duff appeared. With her slender frame, box office-friendly face and a red-and-white striped shirt, she brought to mind a supermodel version of the "Where's Waldo" character. But supported by green lasers, three backup singers and a five-piece band, she was pop music glitz.

At 17, Duff's media assault has made her a multimillionaire. She can count successes on the big and small screens, and with a cosmetic and clothing line. She has had two multiplatinum albums, and it's likely that her upcoming "Most Wanted" album will go the same way.

The only foreseeable bump in her ascension to true rock stardom is that she has yet to upset parents.

"We thought she seemed really nice," said Debbie Wright of Lexington. Wright had brought her two daughters, ages 9 and 13, to the show and waited for them on a couch in the parents lounge. She added, "Of course, we thought that of Britney Spears."

For now, pleasing parents and their daughters is what Duff's show has been about. Friday's song list covered crushes, taking chances and "believing in yourself" (a number of songs being prefaced with a note on theme). Her songs are polished, rock-twinged pop, with choruses that the audience can join in on.

Rock critics who wanted to fault Duff's music could find enough material in her heavily produced sound, well-worked themes or appearances on the Disney Channel. But all their ink could not have drowned the screamers at the civic center on Friday. Hilary Duff might never be important or influential, but she probably always will be likable.

She opened her Roanoke show with the bouncy "Wake Up," which led into the rockier "The Getaway" and "Do You Want Me?" The kinetic pace slowed down with the ballads "Hide Away" and "Cry," when glow sticks became impromptu lighters. She hit dancy numbers such as "Party Up" and the requisite sample of songs on her new album.

The night closed with a three-song encore, which included her new single, "So Yesterday." The show could be the template for all pop concerts: smooth, fascinating and closely timed.

Shortly before the 10 o'clock curfew, the show ended, the lights went up and the glow sticks disappeared.'