The essence of chic. The epitome of pop. Worldwide fame and success.

Roxette is the Swedish pop band of the Nineties. And the Swedish duo of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle brought their act to the Orpheum last month and proved that cheesy pop deserves a prominent place in musical culture.

Thanks to MTV and Top-40 radio, Roxette has secured a place in the upper echelons of pop superstardom. With Fredriksson's black leather catsuit and ice-blond beauty and Gessle's perfectly moussed coiff, the duo are perfect video stars. Partly because of their MTV success, songs like "It Must Have Been Love (But It's Over Now)" and "Dangerous" have become Top-40 staples.

In concert last month, the group put to rest any preconceived ideas one might have had of this Swedish duo as Ice Prince and Princess. Fredriksson strutted across the stage, her sleek figure clad in skintight black leather, and Gessle, though less striking than his gorgeous partner, proved to be a surprisingly good guitarist and indulged many of their light-hearted pop tunes with some hard riffs.

Fredriksson and Gessle burst onstage full of attitude with "Hot-blooded," an-as-yet-unreleased track from Joyride. They kept up the energy by launching immediately into their smash hit, "Dangerous."

"Hold on tight/You know she's a little bit dangerous/She's got what it takes to make ends meet/The eyes of a lover that hit like heat/You know she's a little bit dangerous." The audience bopped to the catchy beat, singing the familiar lyrics.

Gessle and Fredriksson made sure to include all their hits (seven Top-10 hits in the last three years) for the appreciative crowd and even threw in some unexpected acoustical moments which proved their talent as real musicians.

Dressed entirely in black and bathed in gorgeous purple, pink and blue lights that perfectly set the mood for each song, Roxette and their band were exquisitely chic and stylishly professional throughout the show. Smoothly moving from heartfelt ballads to energetically catchy pop tunes, Roxette joyfully entertained the crowd, some of whom had painted the blue and yellow Swedish flag on their faces to show their devotion to these pop icons.

Due to the familiarity of the audience with most of the songs they performed, Roxette maintained an intimate rapport with their fans throughout the show. When Fredriksson and Gessle left the stage without performing one of their most popular ballads, "Listen to Your Heart," the audience insistently reminded them of the song, chanting the title until Roxette returned to the stage and offered an encore as an apology.

The performance showed that it may not matter that many Roxette songs are truly lightweight. Their mega-smashes are good, solid Top-40 fodder.

It's very easy to write off Roxette as pop trash because they achieved tremendous success with less-than-profound lyrics and danceable music. But Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle both have beautiful voices, and they're excellent performers both on record and on stage.

Admittedly, their lyrics do tend to be somewhat inane and rarely make any real sense. In 1988 Roxette had their first hit off Look Sharp! with "The Look": "Walking like a man/Hitting like a hammer/She's a juvenile scam/Never was a quitter/Tasty like a raindrop/She's got the look."

How exactly can one be "tasty like a raindrop"? The great philosophers have not yet answered this question, but they would be dancing at a Roxette concert just the same.

After all, why must we always be gloomy cynics and listen only to the ultracool and virtually incomprehensible social commentary of Nirvana?

There's a place for Roxette in our culture. They may be cheesy pop stars, but they're fun.