WINNIPEG - Months of breathless anticipation proved justified yesterday night, when pop/R&B superstar Justin Timberlake brought his FutureSex/LoveShow tour to town.

The former boybander-turned-crossover sensation delivered a sprawling, state-of-the-art stage spectacle that served as the perfect backdrop for the genre-straddling hits from his two solo albums.

We'll leave it to the legions of ladies in the crowd (last night's show was a sell-out at 16,000; tonight's is expected to draw nearly as many) to decide whether Timberlake's mission to bring sexy back was a success, but we can confirm the 26-year-old's sound was above reproach.

Whether strapping on an acoustic guitar to handle the Spanish flourishes on Like I Love You, donning a key-tar for the playfully groovy Sexy Ladies, or taking a seat at an upright piano for the elegiac What Goes Around ... Comes Around, Timberlake made short work of cynics who still think he's just a pretty face.

Heavily influenced by the likes of Prince and Michael Jackson -- not to mention frequent collaborators Pharrell Williams and Timbaland (more on him later) Timberlake has hit on a can't-lose hybrid of old-school soul, new-world dance-pop, and more than a smidge of rock 'n' roll

And even if you're not a fan of the music, there still would've been plenty to hold your attention last night, as Timberlake -- accompanied by a small army of backup dancers -- busted a series of funky moves that even Jacko would have been proud of.

"The last time I was in Winnipeg was, what, six or seven years ago?" said a black-suit-and-sneakers clad Timberlake, who last played here with his old act 'N Sync. "Don't worry -- I'll make it up to you."

Highlights in clud ed a dreamy rendition of the techno-ballad My Love, an appropriately epic What Goes Around, and the thug-jam Chop Me Up (our deadline came too early for closers SexyBack, Cry Me a River, and LoveStoned).

The only real misstep? A 20-minute intermission that kinda halted the momentum, despite a game DJ-set by Timbaland.

And while Justin was definitely the star of the show last night, close competition came from his stage set-up, an in-the-round configuration with extending catwalks and elevated bridges, some of which were connected by a full-service bar that added to the club vibe for those in the VIP section.

The same stage all but dwarfed openers Good Charlotte, but the Maryland pop-punk act -- whose frontman, Joel Madden, escorted girlfriend Nicole Richie from her 82-minute jail stint last week -- still managed to cover a lot of terrain.

Madden and his cohorts -- twin brother Benji, among them -- delivered a short set of increasingly '80s-inspired fare, mixing the guyliner anthems from their early days with newer, synth-ier stuff like Keep Your Hands Off My Girl and I Just Wanna Live.

And even though he's expecting a baby with Richie, Madden even engaged in a little innocent flirting, declaring at one point, "I've never seen ... so many girls all in one big place."

We know who he can thank for that.