Roch Voisine's fond of dissing music critics who attend his shows with that tired line spouted by artists who can't stand the heat that comes with the gig.

 Last night he said: "One of my fans could've been sitting in a seat occupied by a damn critic."

 Well, Roch, this "damn critic" has no flies on him because there were tons of seats -- his show at the 16,000-capacity Molson Amphitheatre drew a mere 5,730 people -- your fans could've filled.

 Roch, you see, gets a little ticked off with those of us who attend his shows armed with objectivity, get beaten down by his constant hamming, his limp, flat music, and then have the nerve to tell you about it.

 But back to the show.

 "I'm 34 years old," the suave, New Brunswick native said, eliciting screams.

 "And I'm still not married."

 The screams got louder.

 "I just haven't found the right one yet."

 Hmm ... wonder what his girlfriend Kim thinks about that?

 Roch could take a tip from reluctant sex symbol Harry Belafonte. He oozes sensuality by just being himself and doesn't curry favor with the lowest common denominator to appeal to his audience.

 In interviews, Voisine has openly discussed what he feels is a lack of strong male voices in the contemporary pop scene. Nor has he hidden his desire to fill that void.

 Perhaps he should consider that Luther Vandross, James Ingram and Peabo Bryson -- to name just three -- haven't retired from the game yet.

 Nothing wrong with ambition but you've gotta have the ammunition to achieve your dream.

 Our man, sadly, does not.

 Let's begin with stage presence. Voisine has little and when he does try to liven things up it's downright embarrassing. "This song's so cool I have to wear shades," he said, introducing China Grove.

 He has a voice that's thin and soul-less and which is often buried under the pedestrian pop-rock his band churns out.

 And there was lots of that last night.

 Voisine began his 90-minute set with an acoustic version of I'll Always Be There, ended it with a rocking version of the same song, and played selections from his albums in between.

 "Cute lasts about 15 minutes," he told the Calgary Sun's Lisa Wilton recently. "People want to see the goods."

 Or at least hear the goods.

JAM! Rating: 2 out of 5