It was no surprise that four days after the world learned of the death of Michael Jackson, that news was fresh in the mind of Stevie Wonder, who headlined the Marcus Amphitheater on the first Sunday of Summerfest 2009. After all, Wonder was the first child star at Motown, paving the way for Jackson.

But the way in which Wonder chose to pay tribute to Jackson ranged from touching to unusual to downright odd.

Stepping out on stage with his daughter Aisha Morris, Wonder called the election of Barack Obama "one of the most incredible things to happen in the world," in the last year, adding, "yet one of the most tragic things -- that's losing one of our greatest entertainers of the world," also took place.

Wonder saluted Jackson by playing "I Can't Help It," a song he wrote for Jackson's smash LP, "Off the Wall," and he and opener John Legend dueted on an unnamed new song honoring Michael. At one point in the show, Wonder appeared so overcome by emotion that he paused momentarily, his head bowed.

Sweet, but a little odd, was the clunky chant in "Superstition," near the end of the nearly two-hour show that went sort of like this: "We love you Michael Jack-Jack-Jackson, see you in heaven, because we know that's where you are."

Downright weird -- although the crowd ate it up -- were the pre-recorded Jackson hits that played through the P.A. as Wonder and the band stood listening on stage. This happened three songs into the set, a little deeper into the show, and again at the end, when a medley of tunes like The Jackson 5's "ABC" and "Never Can Say Goodbye" closed out the night.

Based on reviews of other recent shows, tonight's performance was much like a Jackson-focused one delivered in Kansas City on Friday night.  Both were unlike an Atlanta performance early last week which was reviled by some fans for Wonder's political and religious speeches -- mostly absent tonight, just like the much-maligned Vocoder that was also bemoaned by Atlanta fans -- and the fact that he arrived onstage nearly 90 minutes late without explanation.

Tonight, Wonder hit the stage within about 30 minutes of opener Legend wrapping up his set of suave, modern soul. Behind him was a percussion-heavy 14-piece band, that included his daughter on background vocals -- and lead vocals on one tune.

Legend sang with Wonder on the first song of the set, "Ordinary People," and returned at least three more times.

On a lovely, starry night -- with the Allen-Bradley thermometer reading 76 degrees -- Wonder emerged, resplendent in white and gold, looking exactly like the regal pop presence you'd expect considering Wonder has been cranking out hits since the dawn of the 1960s.

It took a while to get to those hits, but the second half of Sunday's show was a marathon of familiar tunes.

With only a couple sidesteps, Wonder ran through a string of hits that included "Higher Ground," "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing,"  My Cherie Amour," "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," "Isn't She Lovely," "I Just Called to Say I Love You," and, the evening's closer (save a toss-off snippet of "We Are the World"), "Superstition."

Although the lower, red section was full and the yellow section about three- or four-fifths occupied. The green seats were entirely empty except for one section and the grass was sparsely occupied. Not a great Milwaukee turnout for a living musical legend.