Lionel Richie is the comeback kid of 2006.

Just a few months ago, Richie’s own daughter, Nicole, was arguably more famous than dear ol’ dad. That was before Richie resurrected his career with the CD “Coming Home,” which debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart in September and produced the No. 1 Adult R&B smash “I Call It Love.”

These days, it’s hard to turn on the TV without finding Richie schmoozing some talk show host or otherwise pitching the new album. He’s been on “Good Morning America,” “The View,” “20/20″ and “Dancing With the Stars.”

On Saturday night, the vocalist continued on the comeback trail as he checked into the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. It was the last night of what Richie is calling a small-venue tour, a warm-up for a higher-profile trek through major arenas in 2007.

Richie was in fine form. Knowing that it was the final date of the tour, the former Commodore didn’t hold anything back and put on an energetic show that was rich in both personality and finely sung hits.

The vocalist is a true old-school entertainer, one of the best left in the business, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make a crowd happy. He refuses to take himself too seriously, which is a refreshing change of pace, and he’s not above embracing his cheesy side.

It doesn’t get any cheesier than opening a show with the sticky sweet piano ballad “Hello,” which hails from Richie’s Grammy-winning 1983 release, “Can’t Slow Down.” Yet, that obvious opener worked for Richie because he sold it with generous helpings of both sincerity and charm.

Fronting a five-piece band, Richie looked great as he rose from his piano and led the crowd in a sing-along version of the evening’s second number, “I Call It Love.” He’ll turn 58 next year, but he looked and acted arguably two decades younger as he continued with the Commodores smashes “Too Hot Ta Trot” and “Easy.”

Unlike other stars pimping new albums, Richie didn’t force feed the crowd a steady diet of new material. He played a few songs from “Coming Home,” most notably the fine love ballad “What You Are,” but mostly filled the set list with songs that the fans could sing from memory.

And sing they did.

The crowd joined in as Richie caressed his way through a soft rendition of “Ballerina Girl,” from 1986’s “Dancing on the Ceiling,” and then delivered a gorgeous solo piano version of the Commodores’ “Sail On.”

He took a few risks with the material _ noticeably changing the arrangements on some of his best-known hits _ and most paid off handsomely. Most notably, he fattened up the once-lightweight ’80s hit “Running With the Night,” made it strut and then slapped it firmly on the behind.

Richie’s band was mostly rock solid, although the guitarist seemed to think he was auditioning for a spot in Poison and brought too much glam to the “Dancing On the Ceiling” track “Love Will Conquer All” and other selections.

The singer, however, could basically do no wrong. He was even able to make the nauseatingly sappy duet “Endless Love” _ a tune that many people would rank as a top 10 candidate for songs that should never be played again _ sound interesting. He accomplished that impressive feat by asking to the females in attendance to sing Diana Ross’ lines. The result was a touching, and surprisingly fun, rendition.

Throughout the evening, Richie kept hearing requests for one particular song.

“People just don’t believe in foreplay,” Richie joked. “They just want to go _ zoom! _ straight to ‘Brick House.’”

Being a consummate performer, Richie finally gave the crowd what it wanted by closing his main set with a flurry of Commodores hits, including “Fancy Dancer” and, yes, “Brick House.”

That’s one sure way to mount a comeback _ deliver such a thrilling show that fans will want to come back for more.