Britney Weaves It All on Stage

46. Posted by: San Francisco Chronicle
Review: Britney Spears, 'Circus' come to town
Aidin Vaziri, Chronicle Pop Music Critic

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Most cultures bury their dead, but here, we lavish them with hordes of backup dancers, expensive stylists and the best Swedish pop hits money can buy just to prop them up on a stage and watch them entertain us. So it goes with Britney Spears, who, despite all outward signs of being unable to count to 11, much less headline a big-budget revue, has been getting dragged around the country for the past two months to promote her sixth album, "Circus."

Then again, whoever is in charge of Spears' affairs these days has gone to great lengths to make sure people actually pay very little attention to Spears At her sold-out concert at Oakland's Oracle Arena on Wednesday, the beleaguered 27-year-old tabloid pet was the least interesting part of the show - a wobbly figure making very little effort to lip-sync along to the mediocre songs from her most recent releases while all around her acrobats, clowns, contortionists and magicians offered a dramatic re-enactment of a real big-top spectacular.

Spears never fully recovered from the upheavals that sidelined her career a few years ago - from stealing backup dancer Kevin Federline from his then-pregnant wife and shedding tears on cue for Matt Lauer, to her pantyless late-night Hollywood excursions, head shaving, the use of one of her kids as a steering wheel, and on and on. She may have made a decent album, but on Wednesday, it was hard not to look past the gleaming blond extensions and meticulous dance routines to see the same broken, bald-headed girl that just two years ago was smashing car windows with an umbrella.
Part of the reason people shelled out the big bucks for the concert probably had to do with wanting something to go wrong, like in Vancouver, where Spears inexplicably walked off the stage after only three songs, or in San Jose, where the star welcomed the audience with, "What's up, Sacramento?"

But Spears notwithstanding, the tour itself is almost flawless, with a great sound system and dazzling video effects. The set list, however, which leaned heavily on tracks from "Circus" and its predecessor, "Blackout," offered just a few musical highlights, such as latter-day hits "If U Seek Amy," "Womanizer" and "Toxic."
The only glance back at Spears' glory years was served up in a remixed version of her first hit, "... Baby One More Time." Even that was a extravagance, considering that during the 90-minute set, Spears spent nearly as much time off the stage as she did on it, letting the circus acts carry most of the show.

The capacity crowd - the female to male ratio was roughly 100 to one - didn't seem to care, cheering wilding every time a backup dancer did a flip or a metal shop worker made sparks fly - don't ask. They even applauded the awkward mid-concert advertisement for a mobile phone carrier.
So there's the upside. While Spears may have lost her children, sanity and personal freedom - her father, Jamie Spears, was granted legal conservatorship over her last year - she still has a thriving career.

But as much as you want to join the masses and root her on for the bad lip-synching, it's hard to put aside the feeling that Spears shouldn't be paraded around like this just to make everyone involved a tidy profit, that maybe she would be better off at home with her two boys, eating a bowl of cereal and watching "The Princess Diaries."

http:// www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/23/DDB8177OLM.DTL

Posted at 7:29AM on Apr 24th 2009 by THIS ISNT A CONCERT IT IS A RETARD CONVENTION

47. Yeah, the hair is fake. The "singing" is fake. The heavily photoshopped pictures she puts out (Candies) are fake. And her fans like her why? Because she's "keeping it real." Too funny. Oh, by the way, look closely at her laying on the divan before she is hoisted up in the air. This chunky monkey's waist doesn't taper in at all, it's straight up and down. She's built like a linebacker. I feel sorry for the poor dude that has to hoist that tub of lard in the air every night. The man is going to need some serious shoulder therapy.

Posted at 7:33AM on Apr 24th 2009 by britbritisaskank

48. What? You're surprised she wears a weave? Is it really news worthy either way? Wow..a "clean house" operation coming to TMZ soon I bet....

Posted at 7:39AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Food For Thought

49. I was thinking.....if she does all these stunts will we never notice she can't sing? then I remember as she twirled she is lip sinking, which means she can't even record good music.

Posted at 11:34AM on Apr 24th 2009 by sherri

50. wow....glad i did not pay for that concert.

Posted at 8:05AM on Apr 24th 2009 by scott

51. This hair extension mishap almost caused the universe to collapse, shrivel to a cinder and spin off into the abyss. This must not happen again. Planet Earth can not take on this catastrophic event. The people of earth need to start evacuation of all major cities.

Posted at 8:18PM on Apr 24th 2009 by The Concerned Klingon Commander

52. They all wear these now, but she does look like a whore. But thats what all young girls get for the so called role models now.

Posted at 8:44AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Shadowwolf

53. she's still alive?

Posted at 8:51AM on Apr 24th 2009 by xxx

54. She is just sloppy.

Posted at 8:48AM on Apr 24th 2009 by paeris

55. What?! Britneys golden flowing locks are not really her own hair?! Next you're gonna tell us that The Hills is fake show!

Posted at 8:49AM on Apr 24th 2009 by dixiemeow

56. I've replayed and replayed-- don't see where the extensions fall out. Give me a clue!

Posted at 9:08AM on Apr 24th 2009 by brandyanne19

57. aww c'mon guys,,,weave her alone.

Posted at 9:22AM on Apr 24th 2009 by scuba steve

58. I have seen more tasteful outfits at a strip club

Posted at 9:37AM on Apr 24th 2009 by badjuju813

59. #35 Thank you for posting that article, that says ALOT and I could not agree more with what is said in that article. Such a damn shame her career is still thriving. A sucker is born everyday, and there's a ton of them attending her concerts.

Posted at 10:01AM on Apr 24th 2009 by Terri

60. It's so hard to wrap my brain around the idea that there are more than 12 people in the US that would actually pay money to see this crap.

Posted at 11:38AM on Apr 24th 2009 by lost in lalaland