The Britney Obsession definitely correlates with your age and sex- i.e. if you were a 14 year old teen girl when she broke world wide, you will probably find it hard not to love her. If you were a 44 year old man when she broke world wide, you will probably find it hard not to love her.
I mention her a lot when I'm asked about inspiration and I feel like people laugh a bit, like 'Oh you!'. But she was a captivating performer, had a genuinely good singing voice when she was young and had worked SINCE SHE WAS 8.
So my friend Cara and I trotted off to the 02 Arena filled with nervous glee 3 weeks ago. Place was filled with 3-50 yr old girls and women dressed in cheap Hen Night costumes- we took to our seats nervously, waiting for Brit Brit to come onstage.
When she did, we both literally cried (or at least my face contorted a bit and my eyes welled with tears for a minute). She is our teenage idol, everyone. We could not react differently. I was shocked that I felt so intense seeing as she was a billion feet from me but its Britney Spears.
We both thought the show was great for a while but the cracks kinda started to show half way through. "Do these low end pole dancer moves count as actual performing? Does everything have to be so blatantly sexual that it doesnt actually feel very sexy? Why is she still feeling the need to dance in a bra and knickers?"
Britney is not really performing at the moment, yall. She is not singing, she is not relying on an out-of-this-world toned body- so I ask the question- What is she? Is she an artist anymore? Does she play an instrument? Does she write songs? Is she even real? Feel its a shame and feel its going to be a while until we see something that feels like real human gold again. I felt like she was a mannequin. She barely interacted with the crowd, the choreography was appalling and reminiscent of something you'd see in a strip joint. I was more surprised than disappointed. If your not busting out dance moves, please sing for me at least and show me some kind of reason for why I'm here..
Feel like her and her camp are relying on her brand and name. I am having to question her strength as an artist: Madonna was a visionary and pioneer. Brit Brit can take still her clothes off, ten years down the line. Bravo. Sad.
(PLEASE LORD DO NOT SMITE ME FOR CRITICISING BRITNEY- ITS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER SAID SOMETHING BAD ABOUT OUR GIRL BUT I AM SO SCURRED SHE IS BECOMING A PREDICTABLE EMPTY DOLL)
Now don't get me wrong- I will follow her loyally for the rest of my life. I am convinced she's going through a bad patch. She had a nervous breakdown and shouldn't really be expected to be breaking out the dance moves. But I just find it weird that talent can disappear so obviously. Its like they have all the boxed ticked now: She looks great and all, is working, world tour etc but is there anything moving behind the eyes?! Seems like she doesn't have the confidence to perform at the moment and that is why the show wasn't that good. Feel sad cause feel like she thinks she is only worth something if she is the pre-baby hot body Britney rocking the weird virginal image ad nauseum.
Point of this post: I was bummed that I didn't catch a glimpse of the Old Britney anywhere in the show.
Bottom line: Even if she bins pop and branches out in Bavarian Nose Flute Anthems 'R US when she's 68, I will still buy it and I will still be there front-centre gyrating around in the shitty £25 merch t-shirt I bought at the O2 Arena (''Cause it's a CLASSIC yall..'')
14 comments:
Last night I went to see The Maccabees in W/burg and I told someone the last CD I bought was Britney's Circus and I shit you not, they moved away and said 'Don't say that any louder. You're in Williamsburg, remember.'
...
I LOVE BRITNEY SPEARS! I was 11 when Baby One More Time came out and I was obsessed! SHE WAS MY IDOL AND I MAKE NO APOLOGIES FOR THAT!
And I watched all her ups and downs and downs and downs and when she got her life back together the last time I was delira. And I nearly shit my pants in anticipation of her appearance on X-Factor before Xmas and she was so terribly bad I almost cried.
I felt so cheated.
And while I still love her and she's this massive icon, I'm glad I didn't fork out $80 bucks for the crappiest seats in the house to see her mime and stumble across stage in heels she can't dance in.
THE END
The End, indeed.
I think she may be relying too heavily on her brand which she created in her early years and is now seemingly alienating her fans.
I believe she tried emulating the success of madonna who has successfully rebranded herself over the years but Britney is stuck in a bit of a rut now with this whole "i'm not a virgin anymore" phase she has been in for the last 5+ years.
Yeah, it seems to have gone from one extreme to the other - the virginal image to complete try hard sex appeal.
Maybe she thinks they're the only two images that sell in the music business?
And i'm sure she can sing, she used to be a really good singer, but she doesn't even try anymore - she's just reliant upon the miming. and you're right Marina, what is she? She's not a singer anymore.. because she doesn't sing properly.
I was a big fan of her when I was younger too, I have lost count of the amount of time I have watched 'Crossroads' (so loved that film!!) but now I really dislike her, and it is a shame because when I think about it, she really could sing!
don't hate me but i was always a Christina Aguilera fan. Her lyrics always appealed to me more.
Anyway, i mean it's easy for us to judge, but i really feel for her. To have the media 'on side' for a very long time then to have them slate you, it must be rough, i watched her documentary on sky1 and she seemed like a sad women :(, this made me feel for her so bad, she just wants to be britney spears again. It's not easy to come back from a breakdown in 'normal' society never mind 'celebrity, big brother, hit her for a reaction society' ;). I feel if people like you for example marina keep supporting her by going to shows etc.... her heart must feel better, now i sound cringing :|.
Yet when you choose this path and stardom, you choose the role of other things, you cant just be a singer nowadays, you become a brown dull parcel for other people to appreciate, but really do these singers appreciate themselves?
Good look to her, she does have the talent it's just fighting with who she is atm.
p.s. marina your playing leeds festival eeeee ;)
also i agree with you matt :)
I just bought "Britney Spears: Live from Waikiki" on Amazon. Immense.
marina you make me smile :')
i hope when you become the bomb things like this dont affect you :)
i hope also you carry on doing blogs and making us all state our points :)
xxx
Oh, Marina!!!!! I'm going to pretend like I didn't see this post!
I'm kidding, really. I agree for the most part, but I thought the show was really great! The only thing that upsets me is that I feel like everything she is.. isn't from her brain. She's being told what to do and how to move, how to act and how to look.
I want her to release an album that's totally her. I don't care if it's shitty, either. I want her to write her own songs, I want her to learn to become a real artist like you are. I think she needs to work for it a little more and realize how lucky she is. Maybe then she'll put things into perspective and realize she should really be on her A-game and not just looking so "empty" on stage.
Sat front row at her show in March, .. she's coming back, and I'm sitting balcony this time. (Come on, I can't NOT go! I've never missed a show of hers!)
oh this is alexander gray by the way.... i wish i could just post a comment under my name..
Isn't she making $100 million from this tour???
She could at least try and sing more than one song per gig!
Apparently she opened the first Manchester gig with "Helllllo London!"
tut tut
well done Marina, saying what most think and it would be great to have britney interviewed with your questions, it's been going on for to long, does she forget the girl she was, at 15 going to labels and doing an impromtue performance acapella? is she fogetting the reason why she started in the biz, to sing? I will never see her live (mind, she's playing australia later on in the year) because I don't waste money on mimers, I am a fan of her recorded compsitions as I know it takes a whole team to make her music good...I adore her track 'Everytime' because she wrote that about her experience of love broken, I want to hear reality in her voice and lyrics, not about bringing it to everyone body wise.
The thing that would have worked would have been to have a complete break from the 'Blackout' album era, come back and do intimate shows based on her singing, even if it were a tv special...looks like her management have wanted to machine to not break down and have her acting the role of Britney...maybe that's why it's a circus theme, she's just playing a role with as much colour and players.
The footage that appeared a while ago with the male fan that got on stage and she freeked out, you can tell he wouldn't have done anything wrong and he was only a fan, she freeked out to a level of a little girl lost and didn't know how to cope.
Maybe Michael J's death might trigger something in her that you want to be remembered for what your talent is, the more she pushes the sex image angel, the less people think about her music, a music video for britney is more like a soft porn video with light music to soundtrack it.
There were moments during the Circus performance that i will admit were shaky, but britbrit looked like she was thouroughly enjoying herself. Performing is something she evidently loves, And being on stage i saw a spark back in her that as a hardcore britney fan, i hadn't seen in a while.
She's taking babysteps, as we all know she suffured such an intense meltdown that other stars wouldnt be able to return from, but she will, and she is, because she's Britney Spears.
Marina,
I love your music! You have such a unique voice and sound and "I am not a robot" is such a fun/feel good song! Keep it up! I realize this has nothing to do with Britney but I wanted to comment. My only thought was I wish you would have someone grammatically edit your writing cause saying "her and her camp" is not correct English... But I guess who cares about that when you're a successful singer! Anyway, really digging the tunes.
Post a Comment