Britney Spears performed her first huge hit, “…Baby One More Time,” clad in stiletto boots and skintight red pants. It almost brought a tear to all audiences. Or at least some solid misting. Take a look below and see what I mean.
After opening acts Kristinia DeBarge and Jordin Sparks finished their sets, the Circus began. First came acrobats on trampolines, then the opening video of Perez Hilton dressed as a queen presenting the show's ringmaster, Spears.
Spears descended from the ceiling dressed in a shiny metal bodysuit, starting the show off with her single "Circus." She then hopped in a cage with male dancers dressed in S&M gear for "Piece of Me."
Britney broke out a slew of fan favorites, like "Radar" (complete with pole dancing), "Boys," (during which she requested the male dancers do push-ups for her) and "If U Seek Amy," which segued into Spears reemerging onstage in her genie attire for "Me Against the Music."
But the crowd got most excited when Spears addressed them directly, asking how everyone was doing before saying, "I'm going to do a ballad. It's called 'Everytime.' " She then wiped something away from her cheek — it seemed she got a bit emotional while floating above the stage in the arm of a giant umbrella.
Britney Spears spoke to the fans again, asking, "What's up, New York?" before launching into a remixed version of "I'm a Slave 4 U" sporting a sparkly black bodysuit.
"Toxic" also wowed the crowd as Britney performed the hit in skintight red pants, a black sports bra and knee-high boots. Her last song before the encore was a remixed version of her classic " ... Baby One More Time."
As Britney Spears took the stage for the final time, a video featuring the most memorable images from her music videos played as the music for "Womanizer" kicked in. Dressed as a policewoman, she closed the show with a blaze of fireworks, addressing the crowd one more time before taking her bow, saying, "Have a wonderful night."
More of Britney Spear...
Here's an excerpt from Dan Aquilante's review of Britney Spears' opening night gig at Madison Square Garden last night:
And now for the Top 5 things I learned while watching the show:
1. Kinky Britney is more fun.
I've always believed that Britney is a bad girl pretending to be good and that's what makes her so much more entertaining than any of the other pop tarts of her era, who were merely good girls pretending to be bad. Last night's show proves the point, judging by how happy she seemed to be in her native state: teasing the audience, prancing around in lingerie and suggestively posing with her dancer boys. (Except while she sang "Everytime." Then it's all floating under an umbrella in a demure little white dress.)
2. Britney loves glasses.
There's nothing more annoying than having to push up your glasses because they've slipped down your nose while you're sweating - excuse me, glistening - so the fact that Britney opted to wear enormo-glasses in two different dance-heavy numbers must indicate that she really likes the look. So, glasses are cool by Britney. She should start a glasses frame line!
3. The old songs are still the most popular ones.
Yes, yes. Three cheers for "Womanizer" and "If U Seek Amy." But the songs that got the crowd really excited? "...Baby One More Time," "Do Somethin'," "Boys," "Toxic."
4. Britney's still got the moves.
Sure, she spent half the show either walking back and forth across the theatre-in-the-round stage setup or shimmying lamely next to her writhing dancers, BUT she busted a move during the last few songs of her set. It was ALMOST like watching Britney circa 2000. My guess is that she either needs to ditch the spike heels or somehow convince her handlers to trust her more, because she can totally handle the old dance steps.
5. Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" will always be the best version of that song.
Especially when accompanied by video of a scantily clad Britney and Co. vamping it up for the camera, while slithering across velvet couches in a dirty warehouse. I hope the video they played midway through the set gets released somewhere, because it was terrific and moody and really quite good.
