By the time 2008 rolled around, Britney Spears had once again taken her rightful place as the pre-eminent princess of pop. There was no question about it: Britney was back and “Womanizer” confirmed it. After all, what better way to show everyone you’re back than to appear naked in a sauna?

“It was an actual sauna and we built a big tent around it … and Britney, naked again. I guess I have one of the best jobs in the world,” Joseph Kahn, who also shot Britney in the nude for her “Toxic” clip, told MTV News. “I was like, ‘You know, if we do this video, and she went through all this work to get a new paint job, I was gonna show off the paint job — she’s gonna be naked in this video.’ ”

The idea, however, like so many videos before, was all Britney’s suggestion. “She pitched to me a very detailed idea of what she wanted to do,” Kahn explained. “She wanted to dress up in costume, she wanted to follow her man to work, and she eventually wanted to show at the end that she is all three of those women.”

He went on to say that this video was the one where he and Britney would prove that she was still at the top of her game. “It was, like, her first video that no one really knew if she could even come on set, you know? It was just a big question as to you know, like, what would that video look like?” he said. “What shape would she be in? Can she really dance? Can she perform? Who is she at this point?

” ‘Womanizer,’ for me, was a great experience on a personal level, because it completely verified that she was coming back,” he continued. “By the time I worked with her on ‘Womanizer,’ you know, that was the Britney that I knew and it was a fun experience for me.”

Kahn had to basically turn the video around overnight, and it was worth all the hard work — the video quickly became a fan favorite. “By the time it got out — and the beautiful thing about the Internet is that you get instant reaction — the reaction seemed to be very positive. I’m going to sound like such a wuss, but I think I cried,” he said. “That sounds super lame, but come on, man — that’s five days of some serious stress. And I had to end the video on her smiling, for sure. Like, we just need to tell everybody that she’s OK.”

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When Britney released ‘…Baby One More Time’ at the tail-end of the last century, few would have predicted that she’d still be around today. Sure, it quickly became obvious that the track – reportedly rejected by TLC – was one of the great pop singles, but the history books are littered with the remains of stars that instantly light up the charts only to burn up just as fast. Despite some filler-heavy albums, Britney has always been something else, and this compilation perfectly captures the career of one of the best singles artists of the last ten years.

Where her 2004 Best Of, My Prerogative, was let down by some needless inclusions, unsatisfying sequencing and under-written new material, the 18-track Singles Collection is as lean as the star herself after a couple of months on the road. Better still, it features the best singles from the Blackout and Circus albums, which salvaged Britney’s career as a pop artist in the face of a personal breakdown. The only possible quibble is having newbie ‘3′ tacked on the start rather than the end – ruining the otherwise chronological tracklisting – but in the grand scheme of things that matters not-a-jot.

Running from ‘…Baby One More Time’ to ‘Radar’, you get a single-disc timeline that shows a progression in style and substance from school uniform-wearing pop ingénue to sultry motorik saucepot. There’s an argument that the 65-minute run-time should have been extended to include a few more songs, but in the main it’s the slowies that have been dropped, and that’s no bad thing. Of course, there’s little you can say about the songs themselves that hasn’t already been said. Hits like ‘Toxic’ and ‘Oops!… I Did It Again’ proved their cultural cachet by featuring in Doctor Who and John & Edward’s most magical moment respectively. Even the oft-forgotten ‘Stronger’ boasts two stone-cold classic pop moments: the lyrical inversion of her debut hit (”My loneliness ain’t killing me no more”) and that sound drop-out at two-and-a-half minutes that teases before the chorus slams back in.

Britney’s voice has long been a source of contention, but while the debate about the value of a lip-synced live concert continues to rage, this compilation underlines her worth as a distinctive pop singer, at least on record. She certainly doesn’t have the pipes of contemporaries Christina or Shakira, let alone the likes of Mariah or Whitney, but as last year’s X Factor finalists showed, it’s not as easy as it looks to make these songs sound as good as they do here.

And there’s nothing that sounds out of place. The thematic muddle of wedging a coming-of-age ballad (’I'm Not A Girl…’) between two slabs of sexed-up hip-pop (’Slave 4 U’, ‘Boys’) looks dodgy on paper, but sounds perfect in the listening. Best of all is the double-header of ‘Everytime’ and ‘Gimme More’, where you get Brit’s best ballad jammed up against a throbbing robopop thriller that’s rightfully survived her infamous VMAs performance. The only arguable weak link is the Madonna-featuring ‘Me Against The Music’, but in this context what once looked like a respectful passing of the baton now seems like an unconditional surrender of pop Queendom to its rightful heir.

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BRITNEY hitting Australia just one more time? After what has happened for her in just one week?

Don’t count on it, folks.

Fans have waited over 10 years for Britney Spears to announce her first Australian tour and before her Circus extravaganza has even hit Sydney, the pop princess is doing exactly what she does best. And no, it’s not performing.

It’s headlines.

I’m not having a “Leave Britney Alone” moment or excusing the fact that she mimes a two-hour show, but the international furore that has erupted over Spears’ lip-synching is far from a case of “oops she did it again” and rather “ya’ll, she’s done it her entire career!”

On an MTV awards stage two years ago, after releasing an album appropriately titled Blackout at the height of her public meltdown, the performer could barely stand up straight, let alone hold a note.

Her finances still remain under the conservatorship of her father and the custody of her two adorable boys still remains with ex-husband, Kevin Federline.

Just Youtube “Britney and paparazzi” and watch the videos of a girl crying on her doorstep surrounded by a flash frenzy, saying she just wants to “sit with my dog”.

Then log on to her official website and read the thousands – literally – of fan comments angry over her treatment by the Australian media.

That is, our treatment of a show Spears has taken all over the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Sweden and Russia and which remains unchanged, apart from the loss of a few Swarovski sequins along the way.

But only after one show in Perth, why has it become so controversial?

Considering her once-fairytale life is now replete with drama of Shakespearean proportions, we are just lucky she is here, let alone that she is going onstage on 14 different nights.

In what is possibly the only time the two people could ever be compared, Spears will no doubt follow the Frank Sinatra approach to Australia.

At the end of his tour in 1974, Sinatra infamously clashed with some Aussie journos at the airport, where the singer called the male reporters “bums and parasites” and the female reporters “buck-and-a-half-hookers”.

He was enraged by the way he had been portrayed in the press and did not return to our shores until 1991.

If the same applied for Brits, she will next tour at the age of 44.

By that time she will doubt have sinewy arms and the South American toyboy a la Madonna who, by the way, is pop royalty and has lip-synched throughout her career.

As also has Cher.

Oh, and what the hell – Leave Britney Alone!!!! There, I said it.

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I hope you enjoy while you can, Australian fans, because Brit’s Brit ain’t coming back to your shores anytime soon.

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Newspapers slammed Britney Spear’s first Australian show, saying that her lip synching had driven her fans away.

So the star arrived for her first show in Melbourne under a cloud of negative press; with her Circus show firmly under scrutiny.

After she played for the first time at Rod Laver Arena last night Matt and Jo asked fans to call and tell us what it was REALLY like: did anyone walk out? Were you annoyed by her lip synching?

We were amazed that 95% of the calls we received said that Britney and her show were great.

Chrissy from Brighton said “I think it’s just all the papers just making a big deal. They’ve been picking on her since she left the airport.”

Renata from Noble Park said “I have to say I did not see one person walk out. Everyone was on their feet dancing.”

Natalie from Somerville said it was “one of the best concerts I have ever been to.”

Natasha, who had won a coveted Loveseat by shaving her head on the Matt & Jo show had a frontrow seat for all the action. She said “it was amazing. Not just Britney, but the other performers were amazing too.”

Despite the overwhelmingly positive feedback we got from Melbourne ‘The Herald Sun’ is still criticising Britney; “as a dancer she’s possibly the weakest link in her show.”

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Nice to know that some of the Australian news media isn’t letting a little thing like facts get in the way of their hate, and here I thought American journalism was bad.

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by Paul Cashmere – November 12 2009
photo by Ros O’Gorman

Lets start by getting one thing straight. Rebekah Devlin, who started what quickly developed into Britney-gate this week in Australia, clearly got it very, very wrong. At the Britney Spears show tonight at Rod Laver Arena, there were no mass walk-outs, there were no disgruntled fans and the audience was genuinely entertained.

Just for the record, I am not a Britney fan but ‘Circus’ is a very good show. Forget the “but she mimes” argument. It is irrelevant for Britney. She is a popstar. She has never pretended to be a serious musical act like Radiohead. She is what she is and has never denied it.

Keep in mind at parts of their shows, Cher has lip-synched, Madonna lip-synchs, even Roger Waters did it. So lets just eliminate that from the scorecard and score the Britney show for what it is … a very entertaining show aimed at her core fans.

If you are a Britney fan, you are going to love ‘Circus’. It is over two hours of escapism and yes it is a real circus. Actually, if Ms. Devlin focused on the freak show featuring the midget or an amputee on a trampoline she might have been able to beat-up a better story. Did she even notice that? Not that it mattered. It was visually compelling.

Yes, a Circus it truly is, with magicians, acrobats, a tightrope and … was that Perez Hilton dressed up as The Queen?

The costume changes are covered up with musical segways. One featured Marilyn Manson ‘Sweet Dreams’ and another Michael Jackson ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Something’.

Lets give a special shout-out to the two kids in the front row. Britney’s children Sean and Jayden watched what Mom did for a living with Mom’s new beau Jason Trawick . For the record Ms Devlin, Jayden left earlier so your headline tomorrow should read “Even Britney’s Kid Can’t Stand Her”. Sean left before the encore, so you can beat that up into a headline as well.

In Vegas, this show would be up for “show of the year”. In Perth, based on a one-woman jury, it doesn’t rate at all. Melbourne, the home of Australian theatre, accepted another good show.

Britney is more than 90 shows into a world tour with Circus. How funny that Ms Devlin wasted her 15 minutes of fame on something that has never pretended to me anything more than a pop show.

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Britney’s Australian publicists have tonight issued this statement regarding the falsified reports media outlets have been flogging all day:

“Burswood Entertainment Complex is proud to host the Britney Spears ‘Circus’ concert tour in Burswood Dome.
Last night’s concert (Friday) saw record crowds turn out for her first performance in Perth and from Burswood’s perspective the event was a huge success. Early media reports that hundreds of fans left the concert early cannot be substantiated and Burswood has received no complaints about the concert.”

Hundreds upon thousands of happy fans and other attendees have posted their love and gratitute to Britney for putting on a great show on fan forums and Twitter. Britney did a great job, and any ‘breaking news’ regarding the content under scrutiny in her performances is common knowledge, and has been for a long time and we have no issue with it. She has proven herself.

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Its unfortunate that one journalist in Perth didn’t enjoy the show last night. Fortunately the other 18,272 fans in attendance did!- AdamLeber

Update:
Boy, was Adam right about the fans loving it…

Jenn S:
i was at the show in perth last night and it was FANTASTIC!! Loved every minute! And im one of many i know who are so very angry about the people here in Perth saying bad things about the concert and Britney…i would see her again if i could, both Britney and the circus were amazing, the stage set-up, dancing, lights and screen graphics were too!

Parima S: I went to your concert last night. I was in the front row, your performance was amazing. It was the best concert that I’ve ever been to. Don’t worry about the news, everyone here loves you!!!

Athena P: Britney you are not only a star, but an icon! I love you so much and have been to 3 of your shows and each time you have been nothing less, but amazing! Don’t listen to that stupid journalist! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!

Christine H: Watched Perth show last nite & thought Brit was amazing!! Hot,hot,hot!! I think any1 would have 2 lip sync if they were dancing like that! Performnace was awesome,so gald she finally made it 2 Oz & very happy that Perth was her 1st stop,no1 ever comes 2 Perth 1st!A lil more talking 2 the audience would of been good tho.

Kristy F: Britney please don’t hate Australia, we do love you and we are so thrilled that you are here… we are so lucky. That journalist would have gone to your concert with one objective and that is pick on anything he could find. Just ignore it, your fans love you and that’s what counts. Cant wait till you get to Melbourne!!!

Katie D: oh my god Britney im so embarrassed by how Australia has treated you since you arrived in our country. You have been nothing but slammed and put down since arriving and its pathetic. Im from Australia and my entire family is beyond inspired by yourself, your music, your life and your morals. As hard as it is try not to let the media get to you, … Read Morethey have nothing better to do then bring you down, but your true friends have and will stick by you nomatter what. Im attendign your Sydney concert for my 21st on the 20th November and im beyond excited about seeing you, i dont know whether im going to laugh, cry or faint being in the same room as you! You just stay strong and stick to what you do best, being a mum, artist and performer!
Your an inspiration and role model n i ♥ you and ur music to bits! Cant wait til the 20th =)
Katie x.O mwah
p.s. ignore the media we all love you

Read all the fans reviews here.

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Britney JUST dropped her brand-new video, “3,” and it’s like she went to the sexy Olympics and took home the gold medal. Thanks, Brit, for skipping the sexy-cute dress-up antics of your “If U Seek Amy” and “Womanizer” videos and going back to your dance roots in your hottest video since “I’m A Slave 4 U.”

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BRITNEY SPEARS certainly knows how to titillate fans – by poledancing in her new video 3.

But the Overprotected singer didn’t copy any old dance routine from PETER STRINGFELLOW’s nightclub.

Instead, Britney showcased her sexy moves in a slashed white leotard with the bar ABOVE her head.

The singer has been teasing fans for days via her Twitter page and she has certainly delivered the goods.

In our vid, the mum-of-two radiates natural beauty with little make-up apart from some fake lashes.

Earlier this month, Britney said of her new track: “I am so happy y’all love it because I do this all for you. I can’t wait till you see the video!”

The single shot to No1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Brit the first artist in three years to debut at the top spot.

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On Friday, Britney Spears debuted her latest music video, the sexy clip for her hit single “3.” The video, directed by Diane Martel, shows a glamorous Britney sashaying around with male and female backup dancers — and her fans seem to enjoy it.

“I thought Britney’s video was awesome. It was very cool. The track is awesome. It’s a really good tune. It’s something to dance to,” Sarah, 21, told MTV News. “She just looks good throughout the whole video — she looks like she did when she first started singing. I think she’s really starting to make some new music, and it’s awesome.”

Another fan, 23-year-old Amanda, felt that Britney looked “hot” in the provocative video. “I thought that video was awesome. She looked hot. She looks amazing. That song is awesome,” she said. “I love her new music. I think it’s a lot better than her previous music. The dancing and the beat itself and her video — she just looks hot in it.”

Like Amanda, Britney’s male fans had no complaints about seeing her in skimpy outfits. “I think she’s looking hot and I think it’s a great tune,” Kevin said. “I think she’s about to win back America’s heart. Anything she’s wearing, anything [in the video is hot]. She looks like a MILF. She is the MILF of today.”

Arman agreed about Britney’s look, adding, “I think it’s a good video. She’s very sexy in it and I like the beat of the song.”

Seventeen-year-old Taryn chimed in, “I really love it. I think it’s great footage and she’s really making a comeback. She looks awesome,” she said. “She looks the best she’s really looked in a while, so it’s really impressive.”

Jillian, 14, added, “I think it’s really amazing. I love all of her songs and all of her videos, really. I think that’s she’s great. I think she’s looking really good. She has a great shape and everything.”

Roni liked the video, even if it wasn’t her taste. “I think she looks great. It’s a cute song. It’s a little bit tacky, but she knows how to move; she knows how to dance.”

“She looks great. She’s awesome. Her body looks great and I love the song, her outfits, her blond hair looks nice, her shoes — everything about her is back,” Kristen, 16, said.

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After teasing fans with 15-second clips on her Twitter yesterday, Britney Spears finally revealed the video for her Hot 100-topping single “3,” the new track that will feature on her upcoming The Singles Collection. You’d expect the video for a song about threesomes to be Rated-X, but Spears keeps things borderline tasteful with the “3″ vid, busting out some suggestive dance moves that are nowhere near as racy as the lyrics to “If U Seek Amy.” Instead, Spears and her cadre of dancers go the “Single Ladies” route by scaling back on sets and simply dancing in front of white and gray backgrounds. It’s not Britney’s best (it’s nowhere near her “Slave 4 U” clip), but we haven’t seen her dancing with this much conviction since the In the Zone era.

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Theprophetblog
“3″ is the official lead from Britney’s upcoming best of compilation The Singles Collection, and is produced by the singers most well-known collaborator Max Martin. The Swedish hitmaker also helmed a number of Spears biggest tunes from “…Baby One More Time” to “Oops!… I Did It Again” and “Stronger”. Check out the provocative pop jam below.

Wow, if there was ever a song to mark Britney’s 10 years of ruling the pop scene than this is it. The club-heavy ode to group sex that is “3″ contains everything that makes Britney, Britney. It’s a perfect pure pop record!

The beat is a certified dancefloor filler, it’s a relentless and doesn’t stop, becoming more intense as the song picks up steam until it finally climaxes like a musical orgasm. The way it picks-up and stops, then changes tempo is amazing. The hook is insanely infectious, and actually rivals the catchiness of “Oh baby baby” and “Gimme gimme more, gimme gimme”

The lyrics are classic Britney; they’re flirty, sexy, provocative, tongue-in-cheek, and full of the cheeky faux-innocence we’ve come to expect from the girl who once tried to convince us that she was a ‘virgin’. This point is further driven home as Britney chants the hook like it’s a sexed-up nursery rhyme.

Vocally Spears comes across quite similar to “Mannequin” from her Circus album, with her voice being fed through autotune to the point where she sounds like a singing fembot crossed with a blow up a doll. What Britney does brilliantly though (and has done her whole career) is her ability to add her unique personality to the song.

Despite being heavily produced Britney never lets the song swallow her and she lets us know that she’s the one in charge. She also shows us why she’s one of the most successful female artists of all time by delivering yet another flawless anthem, maintaining a consistency and quality in her music that’s rarely seen in the genre.

Some people may argue that they wanted a more urban Britney this time around, but I think it was important that this record be completely pop. It’s how she started so it only makes sense that it should be how she celebrates her 10 year anniversary and new greatest hits compilation. Brilliant!

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Rollingstone
Britney Spears’ new single “3″ — the sole fresh song off her upcoming best-of compilation The Singles Collection — debuted this morning on New York Top 40 station Z100, and yes, the song is about having a threesome. The music itself seems to borrow from the Flo Rida playbook, as “3″ is more of a surefire dance-floor stomper than anything Brit loaded onto Blackout or Circus. “Merrier the more, triple fun that way,” Spears sings in one of the many, many innuendo-packed lyrics that seem like they were spawned from Prince’s Dirty Mind-era brain. There’s also “Three is a charm, two is not the same. I don’t see the harm, so are you game?” and “If you don’t like the company, let’s just do it you and me. You and me… Or three… Or four…” The song also boasts the strangest Peter, Paul and Mary reference we’ve ever heard.

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Neonlimelight
So, the new single from Britney Spears‘ The Singles Collection, “3,” premiere today, and even though the collection’s release was just announced mid-week last week, fans could hardly contain themselves waiting for its arrival.

Turns out you actually go through three phases when listening to the song, which ultimately leads to your acceptance of it.

Snap judgement: This song is so not worth the hype. Another pumped up electro-pop mish-mosh. Like, dude, did she actually say “Peter, Paul, and Mary”? So inappropriate!

Settling in: What’s that? Why are my shoulders moving this way? Could I be…dancing!?

Spellbound: I’m suddenly scouring my room to find glow sticks and a feather boa to throw a rave with this song as the only thing on the playlist. Savory!

And there you have it. Another Britney song. Not one of her best. Definitely not her most original, or even most imaginative, but thanks to skillful producers who know how to cater to the pop masses (thanks, Max Martin!), you’ll grow to dig it because you have no other choice.

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MTV
Britney Spears released her new single, “3,” on Tuesday morning (September 29). The track was produced by hit-maker and longtime Spears collaborator Max Martin, who also produced “… Baby One More Time,” and its subject matter — which appears to be about loving multiple people at one time — is sure to cause a stir.
The song, which is posted on New York radio station Z-100’s Web site, is a catchy dance track with provocative lyrics, such as, “1, 2, 3/ Not only you and me/ Got 180 degrees/ And I’m caught in between.” The chorus also mentions “Peter, Paul and Mary,” which would seem to be an out-of-left-field reference to the ’60s folk act. (There’s no indication whether this song was recorded before or after member Mary Travers’ death on September 17.)

In July, during the European trek for her Circus tour, Spears tweeted that she was working with Martin on a song. “Back in the studio with Max!” she wrote about the collaboration.

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Daily B:

Facts:

- It’s about ‘doing it’ with two people at once.

- It is synthy and auto-tuned up the wazoo, but not like what you were expecting really.

- Choice lyric: “Living in sin is the new thing.”

- It is required to listen to “3″ no less than three times, as its value will grow exponentially upon each play.

- It is like “Womanizer” in the sense that the verses are “meh,” the bridge is “literally fantastic,” and the chorus is “ridiculously, ridiculously catchy.”

- The greatest moment is the song’s middle eight (which sort of vastly improves on elements from 2003’s “Brave New Girl.”)

- Have I mentioned the middle eight? It’s absolutely lush.

VERDICT: IT IS FANTASTIC.

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“Britney Spears has once again shocked the world but this time it’s something that could help her career. Performing last night in Greensboro, NC Spears sang live (yes I did say “sang live”). The singer who has lip synched her way through the entire Circus tour belted out a very impressive version of Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know.Spears appeared very confident in the performance and the crowd showed its approval afterwards with thunderous applause. This performance was a surprise to those in attendance and one that I think most Britney fans hope she will continue with. Spears upped the ante last night and it will be interesting to see if this was a one-time set change or a permanent addition to the tour.” – Examiner -

“With the exception of a few rare vocals on drippy ballad Everytime, the US singer has been miming her way through her worldwide Circus tour. However it appears she’s now decided to up the ante, trying something a little different for gig-goers in Greensboro, NC. Britters looked confident as she belted out a cover of ALANIS MORISSETTE’S You Oughta Know. And it appears fans were impressed as they roared in approval afterwards”. – The Sun -

“At her concert in Greensboro, NC, on Saturday night, Brit Brit debuted a new song on her Circus tour set list. She did a cover of Alanis Morissette’s You Oughta Know.And she actually sang live!!!!!!!!It was the first time she sang any song live during this whole tour!!!!!! Yes. Yes. Yes. Slowly but surely our beloved Brit Brit is rebuilding her confidence. And, hopefully, next tour there will be a lot more singing!” – PerezHilton -

“Britney Spears has sung live for the first time on her ‘Circus’ tour.The US star debuted a cover version of Alanis Morissette’s ‘You Outta Know’ at a concert in North Carolina, US, last night (05.09.09) – the first time she has sung a song live on the worldwide tour since it began in March.A concertgoer revealed: “We were really surprised! Nobody knew she going to sing that song. When I saw her rise up with a microphone I was thinking, ‘what is she doing?’ I had to ask the person in front of me what song she was singing!” In a video posted of Britney performing the song, she sounds confident and strong as a singer again and after she finishes, the shocked crowd give out huge cheers. Posting a text response to the video, one fan wrote: “This song is soooo good and seems so nice in Britney! “Congrats Britney, you should sing more live. Even if it’s not perfect it would be more exciting and emotional for you, and for the fans. “Previously on the tour, Britney has mimed while concentrating on the complicated dance routines involved in the show.” - ContactMusic -

“Last night at the Greensboro, NC stop of her Circus tour, Britney Spears covered Alanis Morissette’s 1990s anthem “You Oughta Know,” and from this admittedly low-quality video (and various reports on the Internet), it seems she actually sang live, instead of singing to tape. Again, the quality here isn’t great, but it looks like she rocked it. What better way to silence the critics than to step up to the mic, say to hell with it all, and spew some of that bile. Hot, confident Britney, live vocals, a dash of rebellion…hey Brit, how about breaking off for a few surprise shows at intimate clubs? I’d be down for that.” – Entertainer Weekly -

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