The Circus Starring Britney Spears

Watching the first eight concerts of Britney Spears’ 2009 Circus album tour, most of her fans must have remembered that she has become a world icon after many handles.

But despite difficult marriages, head shaving, paparazzi chases, and probably being the most Googled celebrity in 2009-2010, Spears stood strong.

She is a world pop star that everyone wishes to hug and perhaps whisper to her ear; “you made it!”

Also known as the Circus Tour, The Circus Starring Britney Spears, was the 7th concert tour by Britney Spears, an American singer. She launched the tour in support of her 6th studio album – “Circus” released in 2008.

Rumors about the anticipated tour began as early as October 2007 when Spears released her 5th studio album – Blackout.

But the tour was later canceled because of unknown reasons.

The tour was officially announced in 2008 (December).

During the concert tour, Britney Spears performed on several occasions in the United States, Europe, Australia, Poland, Russia, and Germany.

The Show: A Pop Extravaganza

Spears’ tour was commonly considered a ‘pop extravaganza’ and was divided into the following segments.

The circus: This segment featured an outstanding metamorphosis of Spears (as the ringmaster) to a slave and was surrounded by other performers.
House of fun: Displayed an array of different upbeat numbers with varying themes such as military and magic. House of fun ended with an amazing Bollywood-inspired performance and a ballad in which Britney performed while floating on a massive umbrella.
Peepshow or Freakshow: This featured a video interlude set of heavy metal music and appeared to continue with what most critics considered dark sexual performance.
Electro Circ: Revealed energetic dance moves, and the encore consistent of a police-themed performance and a video of a montage of Britney’s music videos.

Throughout the tour, Spears made some changes. For instance, some songs were remixed.

She also performed “Mannequin” in designated European shows and covered Duffy and Alanis Morissette songs during her performances in North America.

Critical Reception

After Britney’s premiere performance, “The Circus Starring Britney Spears” tour received a mixed reaction from different critics.

According to Stacey Plaisance from Associated Press, Britney’s tour was a strong step in a relevant direction.

Stacey also believes that the artist delivered what she considers a ‘tightly choreographed performance.

The Los Angeles Times’ Ann Powers believes that despite the first-night challenges and several instances in which Spears’ dancing was inadequate, “The Circus Starring Britney FFSpears” can be called a success.

However, not everyone praised “The Circus Starring Britney Spears.” For instance, MTV’s Jeff Montgomery praised and at the same time dismissed Britney’s performance.

He wrote, “Welcome to Spear’s Circus, a huge, funny, loud, nonsensical three-ring affair.

Spear looks good in her myriad of performance outfits and can still move with the best of them.”

Toronto Sun’s Jane Stevenson gave Britney’s performance three out of five starts, pointing out that there is so much going on during Spears’ performance – bicyclists, martial arts and more, denying the audience space to assess Spears’ performance.

Commercial Breakthrough Despite Negative Criticism

About 6 days after “The Circus Starring Britney Spears” was announced, approximately 400,000 ticks were bought for the North American shows.

This prompted the tour promoter to add 7 more dates in Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Montreal, Anaheim, and Long Island.

In the United Kingdom, as the demand increased with the fame of the anticipated show and six more dates were added, resulting in over 100,000 ticket sales within just a week.

Britney Spears’ first performance in North America broke Celine Dion’s record, with a crowd of 18, 644 people.

Her first North American leg successfully sold out, bringing in about $61.6 million.

This was the top highest grossing concert tour of the first quarter of 2009.

Besides, Spears’ tour grossed $13 million from London, and Dublin-Manchester shows grossed about $74.6 million, ranking “The Circus Starring Britney Spears” the 3rd highest grossing concert tour globally.

Despite her marriage challenges, injuries, family issues, and other life hurdles that Britney Spears had to handle, she remains strong and ready to face her world.

During the entire tour, Spears revealed herself as an entertainer, what she does, what she brings to the show – costumes and fun theatrical stuff that make her fans awe.