This one’s titled “Spears falls off the tightrope: Theatrics dazzle but singer undone by emotionless lip-synching”, so don’t get too excited. But here we go:
“The biggest spectacle to perhaps ever visit EnergySolutions Arena was Britney Spears’ Circus Tour Tuesday in an imaginative, creative and titillating big-top show that, ultimately, failed to deliver an emotional connection with the audience.
Spears, the 27-year-old tabloid sensation who dominates magazine coverage with her controversial and mundane exploits, revealed nothing about herself other than a fit, toned body and long, flowing blonde locks. It was as if we were at a zoo looking at someone beyond the moat, unable to share in the musical experience as we were kept at a distance.
The pop singer, who has now performed in front of large audiences for more than a decade, appeared to lip-synch every song, except for the slow ballad “Everytime.” During that song, in which she was perched on the crook handle of a giant umbrella suspended from the rafters, she illustrated her thin, breathy voice — and it was the best musical moment of the night, because for one small moment, she resembled a human being with human emotions, as opposed to a robot going through the exhausting paces.
With all that being said, the stage show was spellbinding, with Spears the ringmaster and the focus of attention despite what seemed to be hundreds of dancers, sideshow acts, clowns, trapeze artists and gyrating welders (don’t ask).
The concert was divided into four acts — Circus, House of Fun, Freakshow/Peepshow and Electro Circ, capped with an encore of “Womanizer” — and in each song, Spears wore a different costume and it was impossible to keep your eyes off of her, because you never knew what would happen next. In one of the more entertaining bits, she was sawed into threes and miraculously reappeared unharmed, and then performed a disappearing act in which she was invisibly transported from the center ring to another ring.
The set was a three-ring circus centered on the arena floor, and Spears did an admirable job of trying to
Burger with Relish blog entertain the near-sold-out crowd by projecting to the audience which surrounded her. A 360-degree video screen was displayed above the onstage action, and curtains, empty picture frames and cages were thoughtfully used to demonstrate how she both attracts and wants to repulse the voyeuristic eyes of the audience.
Music was a secondary afterthought. I believe I saw three musicians nestled in dark corners offstage, but I can’t be sure. The tinny sound was heavy on treble and low on bass, revealing the acoustic weaknesses of the arena. And while Spears’ mouth moved along to the recorded verses and choruses, it was hard to understand why someone like Ashlee Simpson can be vilified for lip-synching on a free episode on “Saturday Night Live” while Spears can charge $750 and be congratulated for doing the same thing.
It was almost as if Spears was embarrassed of her own music, as Marilyn Manson’s version of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” played during a video of an “Eyes Wide Shut” orgy. In the most egregious and inexplicable example, while Spears was offstage, 11 of her dancers were introduced to the crowd with each dancing to a different song not from Spears: Michael Jackson, Rihanna and Lil Wayne were all played. A montage of Spears’ songs not performed would have been nice, since everything else was recorded anyway.
It was a show of sound and fury, signifying nothing. And I ended up feeling cold, and not just because I had to take a cold shower afterwards.”
Source: sltrib.com
