Britney Spears Circus Tour Review – Nassau Coliseum

This review feels almost like I wrote it, because it’s exactly what I think about when I muse about Britney’s shows. I have a friend or two that can’t wait to go, but I think I would just feel really stupid sitting in the audience and watching someone mime from the beginning of the show to the end. Is she embarrassed when she makes eye contact with the fans in the front row, do the musicians feel stupid, how do they do sound checks? Does anyone tell Britney that she should probably dance less and just sing? All of these questions pop into my mind. 

Here’s the most relevant part of the review, in my opinion:

Britney Spears must make other pop singers angry.

Beyonce, Pink, Justin … none of them would dare use pre-recorded vocals during their live shows, despite the complex choreography of their performances.

Madonna (um, hardly at all actually, I’ve been there) and Janet are guilty of using backing tracks to carry some of vocal weight, but certainly not all of it. Hell, even the Pussycat Dolls sing live.

But Britney? She is, and always has been, about blatant, unapologetic lip-synching. Case in point: at the New York stop of her anticipated comeback tour, Spears used her actual vocal chords only three times – twice to thank the crowd, and once to sing a ballad (though the vocals during that number were questionable, as well). Even the spoken bits in the show came from a DAT. Somewhere, Ashlee Simpson has a dartboard with Brit’s face square in the bull’s-eye.