Britney Spears wrapped up her mini-European promo tour ahead of the release of her new album Circus (due out in stores on Tuesday December 2) by performing on the UK competitive reality program X-Factor on live TV last night — giving the program it’s highest ratings ever, pulling in 12.8 million viewers! Even tho Britney turned in the same routine that she gave in Germany and in France, there were small amendments to the routine and more life in this latest performance (I thought) than the previous two performances. Here are a few pics of Britney (lookin’ smokin’, I might add) on the X-Factor stage last night:
Britney Spears sang her latest hit on the X Factor stage during her first UK television performance in over four years. The pop singer, who turns 27 on Tuesday, mimed her way through her latest single Womanizer after the five remaining finalists each covered a classic Britney track. Spears, who was dressed all in black, with hotpants, fishnet tights and knee-high boots, did not coach the show’s contestants, as previous guests have done. It has been reported Spears travelled with a 45-strong entourage of stylists and security. And reports claimed she is said to have banned contestants and judges from approaching her. But the judging panel gave her a standing ovation along with an excited crowd. On Monday, she releases her sixth studio album Circus, and has been on a whistle-stop tour of Europe to promote the record. Earlier, Alexandra Burke, who sang Toxic, said: “When I was nine, Britney brought out Baby One More Time, and I loved her. I’m very excited about meeting her. This is the Britney we all know and love. I hope I can do my Britney song justice, with my own twist.” Eoghan Quigg performed Sometimes, Ruth Lorenzo – who was later voted off the reality show – sang I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, Diana Vickers sang I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman and JLS took on Baby One More Time.
For me, the folks making such a big deal of Britney lip-syncing (“miming”) are missing the point — and none of this criticism is new. Even at the height of her fame, critics felt it necessary to try and demean her performances by making a point of the lip-syncing. She is a performer, not really a singer … she has always been this way. I, for one, do not mind it at all. I find when critics attack her for the lip-syncing it’s because they’ve run out of other things to complain about … it means that things have finally gotten back to normal ;) Regarding this performance, I felt that she offered the most vim and vigor of all the performances she put on this week. Even tho she wore the same outfit that she wore in Germany, I think she looked the best on X-Factor than on the other two shows. The rolling steel cage ball was taken out of the performance and made it feel more like a dance routine than a “spectacle” — I liked it. At the end, Britney got a standing ovation from the crowd and from the judges. The girl is not trying to reinvent the wheel … slowly and steadily, she is working towards getting back to her comfort zone. I think she is handling it all very well. After the jump, check out a backstage photo of Britney with the X-Factor judges, a few photos of Britney making her exit from the venue and video of her performance in full …
Here is a very cute group shot of Britney Spears with the X-Factor judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole (of Girls Aloud), Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue (my girl!):
Here are a few pics of a jubilant Britney waving to her admirers as she left the X-Factor studios last night:
And without further ado (for those of you who have yet to see it or just want to watch it again), here is Brit‘s X-Factor performance of Womanizer:
Again, I feel that this was her strongest performance yet … clearly she was more comfortable this time around. She looked great, haters be damned. I understand that Britney has already left the UK and has prolly already arrived here in NYC. We know, for sure, that she will be performing live on Good Morning America Tuesday morning and rumor has it she may appear at the Xmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center Wednesday night. I can’t wait :) So … thoughts?
[Photo credit: Splash News; Source, Source, Source]
i think that she’s not confident in her singing ability. she still looks nervous on stage although with this performance it looks like she’s getting her groove back. i’m sure people in her camp tell her to try and sing live but she refuses cause she’s too nervous or whatever. i still wish she would sing though.
womanizer is so altered with sound machines and stuff there’s no way she could sing live and it sound remotely similar. i liked the performance where she was in red the best. i think this last one she had sturdier shoes on so she could run around a bit easier…though im still under-impressed with the dance routine…with all those rehearsal pictures we saw, you’d think the routine would be a little more complex…and since she’s not singing she should do even more dancing!
She looks fabulous!
I dont think it matters if she lip synchs or not! I would rather hear the song as its suppose to sound rather than all breathless! The Jonas Brothers (who don’t even dance), sang burning up on the half time show during the Thanksgiving Day Cowboys game…obviously they weren’t lip synching but by the end of the performance they just sounded awful cuz you could hear how out of breath they all were!
What bothers me by all of this Trent is that you for one said, Britney is NOT a singer.
Okay, so if she is NOT a singer, then why does she put out an album if she can’t sing?
That makes as much sense as saying Helen Keller puts out a line of eyeglasses, yet she can’t see!
Natalie – I think what Trent means is that Britney is not a vocalist like Christina Aguilera; she is a singer but she is more of a performer/entertainer.
Let’s face it, Britney doesn’t have the strongest voice out there, but she’s amazing when she performs. I would rather have Britney lipsynch than sing live! OY!
I just think it’s interesting that no matter what anyone thinks about Britney, the thing is, they ARE thinking about her. All you people who think it’s too soon for her to come back or are mad that she doesn’t sing live? Then ignore. Don’t spend 20 minutes typing out the reasons you think she’s still mentally unstable or how mad you are that she was a guest on a singing competition and didn’t sing live. Just move on down the page, and ignore it. Because no matter what you say, Britney is here to stay. Love her or hate her, you’re still paying attention to everything she does.
I am really excited for this new stage in her life. I hope that she can balance all the renewed attention and work with her family. And I hope that she can regain her independence and be happy in her own life! I’m behind her all the way, and thank you, Trent, for keeping us updated on all the goodies. :)
It’s obvious she needs her work, in order for her life to stay focussed – it is not for us to say that’s wrong. Britney has been working (and earning) since she was a child. Rightly or wrongly that is how her life and personality has been shaped. She will never be left alone (even if she wanted to walk away from fame) … so Brit may as well take control of her fame through her work.
That is one nice bum!! XD
Team Britney!
I Honestly can’t believe all this negativity, i watched the performance, and then left cause i had to go out, and didn’t use the internet until now, and i thought, WOW all people are gonna be talking about how good she did, And i come here, and find people saying it was horrible, UGH it was amazing, i loved it, i was Crying of how good it was, i was like “OMG she’s BACK” and FYI she IS!!!!!!
Go Britters! She looked amazing, definitely getting more confident with each performance. Had tears in my eyes when she got the standing ovation and when there were glimpses of the old Britney. LOVE LOVE LOVE her.
She was amazing! So much better, way more into it and confident! Loves!
I totally agree that this was her best preformance out of the 3 shows in europe and that she is definitely getting her confidence back. She looks so bomb and her bod is definitely back! Sounds weird but Im so proud of her and so glad to have our Britney back! Of course we would have all liked to see more dancing but she still rocked it! Ya Britney! And to all you haters out there…well you can just suck it because you wouldnt last a day in her shoes!
Her appearing on that show is a total MOCKERY of it. Only one will win from that show. The others may fade into obscurity, and not get the record deal what they deserve. Flaunting that being a doormat trainwreck who is totally okay with not having custody of her kids, in front of those people, is disgusting. Britney can’t sing. They can. They don’t lip-sync. That is sure as hell not how we do it in the UK. The best female singers and bands here, can actually sing, and they sing live when they perform.
Typical Americans.
um…hate to say this but her perfomance really hasn’t gone down well over here and its not JUST because she lip-synced (although I think she’s the 1st one to do so on the X-factor) but also her comments – or lack of them – on the contestants performances. Honestly how much effort would it have taken for her to actually watch the show she was performing on.
I haven’t seen her other european performances but if this is her most energetic one than she really is in trouble.
It was really exciting to see Britney performing again, and it was a good performance. If i’m honest I was kinda disappointed she didn’t sing live, simply because that is what the show she was on was about. I know she wasn’t there for that but it’s not as if she isn’t capable of it. Miley Cyrus performed earlier on the first show and she sang live.
I don’t want to take anything away from Britney’s performance because performing is what she does best and it’s fantastic that she’s ‘back’ and doing what she loves…but it still would have been nice to hear her sing live.
She didn’t really respond properly to the questions she was asked after she performed either, it was almost as if she wasn’t listening/paying attention.
she probably just rushed in, did the performance and left. her schedule must be pretty hectic. which is probably why she didn’t have much to say about the contestants’ performance?
overall, i think she did well. :) the insults about the lip synching are so old, get over it already.
I don’t care whatever those haters say….
I agree with everyone that when you go to see a concert you expect to hear some singing. I guess I just don’t expect that from Britney. I’m not a huge fan or anything, but if I watch a performance by Britney at something like XFactor I mostly just expect to be entertained. So I guess it’s all about your personal expectations. Over the years I’ve come to expect lip-synching, so now I’m not disappointed.
I listed to BBC Radio One this morning, though, and there were some pretty harsh things said about the performance on the Chris Moyles show and the Sarah Cox show. Seems a lot of people over there were disappointed with the show. Too bad :(
The response over here in the uk has been terrible! everyone is slating her for miming so it wasnt really much of a success was it?