For ages has there been a war between the Britney fans and the Britney lovers but for some strange reason, not a single review has been written on the singer herself. So today, when I saw that there were
no reviews on this product, I thought, Why not? I didn’t know much about Britney before - just that she was some singer, so I’ve done a lot of research, credit given to the websites which have Britney biographies. And feel free to bash me or praise me in the comments section!
This review is not too much about the movie personality Britney Spears, more about her music career (As her movie career never really took off).
The (Normal) Birth of an Icon
There was nothing quite amazing about Britney’s birth. She might have brought a lot of joy when she was born on 2nd December, 1981 in Kentwood, but remained out of the spotlight for quite a large part of her life. Basically, she was probably just another normal girl. But she had a flaming aspiration to change all that. At the age of eight, she went to the auditions of the Mickey Mouse Club TV show, but was turned down due to her age, which automatically seemed to signal out ’inexperienced’. Nevertheless, she was noticed by a producer, who introduced her to an agent. Britney began to spend her summers at the Professional Performing Arts School Center to hone her skills.
Baby One More Time
Her time spent learning acting skills paid off, little by little. Britney starred in quite a few productions as a little child star, but never got really noticed. At the age of 11, she decided to audition again for the Mickey Mouse Club, and was selected. At the age of 13, she left the show. Auditioning for rock bands in New York, she wasn’t selected. But she was noticed by Jeff Fenster. The record label Jive took care of everything else. They even hired Max Martin to create Baby One More Time and its album.
Britney’s years of effort finally paid off. Her image of the young, cute blonde teenager struck a chord in people’s hearts, and her singles climbed up the charts like TRPs of certain TV shows... The fact that her videos were just as cute, bubbly and sweet might have paid off. Personally, I never thought they were all that great - too many pillow fights, sparkling white smiles and freaky dances were all a bit weird for me. But I just wished that she would take that piece of gum out of her mouth while she was doing an interview, it was creepy!
Oops! I Did It Again...
The public was never satisfied with Britney. They wanted more, more, more. So Britney released her album when the time was ripe, her fans were just teeming with anticipation and yet they hadn’t gotten bored of waiting. You can’t blame Britney, I suppose. There must have been many people involved in the decision. Britney’s fan clubs grew, her popularity increased, press conferences happened, and again Britney was in the public limelight. The main reasons for this were simply the classy promoting, Britney’s face - which had begun to seem like a brand - and of course, the songs. They had the same innocence as Britney’s debut album, yet more sophisticated to accommodate her fans’ preferences as they, too, aged with her.
Britney, Britney, Britney
Britney’s third album, named after herself, showed her as a rapping drug junkie - at least, that’s what she looks like on the cover. After carefully putting on her earlier albums’ music and then the Slave 4 U, I could conclude that I hated both, but if I have to relate it in depth of moods, and tastes, and beats, then I’ll safely say that the fresh spark, the zeal which was in the earlier albums was missing in the rock beats, remixed voice and computer-enhanced music effects of her third album. Nevertheless, Britney was still as popular as ever, though Christina Aguilera, sometimes known as her rival, or maybe friend (somewhat of a friendship-hatred relationship, I’ve heard from a certain person, who doesn’t want me to mention her name here) was putting up a good fight.
Britney began singing for the soundtracks of movies, such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch. But then Britney decided to star in a film, Crossroads, which was to become her downfall - in Hollywood, at least. Crossroads didn’t bomb at the box office; it didn’t even manage to fizz or create a spark. Even the loyal Britney fans who went to the movie for Britney and the song/s that she had sung for the soundtrack, were disappointed. Except for the ones who were really expecting a mindless piece of fluff with lots of smooching. Because that’s what they got.
In The Zone... Of Wailing Cats
Last year, Britney released her album, In the Zone. In it, Britney tried to convey that she had shed the Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman tag. She had now become a full-fledged rocker. Have you seen the Toxic video? If you haven’t here’s a summary; bats flapping around a computer-generated odd-looking aeroplane, Britney with various hairstyles and boyfriends, bikers, men wearing masks and the one who becomes the victim of her poison, plus the annoying beat and the word Toxic repeated every 0.000431 seconds!
I might have listened to other songs, but I can’t remember them. But I remember Britney dancing in what looked like a pyjama party held in a nightclub, and crashing a car into a swimming pool, etc. etc. Her voice sounded like that friendly neighbourhood cat that loves to wail at the dead of midnight when you’re too sleepy to focus on where you’re aiming your weapons. (I make myself crack up! Too bad nobody else cracks up!) One of my friends had this hilarious rendition of Britney’s voice that had everyone in splits.
Britney is really a product of her label; she changes her image every year to go with the preferences of the public, changes her sound, her looks, her attitude, her personality - everything!
Britney’s private life has never been hidden from the media. Delve into any tabloid, and you’ll see Britney’s affairs with Justin Timberlake (whom she had known since the Mickey Mouse Club), some random guy (can’t remember the name - I’m not all that keen on reading the gossip pages!) whom she got married to, and her now-husband Kevin Something-or-the-other. If you want to know more about her private life, just search Juicy Gossip about Britney Spears in Google, because I’m not too comfortable discussing other people’s business.
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