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Britney Spears at iTunes/Apple Festival


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Old 28-09-2016, 00:17
spaceygal
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Did anyone watch her, this evening? I was only able to watch part of it online because the live streaming I was watching on YT kept constantly buffering and sticking, but from what I could tell Britney just did her Piece Of Me Vegas show, is that correct? If so, that's a shame as you'd think she'd be doing some promotion for her Glory album, which has some pretty damn good songs on it. Some people say she can't do anything outside of her Vegas contract but I don't see why not? When I saw Mariah Carey in Cardiff earlier this year, on her Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour, this short tour was a completely different show to her Vegas residency show which she had been doing up until the month before the SSF tour and which she returned to in Vegas after the tour. Mariah seemed to be enjoying herself on the tour, probably because it made a change for her to be doing something different to the same old show she does in Vegas night after night. You'd think Britney would enjoy doing something a bit different too!

The itunes/Apple Fest was the chance for Britney to do something a little different, although I'm still a bit surprised that she did the festival at all because the Roundhouse is hardly the sort of venue for a big, flash, Vegas extravanza type show, is it? Being a smallish, more intimate venue with a smaller stage, It's usually for more stripped-back shows and (as far as I know) everyone who's ever performed at the iTunes festival over the years has always sung live, haven't they? So for Britney to predictably mime again (I take it it was 100% mimed, yes) at something like the itunes festival is a bit silly and embarrassing, isn't it? I don't think anyone would ever expect an MTV Unplugged type show from Britney (or something like Kylie's Anti-Tour shows where she just got up on stage and SANG - no pyrotechnics, no endless costume changes and no endless dance routines) but just occasionally it would be nice if Britney could just strip back the visuals and the dancing and just belt out a few songs live (even if it's just the ballads - to stand still and mime a ballad is cringeworthy!) and show people she can actually sing! She's never going to win any new fans being a "miming robot". Come on Britney, put a bit of effort in!

Oh and before the usual Britney stans say "she's always mimed, no one expects any different from her!" Yes, we DO expect something different - when she's performing at something like the itunes festival, where EVERYONE sings live! Why would she want to embarrass herself at something like that?! How does it help her reputation as an artist? It's not like an awards ceremony like the MTV Video awards or the Billboard Awards. You get a few people miming on tv shows like that - but at a live music festival? If you're a singer you SING! Even on TV, would Britney ever be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live and mime her performance? Has she ever mimed on that, I don't know? I know I've seen one very early performance of her on there when she did sing live (I think it was Everytime she sang). If she could sing live then why can't she now? I remember the Ashlee Simpson fuss that was made because she was reportedly lip-synching on SNL so there are times like that when lip-synching is very much a no-no. There are some things you just don't mime on/at and the iTunes festival is one of those times!

Anyway, I just think it's a shame there's no real promo for her album Glory, only for her Vegas show, which is surely well past it's sell by date now! Glory is a far better album that I expected it to be and with each listen has grown on me more and more. She needs to be on various shows singing songs from that album, not just prancing around on stage, miming to her 15 year old voice on Baby One More Time with her Vegas show!!
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Old 28-09-2016, 09:34
all_night
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I haven't seen it but just read the BBC News article on the show. It seems she does what a lot of fans want, artists to sing a lot of their old hits and that's what she did. She included two new tracks and that is sufficient.

Britney can sing, we know she can sing, so it would be nice if she did a couple of songs live. With the amount of dancing and moving around I can see why she doesn't, but if you strip back a few tracks and made it intimate she'd become amazing. It is a shame for many she is known as the girl who always mimes.
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Old 28-09-2016, 09:54
AdzPower
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From what I could tell she did a couple of tracks live, Work Bitch and Freakshow I think. But surprisingly the Vegas show worked well at the festival, it translated really nicely to a smaller venue and Britney seemed comfortable with it.
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Old 28-09-2016, 10:06
MysteriousOz
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I don't mind the fact she mimes or sings along to the backing track but her dancing and effort these days looks boring and tired, literally like she is going through the motions

She to me is now the definition of a popstar who needs a long, long break or retirement
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Old 28-09-2016, 12:56
Hollie_Louise
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The question is why you expect anything different from a person who has mimed since day one in 1999. If you expect Britney to sing live after all these years, you'll always be disappointed.
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Old 28-09-2016, 14:16
cnbcwatcher
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I haven't watched it yet but I read the BBC News article on it. She did most of the old favourites but she did two new songs as well so I guess that's not bad. Pity she just did a stripped down version of Vegas but oh well. I hope she goes on tour again at some point.
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Old 28-09-2016, 15:26
spaceygal
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The question is why you expect anything different from a person who has mimed since day one in 1999. If you expect Britney to sing live after all these years, you'll always be disappointed.
Yawn, not that old pony again! No, she hasn't always mimed. She used to sing ballads live, on TV shows. There's plenty of evidence of that on YouTube. Some fans come up with this same tired old line to excuse Britney's blatant laziness and lack of effort. People will always expect her to carry on miming on a lot of tv shows and at certain events, but NOT at a seriously respected musical festival where every other artist on the line-up is a credible singer who does what they're paid to do, SING! Britney's performance stuck out like a sore thumb in this respect. No one else on the Apple festival's bill would dare try and get away with miming their entire show, especially at a respectable music festival, except for Britney! You'd think at this point in her career she'd have a bit more self-respect and some self-regard for her own reputation as an artist? Who wants to be seen as a lip-synching mannequin for their entire career? I don't know how long she plans to stay in the music business for but, as she gets older and feels like she still wants to perform on stage but just cut back the amount of dancing she does - what's she going to do then? Sit on a stool and mime her way through a load of ballads?!

I went to see Britney live once, and I've watched other concerts of hers on DVD/TV and, whilst she always mimes the up-tempo and mid-tempo songs she at least sang her ballads live. She didn't always sound that amazing but the effort was appreciated. You can hear it from the huge response from the audience. She sang ballads live, definitely. I mean, she's standing still then, how could she not sing those songs live?! Except that now, in Vegas, she IS standing still and miming her BALLADS!!! That just makes her a joke, an object of ridicule for many people. It's a shame because Britney does have talent (and I've always liked most of her music) but it's like she WANTS people to think she's just a lyp-synching puppet who never even tries to prove otherwise. I have far more respect these days for her sister, Jamie Lynn, who just gets up on stage and sings her songs - live! She may not be the world's greatest country singer but she does pretty well, sometimes look a little nervous but gives it her best and the effort from her is appreciated.

Jamie Lynn is no Martina McBride but she's not afraid to sing live. I wonder, has Britney's voice become SO BAD in recent years that she's AFRAID to even sing ballads live, when she always used to, because she would sound so appalling?! Plus, to not even pre-record her 'live' vocals any more to give the 'appearance' that she is singing live, what is that?! Miming to her teenage voice on the original CD versions of songs? Come on Britney, give us all a shock, show us you CAN still sing!
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Old 28-09-2016, 15:49
Master Ozzy
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The question is why you expect anything different from a person who has mimed since day one in 1999. If you expect Britney to sing live after all these years, you'll always be disappointed.
She looks like an absolute ****, as does anyone who prances around the stage moving their lips to music with no sound coming out. I don't expect any different from her now, I just can't believe that she's still doing it after all these years and that people actually pay to go and see a mime artist. Why doesn't she just stop the miming and just dance to the music? She just looks like an idiot. She gets up on stage and she pretends to sing, she can't dance and she constantly looks like she's got no enthusiasm. I don't know why anyone would pay to go and see that?!
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Old 28-09-2016, 16:39
twells
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I haven't seen it but just read the BBC News article on the show. It seems she does what a lot of fans want, artists to sing a lot of their old hits and that's what she did. She included two new tracks and that is sufficient.

Britney can sing, we know she can sing, so it would be nice if she did a couple of songs live. With the amount of dancing and moving around I can see why she doesn't, but if you strip back a few tracks and made it intimate she'd become amazing. It is a shame for many she is known as the girl who always mimes.
Britney has significant emotional problems as everyone knows. Just be happy that she can still get out there and entertain her fans at all
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Old 28-09-2016, 17:35
rebellion
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I enjoyed it and she really seemed to also. The atmosphere seemed incredible, espiecially when the whole audience sang Madonnas part in MATM!
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Old 28-09-2016, 22:09
Hollie_Louise
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She looks like an absolute ****, as does anyone who prances around the stage moving their lips to music with no sound coming out. I don't expect any different from her now, I just can't believe that she's still doing it after all these years and that people actually pay to go and see a mime artist. Why doesn't she just stop the miming and just dance to the music? She just looks like an idiot. She gets up on stage and she pretends to sing, she can't dance and she constantly looks like she's got no enthusiasm. I don't know why anyone would pay to go and see that?!
I don't disagree with the point you're making at all, I just question why anybody expects anything different after she's performed the same since 1999 (albeit looking a lot better whilst dancing)
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Old 28-09-2016, 22:14
Hollie_Louise
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Yawn, not that old pony again! No, she hasn't always mimed. She used to sing ballads live, on TV shows. There's plenty of evidence of that on YouTube. Some fans come up with this same tired old line to excuse Britney's blatant laziness and lack of effort. People will always expect her to carry on miming on a lot of tv shows and at certain events, but NOT at a seriously respected musical festival where every other artist on the line-up is a credible singer who does what they're paid to do, SING! Britney's performance stuck out like a sore thumb in this respect. No one else on the Apple festival's bill would dare try and get away with miming their entire show, especially at a respectable music festival, except for Britney! You'd think at this point in her career she'd have a bit more self-respect and some self-regard for her own reputation as an artist? Who wants to be seen as a lip-synching mannequin for their entire career? I don't know how long she plans to stay in the music business for but, as she gets older and feels like she still wants to perform on stage but just cut back the amount of dancing she does - what's she going to do then? Sit on a stool and mime her way through a load of ballads?!

I went to see Britney live once, and I've watched other concerts of hers on DVD/TV and, whilst she always mimes the up-tempo and mid-tempo songs she at least sang her ballads live. She didn't always sound that amazing but the effort was appreciated. You can hear it from the huge response from the audience. She sang ballads live, definitely. I mean, she's standing still then, how could she not sing those songs live?! Except that now, in Vegas, she IS standing still and miming her BALLADS!!! That just makes her a joke, an object of ridicule for many people. It's a shame because Britney does have talent (and I've always liked most of her music) but it's like she WANTS people to think she's just a lyp-synching puppet who never even tries to prove otherwise. I have far more respect these days for her sister, Jamie Lynn, who just gets up on stage and sings her songs - live! She may not be the world's greatest country singer but she does pretty well, sometimes look a little nervous but gives it her best and the effort from her is appreciated.

Jamie Lynn is no Martina McBride but she's not afraid to sing live. I wonder, has Britney's voice become SO BAD in recent years that she's AFRAID to even sing ballads live, when she always used to, because she would sound so appalling?! Plus, to not even pre-record her 'live' vocals any more to give the 'appearance' that she is singing live, what is that?! Miming to her teenage voice on the original CD versions of songs? Come on Britney, give us all a shock, show us you CAN still sing!
I'm not saying she shouldn't sing live, I'm saying that for the vast majority of it she hasn't so why expect it now? I'm not some Britney superfan who sees nothing wrong with anything she does, I'm a realist who doesn't expect to see something from somebody that she hasn't done for almost 2 decades. If anybody is paying to watch Britney, they know she mimes and that's up to them. Would I do it personally? No. Do I think it's incredibly lazy? Yes Do I expect anything other than a mime show? Absolutely not.

If she'd sang most of her concerts and TV performances live since 1999, I would question why she doesn't do it now but she hasn't so I don't. I just don't pay a ridiculous amount of money to listen to a CD playing whilst she dances pretty badly.
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Old 29-09-2016, 13:15
cnbcwatcher
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Britney has significant emotional problems as everyone knows. Just be happy that she can still get out there and entertain her fans at all
That's the way I see it. Things could have easily gone the other way in 2007. we should just be grateful that she's alive and able to make music and watch her kids grow up. Now I'm off to listen to Glory for the 5064036520th time I just love that album and I'm in a Britney mood at the moment. Already listened to Gimme More, half of Make Me and a few random songs.
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Old 29-09-2016, 15:32
Tyyleer
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Britney's Vegas show is hands down the best show I've ever been to. The miming really doesn't bother me. The atmosphere, songs and just BRIT herself made it.
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Old 29-09-2016, 16:50
Rob1985
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Britney's Vegas show is hands down the best show I've ever been to. The miming really doesn't bother me. The atmosphere, songs and just BRIT herself made it.
Yesssssss!
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Old 29-09-2016, 16:51
Master Ozzy
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I don't disagree with the point you're making at all, I just question why anybody expects anything different after she's performed the same since 1999 (albeit looking a lot better whilst dancing)
I don't think it's that people expect her to sing live after all these years, I think it's that people are just shocked that people pay to go and see a mime artist who looks like a t*** prancing around the stage pretending to sing. Why not just dance to the songs instead of looking like an idiot moving her lips with no sound?!
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Old 29-09-2016, 20:08
John_Lochery
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I haven't watched it yet but I read the BBC News article on it. She did most of the old favourites but she did two new songs as well so I guess that's not bad. Pity she just did a stripped down version of Vegas but oh well. I hope she goes on tour again at some point.
So do I. I don't really care if she mimes, she always puts on a brilliant show. At the end of the day, if you're going to a Britney concert to hear massive live vocals, you must know by now that you're going to the wrong concert. Britney can sing but cant sing and dance at the same time and we all know that. But she does put on a show with massive productions which is what I wanna see

I do think she'll leave Vegas next year, take a year break then in 2018 do the whole 20th anniversary Greatest Hits thing and announce a world tour for end of 2018 / start of 2019
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Old 29-09-2016, 22:55
Makson
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I enjoyed it and she really seemed to also. The atmosphere seemed incredible, espiecially when the whole audience sang Madonnas part in MATM!
"Hey Britney, you say you wanna lose control? Come over 'ere I gots something to show ya"
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Old 30-09-2016, 11:23
cnbcwatcher
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"Hey Britney, you say you wanna lose control? Come over 'ere I gots something to show ya"
'Sexy lady, I'd rather see you bare you soul, if you think you're so hot better show me what you got'
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Old 30-09-2016, 15:40
ScottishWoody
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Anyone know where/if I can watch this without an Apple Music account?
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Old 30-09-2016, 15:59
little-monster
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Anyone know where/if I can watch this without an Apple Music account?
Check you tube
Most full live sets from any music festival always end up there
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Old 30-09-2016, 19:04
spaceygal
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I finally managed to watch the whole concert. It was very lively and entertaining and Britney certainly puts a lot more effort into her dancing than she has done over the past few years, which is good to see. It's just a shame she can't put more of an effort in vocals-wise. I'm not even talking about singing live, which is clearly hard to do when non-stop dancing. It's that her lip-synching seemed half hearted a lot of time, and the fact that she's miming to her old teenage voice, just to the CD versions of the songs, that's what sounds ridiculous! When I went to see her on her Femme Fatale tour of course she was miming at that (apart from one ballad) I expected her too, but she was miming to specially pre-recorded new vocals that weren't just the same as on her CD's. Even though we all knew she was miming it was interesting and good to hear DIFFERENT vocals to the same ones we've heard on the recordings all these years. That's what makes the show fresher, when the vocalisations are different, songs sung in a different way, etc. It's just a shame she couldn't have pre-recorded some new vocals to "mime" to for her Vegas show and at the Apple Fest. Hearing the same songs sang the same old way gets a bit boring after a while.

Other than that the Apple Tunes show wasn't quite the car crash I was expecting, that some people made it out to be! Apart from the failed back-flip and her getting fed up with her long hair extensions getting in the way at times and irritating her I didn't see anything go wrong with the concert and she and the crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves.
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Old 30-09-2016, 22:45
ScottishWoody
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Check you tube
Most full live sets from any music festival always end up there
Nah just clips on there.
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Old 01-10-2016, 11:06
Carly_Thompson
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I don't think anyone cares that it's obviously mimed because the fact is they're seeing a pop icon, which for better and worse is exactly what Britney is.

It does look awkward when she mimes over the track (she could do pre-recorded vocals and then "polish" them so they still feel a bit live), but like I say, she's a modern day pop icon so I'm sure the majority of people are just enjoying the fact they're seeing her.

Not to mention Britney's appeal has always been her catchy songs and electric performances (especially in her younger days). That's always been what people have gone to see Britney for. If she were a Whitney/Mariah type singer, people would expect live vocals. But in this case I'm sure everyone just wanted to bop to her hits and see her dance.
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Old 01-10-2016, 16:55
Thornfield
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Britney has significant emotional problems as everyone knows. Just be happy that she can still get out there and entertain her fans at all
Agree.

When she was going through her troubles I honestly thought she wouldn't survive it. That she's still here and performing in any way, shape or form and seems happy to do so is a huge thing to me. Considering what she went through and how you can see at times even now how her confidence is not what it was I do think people want too much from her.
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