by Jessica Warzeniak
Ladies, and gentlemen, children of all ages, prepare to be amazed. The circus is in town! The Britney Spears Circus Tour performed live at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, May 2nd to a packed house. And oh, what a circus it was!
The night started promptly at 8:00 pm with a 40-minute performance by the Pussycat Dolls. Singing crowd favorites, “Stickwitchu,” “Don’t Cha,” “Buttons,” “When I Grow Up,” and their version of the “Slumdog Millionaire” song “Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny),” the Dolls were all dressed up in belly-baring silver sparkly outfits. These women are amazing. Not only are they beautiful, but they are talented dancers and singers. Nicole Scherzinger, the lead Pussycat, belted out song after song with perfect harmonies from the other Dolls, all while moving and shaking… in heels!
Then the real circus began – literally. Big Apple Circus performers entertained the crowd while we waited for Britney’s, sure-to-be, dramatic entrance. In a video, celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hitlon, dressed as “Her Majesty,” introduced Britney as she descended from the ceiling in a not-so-traditional ringleader outfit.
Britney began the show, with her hit single “Circus” where she sang the never-truer lyrics, “All eyes on me in the center of the ring, just like a circus.” Looking better than ever, Britney danced and sang the night away with songs mostly from last year’s album “Circus” and 2007’s “Blackout.” She drove the crowd crazy with recent hits “Womanizer” and “If U Seek Amy” and a remix of an old favorite, “Baby One More Time.” After a slow and wistful “Everything,” which she performed perched on a giant umbrella hanging from the ceiling, she stopped to kiss her two children waiting at the edge of the stage.
The audience left feeling well entertained. Even during Britney’s 12 costume changes, her troupe of dancers and acrobats, as well as, some videos, played on a screen surrounding the center stage, and visual effect held our attention.
Britney also performed on Sunday. The show was rescheduled from March 26th due to “the grand size of the show’s production” – an understatement of the most elaborate stage, 360 degrees of surprises including trap doors, elevating center stage, and props come from rigging in the ceiling – I’ve ever seen.
Britney is a real hero to me and my friends