Warm Welcome for Britney in Brisbane

Anna Caldwell

November 22, 2009 09:30pm

THEY all knew the miming would be shameless. But with a hefty roar of welcome from Brisbane fans tonight, the message from almost 10,000 fans to starlet Britney Spears was clear - they didn't mind.

If the "leave Britney alone'' and "save Britney" T-shirts were any indication, the Spears army was poised to defend their lip-synching heroine on the back of successive bad reviews.

Lip-synching aside (which was never a surprise), Spears doesn't move as well as she used to.

If you remember the blonde teen who busted moves in Hit Me Baby One More Time, you would have been sorely disappointed by the woman who strutted more than anything else and was carried (literally, at times) by her breath-taking back up cast.

But the fact is this - as far as comebacks go, the Spears Circus is spectacular.

Far from the images of the popstar-turned-trainwreck that have been beamed around the world in recent years, tonight Spears appeared on stage as a glowing teen idol.

Hoisted high above the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in the arm of an umbrella, she was the ringmaster - it was hard to believe this was the same woman who has been the protagonist of countless scandals, ranging from head shaving to carrying her baby unrestrained on her lap in the car.

Her sculpted body carries off the skimpy costumes she flaunts, and her wide smile and bright blonde hair scream glossy pop star perfection.

There is no denying she has a set list that's defined teen pop over the past decade.

Brisbane fans have waited a long while for this three-ringed circus - she doesn't sing and she doesn't move like the best of them, but as far as her glitter-clad army was concerned, Britney was back.