Oops… Britney does it again: the pop star shows Hong Kong she’s still got moves
America’s pop princess graces Hong Kong’s shores for the first time with much anticipation in store. So did she live up to the hype?
Britney Spears did it again — a sold out show! For those who doubted if she could still bring down the house, doubt no further. Hong Kong was in a frenzy when she stepped onstage after precisely an hour’s wait. After all, this was the pop queen’s first foray outside the US in six years.
Spears’ debut in the late 90s with the hit song … Baby One More Time catapulted her to international stardom. The pop queen solidified her status throughout the years with numerous record-breaking album sales — 70 million albums sold in the US alone — and chart-topping hits, including Oops, I Did It Again, I’m a Slave 4 U, If You Seek Amy, Toxic, to name a few.
Chart toppers aside, Spears held residency in Las Vegas for the past four years with Britney: Pieces of Me, a show that she was expected to closely replicate for this leg of her world tour.
Her 2007 meltdown became as famous as her mammoth success, creating an inspirational journey for fans who witnessed her stellar rise from the ashes.
Concertgoers were mostly in the 20s and above range, many grew up with her as she went from pop princess to full-fledged pop queen. There was no shortage of schoolgirls outfits and snake-strung doppelgangers in the crowd paying homage to Spears’ early performances.
Performing live at AsiaWorld-Expo, an arena that can house 14,000 people, Spears kicked off the concert with Work Bitch clad in a smouldering green suit that showed off her ultra-fit silhouette.
Those who said she can’t move like she used to back in the day would be sorely disappointed, because the girl’s got moves, vigorous ones, too. Every swagger was in sync with her squadron of dancers — Spears has definitely come far since her early Las Vegas comeback days.
All the favourites were belted out with non-stop choreography, keeping the crowd sated until mid-show, when a Missy Elliott interlude left the crowd baffled. However baffling though, it still got the crowd going, as did a hologram of will.i.am during Scream and Shout.
Though Spears picked all her dance numbers for this show in Hong Kong, it was not without some moments of ennui.
I’m a slave 4 U was performed to a crowd standing in near-silence, as though they were entranced by the Fifty Shades-esque innuendos played out in the screen behind Spears’ dancing self. Or maybe it was just the sudden slowdown in tempo, who knows.
But that was just the beginning of the S&M theme. During Freak Show, she turned the heat up with leather and leash. Spears picked a lucky audience member and led him around on a dog leash, much to the chosen man’s delight.
After that, fans were treated to her lesser known tunes like Touch of My Hand and Breathe on Me - while these were rewarding for some hardcore fans, everybody else stood watching, rather subdued.
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She also sang her more recent release Slumber Party, which seemed to appeal to a newer generation of fans.
Throughout the show, Spears interacted with the audience in her signature Southern girly accent. She swiftly picked up again with hit song Toxic, gyrating in a Poison Ivy persona, clad in a scarlet sequin number, followed by a medley of Stronger and (You Drive Me) Crazy. The crowd went bonkers for this double entendre of 2000s hits.
An encore of Till the World Ends remixed with Work Bitch closed the show. Any fans from her 1990s halcyon days could not have left the arena happier and delighted with more than they expected.
