They say attack is the best form of defence and so I should have expected the very personal attack from Britney’s tour promoter Paul Dainty in today’s Australian.
You see, I was the journalist who wrote on Friday night that fans were walking out of her concert.
``It’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard,’’ Paul Dainty told The Oz. ``I’m so angry. We can take heat if there’s something wrong and people can review shows badly - that’s something you have to live with - but to say people stormed out of the show was an absolute fabrication.’’
Well as Britney says Mr Dainty, “Love me, Hate me, Say what you want about me”…. Just don’t call me a liar.
I personally spoke with 25 people who left, some as early as the third song, and while I was speaking to disgruntled fans, more and more people walked past.
A security guard commented he had never seen so many people walk out – he was then chastised by his boss for daring to speak his mind.
A fabrication involves making things up. How then did I get the names and phone numbers of people walking out if they weren’t any? How too did Channels 7 and 9 so easily find people to interview who also had left early?
The claim is that the media are Britney-haters, well, I’m certainly not. “Stronger” was my ringtone for a while - drove my colleagues mad.
So I was just a tad excited heading to Perth’s Burswood Dome to see Britney in action.I thought the lip-synching wouldn’t matter, just seeing the pop princess in the flesh was enough. After all, it’s Britney. But in the end, it wasn’t enough. Not by a long way.
The staging was spectacular, the dancers and acrobats incredible but in the midst of it all, there Britney was, prancing and dancing awkwardly on the stage moving her lips with nothing coming out.
She looked horrifically out of place, like she’d rather be anywhere else but on stage in front of 17,000 fans. We were led to believe the lip-synching was necessary because her dancing was so good, so rigorous, she couldn’t possibly sing. But her moves were sloppy and stiff, as well as out of time.
I know there were plenty of people who had a fantastic time on Friday night. Britney can do no wrong in their eyes.
I’d suggest many of these fans were in the general admission area which surrounded the stage, because it was incredibly hard to see her without a giant screen. Well, there was a giant screen but it didn’t show any vision of Spears, just circus-related images.
It’s not a huge leap to suggest that this was done to disguise her lip-syncing.
By not using the screens to show her in action, when she faced the other side of the stadium, you had a great view of her back. Other criticisms were that she was not on stage for long enough – her costume changes took too long and were too often, leaving the audience to be entertained by acrobats, martial arts experts and dancers.
I can’t pass judgment on the parts of the concert I didn’t see, such as the one song she did sing live “Everytime” (I was outside interviewing people who’d seen quite enough). But websites have many posts from people who did not enjoy themselves.
Fans complained there was no interaction between songs, no attempt to inject some personality into the show. The only time she spoke was to say hello to “Australia” not even Perth - couldn’t she at least have personalised that?
She then said we had a beautiful country, well, how the heck would know that from her hotel room?
Britney’s management put out a tweet asking fans whether they enjoyed themselves on Friday night. Not surprisingly, they were inundated with positive responses. Although we do know several people who wrote something negative and their posts mysteriously did not make it onto the website.
``Britney is aware of all this and she’s extremely upset by it,’’ Dainty said. ``She’s a human being. I’m embarrassed, with such a big international entourage here with Britney, to be part of the Australian media when I see that kind of totally inaccurate reporting.’‘
What about her fans who she claims to care so much about? Does she care that they’ve left upset?
To suggest we need to tread carefully in case we send Brits into a breakdown is ridiculous. If she is not up to the task mentally or physically, then she should not be doing it. People pay good money, in fact people pay exorbitant money to see her perform.
The majority of the people who left were in the $200 seats – some had also paid the $20 pre-sale fee. Who in these tough times has $200 to throw away? Particularly with Christmas around the corner and interest rates on the way back up again.
She is paid to be a performer, she has the obligation to give people a good show. If she cannot, she should not be touring.
To me, the most telling was 22-year-old Amanda Hawlett, who spent half her weekly barmaid’s wage to buy a $200 ticket.
Concerts are a huge treat for people and they have the right to expect a certain level of entertainment.
Following Pink and Beyonce who have wowed Aussies fans this year was always a big ask, but when you don’t even sing your songs, you’re not even in the same league as these mighty divas.
Like so many of the Britney fans I spoke to, I feel incredibly let down. And this time, try as I might, I just can’t defend her like I have so many other times.
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