Random Britney Spears Comments 
Monday, September 10th, 2007

We are guilty of succumbing to the lure of mass media at times, we admit it. Last night, when we tuned into the Video Music Awards, it was solely to see how Britney Spears performed in her much-hyped "comeback" performance. We actually thought we were doing a good thing in watching it - hey, the poor girl has been through so much, if ratings spike for this year's VMA's, maybe Britney will have a chance to reinvent herself, get her life back on track. The paparazzi and the media can be at leastpartly blamed for her downfall, she deserves another shot.

So we tune in. There she is, opening up the VMA's with her newly released song, "Gimme More." We cringed through the entire song.

It's not that she did so terribly. She just - failed to impress. It was ridiculously obvious that she was lip-synching, for one...she wasn't even trying to conceal that whatsoever. She was dressed in a midriff-baring outfit complete with the belly jewel, reminiscent of her earlier pop days when she had a sixpack and was writhing around with a python on stage...except this year, every move made her stomach jiggle. Well, okay, she's had two kids. But it left everyone wondering: what was she showing off? It was not her singing talent, as she was hardly mouthing the words to her own song. It wasn't her dancing skills, because she was going through the motions as if she were bored, putting no oomph into it. So we were left to look at her body, in the skintight getup...

Why did I think I was doing her a favor by contributing to the ratings, tuning into my T.V. at 9 p.m. sharp? I, like many people, have felt sorry for her. And I was silently cheering for her to make a great comeback. But after the performance, I realized that I too had gotten sucked in to the media blitz surrounding Britney. I read a comment from social activist/rapper Kanye West that got me thinking. "I can't believe she would perform," Kanye said. "She hasn't had a hit record in years."

Wait a minute! That's true! She hasn't had a hit record in years! In fact, all she's done is shave her head, make bad child-rearing decisions (think driving with a baby in her lap, carrying her kids around at all hours of the night), get into a heated custody battle, go to rehab, and submit papers to her own mother asking her to stay away from her kids. Oh, and the panty-less incident. And the fact that before the VMA's, she was out partying three nights in a row instead of rehearsing.

I think we've been duped. I think we are feeling sorry for her and giving her all of this attention, when in reality, we should be focused on completely different things. Like how Alicia Keys, who has real talent, gave an amazing - and live, not lip-synched - performance, which is what real music should be about. So why didn't someone like that open the VMA's?

If you missed the lackluster performance, we can't post it for you, sorry - Viacom has removed all YouTube videos on it due to copyright violations.