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May 2, 2007 - Britney Spears gives a brief concert |
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SAN DIEGO, CA -- Britney Spears strutted her way
back to center stage with a short, sexy set at the
House of Blues believed to be her first public
concert appearance in nearly three years.
The erstwhile pop star, more recently derided as a
pop tart for her highly public forays into midnight
carousing, appeared to be back in top form. |
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The 25-year-old mother of two went onstage late
Tuesday wearing nothing more than knee-high go-go
boots with a short white skirt and a sparkly pink
bra top that showed off her belly button ring — and
no evidence of the weight gain that landed her on
celebrity tabloid covers last year. A long brown wig
completed the outfit, covering the head she shaved
in February. |
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She launched a short set with her classic "Baby One More
Time," using a cafe chair as a burlesque prop while she
pranced around the small club stage backed up by four
dancers.
"She's so good!" yelled San Diego hairstylist Ally Murray,
29, as Spears showed off her aerobic choreography.
Spears sped through the songs — all standards from her
earlier albums — wrapping up after less than 15 minutes. She
gave a shy goodbye before an old Madonna song came on over
the sound system. "Thanks everyone for coming," she told the
packed club.
The comeback didn't hit a high note for everyone, some of
whom paid upward of $125 a ticket.
"It looked like she lip-synched her way through the whole
thing," said a disappointed Morgan Segall, 20, who flew in
from San Francisco for the night.
The performance, under heavy club security, was shrouded in
mystery. The club marquee advertised a show by "The M&Ms,"
and it wasn't until an hour after the doors opened that a
disc jockey mentioned Spears' name, prompting shrieks from
girls jammed in front of the stage.
Rumors of a Spears show had spread on the Internet and via
local radio stations late last week, prompting a run on
tickets by die-hard fans.
Spears' last concert tour ended in summer 2004. Earlier this
year, she told fans she hoped for career comeback.
"I look forward to coming back this year bigger and better
than ever," Spears wrote on her Web site in January, also
noting she'd "been far from perfect."
"Whatever, we love her," said Raul Flores, 22, who waved a
foam placard of his favorite pop star at the club exit.
"She's amazing."
In March, Spears completed a stint at a luxury Malibu
rehabilitation treatment facility after a series of run-ins
with the paparazzi that included a stop at a San Fernando
Valley hair salon, where she was caught on video shearing
her own locks. Other photographs splashed across the
Internet appeared to reveal Spears went out partying wearing
nothing underneath her short skirts.
She was seen going out with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan
after filing for divorce from aspiring rapper Kevin
Federline last November, just two months after giving birth
to their second child, Jayden James. The pair also have an
older son, Sean Preston, now 20 months.
The two reached a divorce settlement in March.
At one point in the show, Spears and her posse played at
taunting a male dancer who, dressed in a natty gray suit,
looked vaguely like Federline.
"The M&Ms" had two other concerts scheduled at House of
Blues venues in Southern California — one in Anaheim on
Wednesday and the other Thursday in West Hollywood —
according to the club's Web site. |
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