Britney Spears Proves She Still Has It At the Honda Center

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Britney Spears Proves She Still Has It At the Honda Center

Written by Brittany Woolsey

Saturday, 25 June 2011 18:35

Sex was the craze on Friday night as pop princess Britney Spears and hip hop sensation Nicki Minaj took over the Honda Center.

As Minaj approached the stage, she seemed to be a poor man’s Lady Gaga. Dressed in a black jumpsuit with silver spikes and a blonde wig, the rapper was not up to par to who she appeared to be imitating. Unlike Gaga’s bizarre and stellar performances, Minaj fell flat, seemingly unprepared and unoriginal throughout the night.

Most of the time, Minaj poorly lip-synchched or danced to someone else’s pop hit, such as Young Money’s “Bedrock,” Sean Paul’s “Like Glue” and songs by Enya. When Minaj did perform her own songs ― usually filled with samples from other pop hits, such as The Buggle’s “Video Killed the Radio Star” ― she was difficult to understand. However, as a rapper, Minaj does possess some talent by spitting rhymes quickly; it’s just a shame that her lyrics are hard to comprehend.

During the length of her set, Minaj acted as an alien or robot-like creature that was determined to defeat Nemesis. (One could point out the similarity to this and Gaga’s “Born This Way” music video.) Although this storyline was somewhat amusing, Minaj continued her unoriginality as Nemesis revealed himself to be Jigsaw from the “Saw” movie series.

However, the crowd still seemed to enjoy her, despite her unoriginality and seeming lack of effort.

A countdown appeared on the screen as fans adorned in Britney Spears shirts and costumes awaited her arrival. When the pop star appeared, the crowd roared as she performed “Hold It Against Me.”

Throughout the night, Spears proved that despite previous backlashes, she’s still extremely talented and more sexual than ever. Grasping her womanhood, Spears appeared to be the ultimate dominatrix, controlling her dancers and the audience with her every move.

Spears played with the idea of bondage throughout the set as she appeared behind bars during “Three,” seduced by scantily clad policemen and gave a fan named Steve a lap dance and striptease during “Lace and Leather.” Spears also performed provocative lyrics such as, “You can be my fuck tonight” in “How I Roll” and her Rihanna remix duet, “S&M.”

The set was also filled with Cirque du Soleil-like stunts. During “Piece of Me,” Spears soared in the air on a white platform. Dancers climbed ladders and performed break dance moves, such as headstands, during “He About to Lose Me.” However, the true spectacle was during the ballad “Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know” as Spears ascended in the air with a male dancer ― attached to her escalated platform ― performing aerial silk rope trapeze acts beneath her.

Spears also took her audience on a journey around the world. She visited time periods, such as the Roaring ’20s, with dancers dressed in colorful zoot suits in “If U Seek Amy.” Spears also showed an Egyptian theme in “Gimme More,” complete with a giant bird boat and pyro, including on-stage fireworks. “Boys” traveled the crowd to a jungle-like atmosphere, with a flute-playing and exotic-looking dancer, and “Toxic” exhibited a Japanese theme with samurai dancers and Spears in a kimono.

As well, Spears provided excellent visual effects and props. She straddled a giant white and gold guitar during “Burning Up.” A red convertible also transported Spears and her dancers to the front of the stage during “How I Roll.” Throughout her set, a radio announcer appeared on screen, chronicling Spears’ history and suggested that she was the ultimate answer to pop; she had the looks and the sound.

Despite her massive amount of fame and success, Spears proved that she was still the same humble Louisiana girl as she continually interacted with her audience and brought fans on stage to dance with her during “I Wanna Go.”

Spears ended her set with “Til the World Ends,” which features Minaj, who was only shown pre-recorded on screen and not on the actual stage. When the song ended, confetti sprinkled into the audience to celebrate. And the celebration was justified. Spears is back, obviously talented, and like her dominatrix-esque performance suggested, she is on top and in control.