- Pussycat Dolls On Joining Britney Spears' 'Amazing' Circus Opening for Britney Spears on her Circus tour would be a daunting task for anyone. But for the Pussycat Dolls, performing each night on Brit's massive in-the-round stage presents one rather unique challenge:
"You always wanna stay connected to the audience. That's why we're here, for the fans. So it's hard, because when you're on one side, your butt cheeks are facing everyone else. And when you go to another part of the circle, then your back is against someone else," PCD's Nicole Scherzinger laughed. "So you constantly wanna keep it moving and be able to spread the love everywhere, even though your backside is to some of the people."
And that's tougher than you would imagine. Still, the Dolls pulled it off on the opening night of Britney's Circus tour, managing to spread the love everywhere while still showing off the goods. That is pretty amazing, considering that less than 24 hours prior they were wrapping up the first leg of their own Doll Domination Tour half a world away.
"We just came back from Serbia," Scherzinger sighed. "We finished our leg of our tour — which is completely the opposite of this — and just landed last night. So we're still working ... just working everything out. It's pretty unbelievable."
"I used to dance for the Miami Heat, and we had to perform in big arenas, so I've done stuff like this before," Doll Jessica Sutta added. "But the first day is so ... it's so dizzying. The key is, you just have to find the focusing point — so you don't throw up."
And let the record state that no one in PCD threw up on opening night, which automatically qualifies it as a smashing success. And it'll only get better from here, as the Dolls say they're going to work their new version of "Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny)" — the Oscar-winning tune from "Slumdog Millionaire" — into upcoming stops on Britney's tour. So fans heading out to dates might wanna get there a little earlier — the Dolls are far from just your average opening act.
"This whole show is amazing ... it's a perfect match, really," Doll Ashley Roberts said. "Britney Spears is truly a Pussycat Doll, and she's an icon and she's someone I have watched and always looked up to, as a triple-threat entertainer. So it's a perfect match — PCD and Britney Spears, in the circus."
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1606419/20090305/the_pussycat_dolls.jhtml
Labels: britney spears, news
- Britney Spears Performs First Comeback Concert For Circus Tour Britney Spears has made her fans happy with her comeback concert in New Orleans, Louisiana on Tuesday night, March 3, 2009 for her Circus Tour. Britney bean the show at New Orleans Arena by coming down from the ceiling on a circular trapeze, singing “Circus.” Later, she straddled a stripper pole for “Radar” and did “Gimme More” with dancing ninjas. In “Me Against the Music,” which was her collaboration with Madonna, she used a Bollywood routine.
This was Britney’s first arena concert since 2004. The Circus tour will cover 40 dates, ending in London on June 14, 2009.
Good for Britney - it looks like she’s doing well.
Labels: britney spears, news
- Kohl's takes risk with Britney Spears as Candie's sponsor
Kohl's has joined the Britney Spears circus.
Yes, that's a risk, given that Spears hasn't exactly been a stable personality in recent years. But some marketing experts say it might be worth it.
"I think since she's got a very hot album, as long as that stays nice and solid, it probably will work for Kohl's," said Jan Owens, associate professor of marketing at Carthage College in Kenosha.
Spears' comeback moved forward this week with the kickoff of her "Circus" tour in New Orleans and her first clothing sponsorship: for Candie's, a line of clothes carried exclusively by Menomonee Falls-based Kohl's Department Stores.
It's been a rough few years since Spears' last tour, in 2004. In that time, she's been married and divorced and had two children. For a time, she was on TV and in tabloids almost daily, with reports of drug abuse, a custody battle, pantyless partying and rehab. A California court appointed her father, Jamie Spears, to oversee her affairs indefinitely.
Yet over the past year, Spears' life and career have rebounded. Her "Circus" CD, released in December, has already sold more than 1.3 million copies, and she's had two hits off the CD, the No. 1 "Womanizer" and the top-five "Circus."
Spears' return has been carefully orchestrated, beginning with well-received appearances on the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" last year to her comeback appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards last fall following her disastrous performance on the awards show in
2007. She has given few interviews, and those that have been granted have been heavily managed.
"Britney is an international celebrity and pop culture icon who embodies the spirit of the Candie's brand," said Vicki Shamion, Kohl's vice president of public relations. "Also, she is in a healthy, exciting environment right now where she excels. Regarding her past, we respect her right to privacy, and her personal life does not reflect the views of Kohl's."
Past Candie's girls have included celebrities Fergie, Hayden Panettiere, Hilary Duff and Jenny McCarthy. The short-term endorsement agreements are negotiated with Iconix Brand Group Inc., which owns the Candie's brand.
Candie's strategy has been to line up the hottest celebrity of the year as an endorser, said Laura Ries, an Atlanta marketing consultant and author. Spears is a bigger celebrity than any of her Candie's predecessors, but Ries sees a few problems with the choice.
"Candie's is a brand, like Pepsi, where you find that the target isn't the same as the market," Ries said. "The target is 18, but the market is much broader than that."
The Candie's brand appeals to girls younger than 18, a time when parents are still involved. "And parents are pretty turned off by the whole Britney Spears thing," Ries said.
James Pokrywczynski, associate professor of advertising and public relations at Marquette University, has mixed feelings about the Spears endorsement.
"There's the obvious risk of being associated with a controversial person like Britney," Pokrywczynski said. But the flip side is that Spears has a rebel image that young people like.
Kohl's is seen as a little more mellow in terms of its product offering than teen specialty stores such as Abercrombie, Pokrywczynski said. So the Spears alliance probably has some benefit to Kohl's, if the store wants to position itself as more edgy.
"A lot of celebrities have missteps," Pokrywczynski said. "But the ones who save themselves are the ones who straightened themselves out."
The 27-year-old pop superstar's "Circus" tour kicked off Tuesday in her home state of Louisiana at the New Orleans Arena. There, a nearly sold-out crowd cheered on their idol as she gyrated and slithered across the stage while singing some of her biggest hits, from the recent "Womanizer" to her first hit, "Baby One More Time."
The "Circus" tour, which takes Spears to 27 cities in the United States before heading to Europe in June, is the pop star's biggest opportunity to connect with her still formidable fan base.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.twincities.com/ci_11843094
Labels: britney spears, news
