Britney Spears' whole "princess of pop" fame

It was all smoke and mirrors. She was an average looking pimply faced teen. She had a good voice when she was younger but she lost it.

THOUGHTS?? THOUGHTS??

I haven't slept since the 1990s thinking of nothing else!

Thankfully my crystal methamphetamine addiction has kept me sane.

Britney has always been adorable. But damn, she has no voice, and yet she sold millions.

She was the last big star, maybe even the last real star, give it up.

Brit was pretty, had a hot body and was blonde. Everything she needed to be a big star except talent.

She actually was brunette with pimples. She bleached her hair, got better makeup and new boobs.

I really stopped listening to "Pop" music around the BS and N'Synch invasion.

Felt???!

R4 is hilarious.

[quote] She had a good voice when she was younger

No she didn’t.

It was the whole look how amazing that innocent virgin can dance!

Was this great dancing?

Michael Jackson dubbed himself the "King of Pop" and ever since the music industry tried to push out stars that could fall within that line of honorifics. It doesn't work and the concept is outdated nowadays. You can't just pay the press to dub a manufactured pop star as "king", "queen", "prince" or "princess" of anything and expect it to stick. Plus Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and Madonna had musical merit and their impact was huge and far-reaching. Britney was just a dancer who had good producers and modern technology to fix her vocal limits. She was trained from an early age and a complete studio creation. She wasn't a natural talent in the sense of being a prodigy like Michael Jackson, Elvis or Whitney Houston was. And she wasn't business savvy, creative, cutting edge or visually interesting like Madonna or Janet were. She has been overshadowed by Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Shakira, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande who all retained pop culture relevance longer than her and can still get hits. Britney is only "Princess of Pop" because the press dubbed her that in her prime but sales wise she has been overtaken by pop artists that debuted after her.

I have never been much of a Mariah fan but she is bigger than Britney ever was

Hilarious R12. She was only ever a barely competent dancer, and (while it was always present to a degree) at some point, she REALLY started to lean into the flailing arms/tit/ass/pussy shake, as a substitute for choreography.

So excusing the horrid or lipsynched live vocals by defending her supposed energy and prowess as a dancer is invalid, and completely ridiculous. She doesn't deliver either, and never really has.

Oh, and she has no general talent as an "entertainer", either...which is usually the next place defenders go, after being cut down from the previous argument.

That's because Mariah actually has talent, R14. Mariah was shaped and guided by the industry, not completely manufactured, like Britney was.

And while I'm no defender of Britney as any kind of talent, I don't completely dislike eveything she's ever done. Mariah of course, will always come first for me, at least up to and including "The Emancipation Of Mimi".

My ultimate though, is and always will be...Cher (who has been known to lipsynch in her latest shows...but the bitch IS going to be 75 in three days...and is still a better entertainer than Britney).

Cher could never really sing either, she just kind of spoke the lyrics out, always in the same tone. But she was an entertainer par excellence with great stage presence. She needs to stop now before she breaks a hip.

Yes, it was very manufactured, but it worked.

That video at r15 sounds like singing to myself as I sort through drawers, etc.

Her mind seems to have stayed at 16, the videos of her twirling around in 90's style dresses are starting to look like Baby Jane.

She’s over and forgotten by everyone under 100. Move on.

Britney's "Princess of Pop" label was put upon by the press. It was part of Jive's heavy marketing and promo. She was extremely overexposed in the late 90s and early 2000s and her whole image was basically created in a studio. Britney, Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez and Christina Aguilera were all kids who performed in pageants and competed on Star Search. They got scouted to join the early '90s version of The Mickey Mouse Club where they received further training to become top-notch performers. Jive Records scouted Britney, JC and JT to join pop groups that were managed by Lou Perlman. JC and JT were put into NSYNC which was quickly assembled to capitalize on the surprise success of Backstreet Boys. Britney was originally to be put into a girl group called Innosense but Jive decided to push Britney as a solo act. They saw an opportunity with her. She filled the void for a young sexy female pop star. Madonna and Janet were already starting to get too old. Whitney had her drug issues and Mariah wasn't a dancer. Also there was the success of Brandy and Monica as well as pop groups like TLC and Spice Girls who had a color-coded, cutesy, wholesome but sexually independent girl power shtick that appealed to kids and adults alike. Britney basically was an amalgamation of Janet, Madonna, Spice Girls, Aaliyah, Mya and TLC with the sound of Backstreet Boys and NSYNC (courtesy of Max Martin) in the package of a blonde white Southern girl-next-door. She was heavily manufactured and lacking in any musical talent. Timberlake also dubbed "Prince of Pop" is completely undeserving of that title as well because he hasn't really sold that much and while he has some musical talent, he has not changed anything on the music landscape. He got that title solely because he sang MJ reject songs produced by Pharrell and Timbaland and dated Britney who had the undeserving "Princess of Pop" label.

That said, Britney seems to be a very nice girl but not very educated and was taken advantage by virtually everyone in her life. I feel for her and hope she finds peace and happiness. I just don't think she will have a musical legacy like Mariah, Whitney, Madonna, Lady Gaga or Beyoncé will have (all these ladies could sing or write music). She's purely an image and celebrity icon of the early 2000s.

Empty headed white trash who would be working as a nail technician, waitress, or hairdresser if her eyes were any further apart.

Britney Spears flies in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with her sixth chart-topping album, "Femme Fatale," selling 276,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The feat ties her for the third-most No. 1s among women with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. Only Barbra Streisand (nine No. 1s) and Madonna (seven) have earned more No. 1s.

Spears has hit the top with six out of her seven studio albums, only missing with 2007's "Blackout," which debuted and peaked at No. 2 (290,000).

Celine was the queen of Vegas, but Britney's residency made it a respectable option for other artists. People like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Usher, Bruno Mars, etc. would not have considered it were it not for Britney's successful show from 2013-2017.

That's insulting to Tiffany and Debbie, OP. Tiffany (especially) and Debbie could sing better than Britney. Debbie could could write songs and music and play some instruments.

Her teeny bopper phase of the late 90s and early 2000s bright her massive fame and popularity, but the music wasn't all that memorable or of substance, apart from a few iconic songs. I think a lot of her popularity came from the welcome shift in popular music away from the tired doldrums of alternative/grunge music that dominated the 90s, as seen with the Spice Girls and the brief splash they also made. Beyond the early 2000s, Britney's music and image didn't really evolve, as seen in the past with artists like Madonna, who managed to push the boundaries of image and sound and forge long-term success. Britney has been around for over 20 years, but in the grand scheme of things I would say she is only B or C list, and has never really captured the "legend" status of some of those pop divas who preceded her like Mariah, Madonna, Whitney, etc.

Britney was definitely A list material in her heyday.

Going forward, I have know idea what's going to happen with her. Hope everything works out for her career wise and health etc.

She’s awkward. Can’t act. Not that bright.

She always looked like she should be folding sweaters in the mall instead of onstage.

Spears was the result of a bunch of execs in a boardroom saying: “Let’s create a new Debbie Gibson, only sluttier and see if it becomes a hit.”

Rihanna is many ways was a replacement for Britney. Ironic since it seemed she was meant to be a clone of Beyoncé/Ciara but Rihanna opted for a more dance-pop sound with Caribbean influences rather than the straight R&B and pop-soul of them. Many of Britney's songs went to Rihanna. Plus, Rihanna got a huge media push and was overexposed in the late 2000s. She got into many controversies like getting hit by Chris Brown (whose media push is also analogous to Timberlake's until Bieber took his spot) and her many Twitter feuds with Ciara. Rihanna may have been influenced by Blackout by Britney. But Britney or her team took influence from Rihanna for Femme Fatale and after. I feel Rihanna is far more involved in her music and took control early on. Rihanna was smart to get involved in fashion and makeup and did it before she aged out of the pop star window.

Who?

r34 you aren't kidding, my 15 year old niece didn't know who Britney is and she is plugged into the latest pop culture.

She's just a vegetable now, that's all that matters.

Britney is like a female version of the male singer character Tony in Valley of the Dolls: an arrested development case and mental defect.

r37 I said that on the Beyonce thread but I agree it goes for Brit too

Her fans keep living in denial and paint her as a victim of the big bad music industry with the claim her talent was wasted. Yes, she was a naive kid when she started but she never fought to have her music completely under her control. There's no evidence that she could have released any groundbreaking work on her. She was comfortable being a fun dancing pop star with manufactured hits. There was no one forcing her to continue singing in her baby doll voice and nobody forced her to continue lip-syncing (poorly at that). I would love to see Britney try to do something different and preferably with a deeper singing voice. But I really doubt she has any musical talent or creativity in her body to pull it off especially in her current mental state.

This was the closest we got.

R39, I'm blown away by all her fans who watch that documentary and believe the media convinced us all that she was dumb. UH, she was NEVER smart, ever! These Britney fans are ridiculous

I never understood how she lasted as long as she did. She couldn’t even process a thought interviews. There was nothing interesting or original about her at all. I’m just glad she’s old news now.

R40 Honestly no different from Marilyn Monroe fans who refuse to see MM as a mentally ill and uneducated woman who used her sexuality to get ahead despite her lack of acting and singing talent. I'll MM credit for being in classic films and making her own image but she wasn't an intellectual or a genius of any kind.

She’s a joke to Generation Z. A 40 year old twice divorced mother of two flailing around on stage in outdated skimpy outfits looking like she’s on another planet is embarrassing to watch. Also, she hasn’t changed her hairstyle in 14 years.

I think millennials, who adored her when they were kids, are trying to rebrand her into a victimized artist--the New Yorker recently had a blurb in their music section praising her art, lol. Her only relevance now is her odd conservatorship.

Some 20-somethings I work with went to see her in concert a few years ago and were shocked how bad it was. I was shocked that they could be so stupid as to think someone of such limited talent and meager repertoire could deliver a full-length, large-venue concert.

What’s a Britney Spears?

Most of posters on this thread are too old to get it.

R46 I don't think it's age per se. I mean, nobody debates Michael Jackson or Madonna being the King and Queen of Pop because they were huge on an international level and changed the pop music scene. There is no such thing as "Prince" or "Princess of Pop" because no one after them has nowhere near managed to reach their height of fame and notoriety and it's completely a marketing term for the music industry labels to push manufactured teen acts that modeled after MJ, Madge and others (Janet, Paula, Prince, Usher, etc).

Britney being Princess of Pop only fits for the early 2000s time frame because she really peaked in 2004. Gwen Stefani, Beyonce, Rihanna and Lady Gaga were the princesses for the mid-to-late 2000s. Katy Perry, Miley and Ariana Grande were the princesses of the 2010s. Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and SZA will probably be the princesses for the 2020s. You could apply to this the princes of pop. Usher (late 90s to early 2000s), Timberlake (2000s), Chris Brown (late 2000s), Bieber (2010s), Harry Styles (late 2010s), et cetera

R4, really?

Lady Gaga, Adele, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna all had much bigger peaks and careers than Britney.

R4 She more or less kicked off the teeny bopper pop movement. She's a husk of a person so really I'd give the credit to her many many handlers.

Yeah Britney was a catalyst for that revival sound. But I would say The Spice Girls, Aqua and TLC who had a campy and bright neon aesthetic and "girl power" imagery planted the seeds.

[quote]Most of posters on this thread are too old to get it.

Bullshit. I’m the same age as her and I always thought she was a crock of shit. In fact, she is the reason music is so mediocre today. It really was when she came on the scene that pop music started going down the drain and it has never truly recovered.

I thought it was funny how so many dumb ass queens treated her as some sort of gay icon, yet she never did shit for gays. Even more ironic is how a year or two ago, one of her sons was calling her dad “gay” as a put down. Sounds like this “gay icon” did a lovely job of raising her kids to have respect for the large percentage of her fan base.👍😆

My thoughts? They all suck. Each and every one of them. Especially Jessica Simpson. For some reason I’d like to punch her fucking lights out.

R42, that is a great comparison. So many (mostly mentally ill) women love to obsess over Marilyn. Often innatentively. But always ridiculous.

R52, now, EVERY single female pop star is just assumed to be a gay icon/ally. It's fucking dumb. Madonna is a gay icon because she spoke in favor of us when AIDS was killing us and she made us very visible in Truth or Dare. What did Britney do for gays, ever? Nothing.

Cyndi Lauper smokes all of these bitches

Yes Madonna was a vocal gay ally. Janet was too. Kylie Minogue nowadays relies on her large gay fanbase. Miley gets hate here but she's always been vocally support of gays too even in her Disney days.

But Britney never commented anything in regards to gay rights. When she debuted it was somewhat understandable because she targeted to kids and teens and had an image to project to their parents. But she could have been more vocal especially after her breakdown in 2007 as it was many gays who sympathized with her and were the ones who supported her when her music became more club-oriented and less radio-friendly. There was still enough homophobia in the 2000s that needed to condemned. Though Britney hanged out with homophobe Paris Hilton (if she is a lesbian as some DLers say, she comes across as a self-hating one) and one of her sons called their grandfather "gay" as an insult. No, hanging out with Lance Bass doesn't count as being an ally as Lance is a celebrity ass-kisser who downplays homophobia and thinks of himself as "straight-acting"

Britney in her prime was the whole package. She was the smoking hot blond who also was a friendly dork. Everyone wanted to fuck her or be her friend. When she was on stage with very intricate choreography, she was at her best. I promise I have no skin in the Madge-"Jan Bot" feud, but I will say that I think Britney was bigger than Janet and remains that way today despite her mental illness.

Britney was bigger than Janet for the same reason Elvis was bigger than Chuck Berry and New Kids on the Block were bigger than New Edition. I'll just leave it at that...

What is this revisionist history? Britney was big with tweens; adults would at the most admit to liking "Hit me Baby One More Time" as a guilty pleasure. Pop stars had been doing choreography on stage and in videos for years; I guess her "intricate choreography" seemed amazing to those who were 12 when Britney was big.

OP, “Thoughts?” I think you should fuck off, instructive troll. Your posts are tedious and your presentation of them worse.

She's still part of the discussion and paved the wave for mega acts to play Vegas without shame. Britney is the true Princess of Pop. Madge has even anointed her as such.

[quote] She's still part of the discussion and paved the wave for mega acts to play Vegas without shame. Britney is the true Princess of Pop. Madge has even anointed her as such.

That's a a groundbreaking thing? Lip-synching shows at Vegas for an aging crowd? Madonna labeled Britney that because Madonna was not intimidated by Britney and had no issue having someone significantly less talented than her that title if could make herself look good. Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Ariana Grande and even Katy Perry seem more fitting for princess of pop because they lasted longer with more hits.