The Circus Starring: Britney Spears, commonly referred to as The Circus Tour, is the sixth concert tour by American pop singer Britney Spears in support of her sixth studio album, Circus. The tour will reach North America, Europe and Australia. This tour will be the first during which Spears has toured in Australia.

Shortly after the New York radio station Z100 premiered her new song, "Womanizer",
Spears made a surprise appearance on the show and announced she would
be going on a worldwide tour in spring of 2009 to support the album.
The tour was officially announced on December 2, 2008 to coincide with
the album's release. Wade Robson and his wife Amanda were going to direct and write the tour, but decided not to in order to focus on one of their own projects. Rehearsals for the tour began in January 2009, in preparation for a March kick off. So far, the tour has sold over 1,000,000 tickets and all the London dates on the European leg have sold out. As the tour approached commencement, it was revealed that gossip blogger, Perez Hilton, appears in a video to be shown during the opening of the show.

Additionally, magician, Ed Alonzo
joins Spears on stage during a magic act. He commented about working
with Spears, “She does all the classic elements of magic. Britney
loves magic and really enjoys doing it. She dances so hard in the show,
she gets a little break when I saw her in half or transport her from
one place to end up in another. She looks incredibly toned and in
fantastic shape. She has to dance really hard with all the dance crew
kind of moves with hip-hop and tumbling. She works her tail off.”

Tour promoter AEG Live's president John Meglen spoke with the Las Vegas Sun
about the tour, "It is one of the biggest and best-selling tours of the
decade. Response and reaction has been phenomenal worldwide, and this
weekend date at MGM is the highest ticket-selling gross so far.
European fans cannot wait for her to get there, and in many, many
venues, the tickets have been sold out instantly, and we’ve had
to juggle dates to add more shows to meet the demand."

The Las Vegas Deluxe reported that "the stage alone costs $10
million to build as an intricate jigsaw puzzle, and it costs $6 million
a week just to keep the tour running with its road staff of 220 -- plus
the cast of circus performers! The stage gear, including sex swings,
love couches, unicycles, stripper poles, a gold cage and giant picture
frames, travels in some 3,000 rolling cases packed into 32 semis --
plus wardrobe for Britney and the onstage performers."

The traveling staff for the tour consists of over 200 people, 50 of
them being dancers, magicians, clowns and acrobats, and 6 full-time
wardrobe staff to keep the 350 costumes in order. Additionally the
entire wardrobe includes around $150,000 worth of Swaroski crystals.
150 technical crew are used each night to set up the staging, lighting,
rigging and special effects, and it takes approximately 12 hours to
build the entire set for each show. 34 trucks are used to transport the
60 tons of equipment. In addition, the budget of the tour was revealed
to be of US$ 50 million.

On July 26, 2009 it was confirmed by Spears' manager via Twitter that the tour will not be reaching South America, despite their efforts to try and bring the tour there.

Concert synopsis

The show begins with a video introduction featuring Perez Hilton parodying Queen Elizabeth I. Spears appears in the video from behind a curtain and shoots the inflatable ball he is seated on with a crossbow, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. As the video ends, the curtain goes up and she descends on a suspended platform, dressed in ringleader attire, to perform "Circus". At the conclusion of the song, she enters a golden cage, where she performs "Piece of Me",
dancing and attempting to escape from her dancers. A brief interlude
follows, featuring a performance by acrobats simulating a thunderstorm,
before Spears goes into "Radar" which features her pole dancing.

A video interlude follows, showcasing a martial arts inspired dance to the LAZRtag remix of "Gimme More". Spears returns to the stage playing a magician's assistant and performs "Ooh Ooh Baby" dressed in a glittery dress, as she is sawed in half
and escapes from a box, only to reappear on the other end of the stage,
performing "Hot as Ice" in a different outfit. Dressed in military
clothes, she performs the Co-Ed remix of "Boys", riding on the back of a bicycle. She performs a military drill before moving into "If U Seek Amy". Spears continues the act with a Bollywood-inspired remix of "Me Against the Music". Spears is then lifted into the air on a giant umbrella to perform "Everytime".

The show continues with a video interlude featuring Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams", showing Spears at a party, in which everyone except her are wearing masks. A distorted voice welcomes spectators to the freak show and Spears appears onstage to perform "Freakshow" with her dancers, all of them representing different rarities.
She then moves onto "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)", which features the
dancers taking their clothes off as the song moves forward. A brief
light show plays before Britney returns to the stage to perform
"Mannequin" (starting with the July 5th concert in Paris). A video
spoofing late-night chat lines features "Britney's Hotline", while
clowns take a person from the audience and goof around with them before
she performs a medley of "Breathe on Me" to the person taken from the audience, and "Touch of My Hand", blind-folded for most of the song; she is lifted into the air by two aerialists supporting her on the back of their legs.

Near the conclusion of the show, there is a band interlude, and Spears returns on stage to perform "Do Somethin'" and a remix of "I'm a Slave 4 U",
in which she's raised on a platform as a ring of fire starts below her.
After "Heartbeat", a dancers interlude, Spears appears on the stage to
perform "Toxic" and a remix of "…Baby One More Time".

The encore begins with the "Break the Ice" video interlude, which includes various clips of Spears' past music videos. Spears returns for a performance of "Womanizer" dressed as a policewoman. At the end of the song, Spears and her dancers gather on the center stage as a wall of fireworks (similar to her "Circus"
video) surrounds them. Following this, "Circus" begins to play again
and Spears and her dancers then bow to each side of the arena, before
they head to the left side stage. Spears' and her dance crew either
dance around the left circle stage, or bow as they leave the stage.

Opening acts

Set list

Act 1: The Circus

• Welcome to the Circus (Video Introduction)
• "Circus"
• "Piece of Me"
• Thunderstorm (Performance Interlude)
• "Radar"

Act 2: House of Fun (Anything Goes)

• Martial Arts Segue (Performance Interlude) (features LAZRtag Remix of "Gimme More")
• Medley:
  
  • "Ooh Ooh Baby"
  • "Hot as Ice"
  
  
• "Boys" (The Co-Ed Remix)
  
  • Boot Camp Segue
  
  
• "If U Seek Amy"
• "Me Against the Music" (Bollywood Remix)
• "Everytime"

Act 3: Freakshow/Peepshow

• Everybody's Looking for Something (Video Interlude) (features "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)")
• "Freakshow"
• "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)"
• "Mannequin" (Added July 5, 2009)
• Britney's Hotline (Performance Interlude) (contains elements of "Breathe on Me", with excerpts of "Boys" and "I'm a Slave 4 U")
• Medley:
  
  • "Breathe on Me"
  • "Touch of My Hand"
  
  

Act 4: Electro Circ

• Band Jam Segue (Performance Interlude) (contains elements of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll")
• "Do Somethin'"
• "I'm a Slave 4 U" (Remix)
• Heartbeat (Dance Interlude) (featuring "Lollipop", "American Boy", "Don't Stop the Music", "Closer" and other songs)
• "Toxic"
• "...Baby One More Time" (Remix)

Encore

• "Break the Ice" (Video Interlude) (contains elements of "Run the Show", "Gimme More" and "I'm a Slave 4 U")
• "Womanizer" (Extended Mix)

Tour Ranking:

• On April 9, 2009 The Circus Starring: Britney Spears took the
  number one slot at the top twenty tour list with an average box office
  growth per city of $2,384,567 and an average ticket price of $102.51.
• On May 14, 2009 The Circus Starring: Britney Spears took the number
  two slot at the top twenty tour list with an average box office growth
  per city of $2,051,607 and an average ticket price of $98.53.

Achievements

• On July 11, 2009 Britney Spears hit a milestone in the tour by attracting over 40,000 fans at a concert at Parken in Copenhagen, Denmark, thus being one of her largest concerts.

Critical reception

After its premiere performance, Spears' 2009 tour received generally
positive reviews from several critics. Although many applauded Spears
for an impressive comeback, others felt the show was a bit sub par.

Stacey Plaisance of Associated Press commented that, "The 'Circus'
tour was another strong step in the right direction. Spears didn't
interact much with the crowd - the only thing she uttered to the
audience was 'Thank you, New Orleans' at the end of the nearly two-hour
show - and appeared at times to be lip-synching. But fans didn't seem
to care, screaming wildly at the first sight of Spears, who descended
from the ceiling on hoops suspended by wires, wearing a short red and
black ringmaster ensemble." Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times
was less impressed with Spears' performance, stating, "Despite that
first-night stumble and several numbers in which her dancing was no
more than adequate, Spears can safely call this performance a success.
She apparently has no interest in proving herself as a vocalist;"

People's
Chuck Arnold magazine wrote that Spears "never really hit her old
stride [...] there was a lot more strutting than real choreographic
feats from Spears." He further commented that there was a "lack of joy
in her performance, which felt labored at times", and that a miscue
occurred after Spears didn't join two backup singers for a rendition of
Duffy's 'I'm Scared'".
Jeff Montgomery of MTV News both praised and dismissed Spears's
performance saying, "Yes, welcome to Britney's Circus, a big, huge,
loud, funny, nonsensical three-ring affair... She looks great in her
myriad of outfits, and she can still move with the best of them." he
continued to say "[...] it's just, well, she's almost lost in the sheer
hugeness of the production around her."

As the tour progressed, more critics weighed in on Spears'
spectacle, including Glenn Gamboa of Newsday stating, "She keeps things
light, playing around with gender roles and wordplay on "If U Seek
Amy." She gives the crowd what it wants, lots of up-tempo numbers, with
only "Me Against the Music" reworked extensively into a Bollywood
extravaganza."
Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun gave Spears' performance at the Air
Canada Centre 3 out of 5 stars stating, "So much was going on -- there
were also martial artists, bicyclists, etc. -- there was no time to
really assess Spears other than to note that she looked great -- sort
of a cross between Madonna and Pamela Anderson. She could lip-synch the
words (one can assume) and strut around the stage well enough, but
there was little in the way of genuine passion, joy, or excitement on
her part."

Sean Daly of The St. Petersburg Times seems to have summed up all
the reviews by stating, "When Britney, touring behind her new Circus
album, plays the Times Forum, there will be as many people rooting for
her success as her failure. [...] But in the end, we're all envious and
thankful, jealous and applauding. We like them/us and hate them/us for
the very same reasons."

Additional notes

• A cover of Duffy's "I'm Scared" was performed right after "Everytime" at the show in New Orleans, but it was dropped from the set list after this show.
• "Mannequin" was added to the set list on July 5th at the second show in Paris and was performed for the rest of the European leg. The song has not been performed since the European Leg.
• "Touch of My Hand" was not performed during the Copenhagen, July
  14th Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Berlin shows. It was added
  back in August 20th in the Hamilton show.
• During the "Break the Ice" video interlude, the only music videos that are not shown in the collage are "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart", "Overprotected", " Overprotected (Darkchild Remix)", "Do Somethin'", "Someday (I Will Understand)", and "Break the Ice".If U Seek Amy" and "Radar" are also not shown, but this is due to the fact that the music videos had not yet been released when the tour began. "
• After finishing her performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U"
  at the March 8th Tampa, Florida show, Britney didn't realize her
  microphone was still on, and shouted: "My pussy is hanging out!", which
  was clearly heard throughout the audience. The incident has received
  notable attention from many blogs, and has received thousands of views
  on YouTube.
• The Pussycat Dolls didn't perform at the March 23rd show in Uniondale, New York, due to Nicole Scherzinger's illness.
• Two of the crew members on the tour, Rockey Lee Dickey Jr. and Alex
  Montes, were arrested for aggravated assault on March 26, 2009.
• As the tour has progressed, dance breaks have been added to "...Baby One More Time", "Toxic", and "Womanizer".
• Initially during "I'm A Slave 4 U", Spears was lifted by a rising
  surface while fire appeared from the stage, thus creating a "Ring of
  Fire". However some arenas haven't allowed this part of the show due to
  fire hazards. Instead Spears dances on the floor. In the European leg
  of the tour the platform was altered to more safely contain Britney as
  she was lifted.
• During her performance in Vancouver, Spears halted the concert
  after "Radar" claiming that the arena was too smokey due to spectators
  smoking marijuana and cigarettes. An announcement was made for all spectators to extinguish any smoking-related items. Afterward, Spears continued the show.
• During the May 2nd show in Uncasville,
  a fan managed to climb onto the stage during "Womanizer" and run up to
  Britney, startling her. He was quickly removed by several dancers. At
  first Britney stopped singing and dancing, but after a few seconds
  resumed.
• For the European leg of the tour, "Piece of Me", "Radar", "Ooh Ooh
  Baby" & "Hot as Ice", "Breathe on Me", "Do Somethin'", "I'm a Slave
  4 U", "...Baby One More Time", and "Womanizer" were remixed.
• For the European tour, Britney sits on a smaller blue umbrella for
  "Everytime" instead of the large red one, the platform for the ring of
  fire stunt during "I'm a Slave 4 U" was replaced with a small rotating
  bucket with Britney's new "B" logo, and an instrumental version of
  "Circus" plays as Britney descends to the stage after the opening video.
• Ciara was originally supposed to be the second opening act on the
  second North American leg along with Kristina DeBarge. However, less
  then a week before the leg started, it was revealed that she had been
  replaced with Jordin Sparks. No explanation was given as to why Ciara was no longer going to take part in the tour.

Personnel

• Tour director: Jamie King
• Musical director: Simon Ellis
• Choreographers: JaQuel Knight, Britney Spears, Chase Benz, Tiana Brown, Tony Testa, Dreya Weber, Rujuta Vaidya
• Dancers: Jose Omar, Willie Gomez, Jonathan "J-Boogie" Rabon, Chase
  Benz, Jia Huang, Laura Edwards, George Jones JR, Luke Broadlick, Tiana
  Brown, Justin de Vera, Valerie "Rais" Moise, Marc "Marvelous" Inniss,
  Ava "Ava Flave" Berstine, Tye Myers, JP San Pedro, Devon Jameson.
• Managers: Larry Rudolph, Adam Leber
• Costume design: Dsquared2, The Blonds, David Alexander, Catriona Mackechnie
• Stylist: William Baker
• Tour promoter: AEG Live
• Tour Sponsor: Virgin Mobile

The Onyx Hotel Tour
Tour by Britney Spears
Supporting album	In the Zone
Start date	March 2, 2004
End date	June 6, 2004 (September 15, 2004 w/o Cancelation)
Legs	5 (3 Legs Canceled)
Shows	64 in North America (39 Canceled) 29 in Europe 3 in Asia (All Canceled) 5 in Australia (All Canceled) 54 total (101 w/o Cancelation)

Background

By way of introduction, Spears stated:

While Spears' last tour, Dream Within A Dream
was Vegas-style theatrical, The Onyx Hotel Tour was more New York-style
theatrical. This show was purposely less lavish than the previous tour
and featured little pyrotechnics or other visual effects, as compared to Dream Within A Dream,
apparently to make the show more intimate and focused more on the songs
and dancing. However, Spears' production team spared no expense on the
show's setup. They were reportedly inspired by the city of Tokyo, with its futuristic, postmodern architecture,
and designed their stage based on it, with state-of-the-art video
screens and set pieces. Most of the songs performed were from her
then-current album, In the Zone, but a few of her earlier efforts did appear on the set list, in remixed form.

Spears had eight costume changes throughout the show, with various outfits ranging from a black catsuit during the show's opener to a pair of bikini underwear. The clothes came courtesy of several designers such as Roberto Cavalli and Dsquared, who also designed costumes for Dream Within a Dream Tour.

Notes

The tour brought new criticism for Spears, for in certain routines
she and her dancers were seemingly nude and performing explicit
routines simulating gay sex, orgies, and masturbation during "Touch of
My Hand" and "Breathe on Me".

Injury

During the show in Moline, Illinois (March 18, 2004), Spears suffered a fall during "(I Got That) Boom Boom" and injured her knee, which caused the show to come to a halt without an encore.
Spears went on stage and told the audience, "I hurt my leg really bad,
sorry I cannot finish the show. But thank you, Moline". Shows in
Chicago and Detroit were postponed to the end of the first leg of the
tour. The show in Cleveland was postponed to the summer leg because of
illness, and canceled altogether when the summer shows were scrapped.

The third, forth, and fifth legs of the tour, which would have been
a second North American trek, Asia and Australia, were canceled because
of the injury resulting from a fall on the set of Britney's video shoot
for "Outrageous" in Queens, New York. She underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at a New York hospital to remove floating cartilage. Spears would not perform onstage again until The M+Ms Tour in 2007.

Concert synopsis

The show begins with a skit where a bellboy welcomes spectators to the Onyx Hotel. After this, he takes an onyx stone
and throws it into the video screens. Spears briefly appears in the
screens, as her dancers take the stage. Spears enters on a plataform
dressed in a black catsuit and performs "Toxic". She descends to the stage for the breakdown and performs "Overprotected". In "Boys" she dances around luggage carts. “Showdown” is the final song of the first act.

A video interlude follows featuring Spears and her friends leaving a club, but she notices a woman (Jada Pinkett Smith) dressed in 1930’s fashion. She follows her and the woman asks Spears to enter "The Mystic Lounge". Spears reappears dressed as a cabaret singer and performs a cabaret-inspired version of "…Baby One More Time". In " Oops!... I Did It Again" she is joined on stage by her background singers. Spears and her dancers perform "(You Drive Me) Crazy"
and she introduces the members of her band, before leaving the stage.
In the next section, there is a video interlude of Spears wearing a
flowered-themed dress and entering "The Mystic Garden". As the video
ends, she appears onstage sitting in a piano covered with flowers and
sings "Everytime". Her dancers join her to perform "The Hook Up" and "I'm a Slave 4 U".

The show continues with a video interlude featuring a parody of paranormal-themed
shows, "The Onyx Zone", with a man introducing "The Shadow Room", a
place full of spirits and shadows. Spears reappears sitting on a swing
performing "Shadow" while she’s lifted into the air, with two
acrobats dancing around her. Spears leaves the stage in a dancers
interlude, with them performing in flesh-colored outfits.

The next section begins a video projection of two guards watching Spears in her room through security cameras. Spears appears on a smaller stage wearing a white robe and performs "Touch Of My Hand"; she takes the robe off in the middle of the song, to reveal a nude body suit with crystals that resembles her "Toxic" video outfit. She descends on a pole, wearing pink lingerie and performs "Breathe on Me" in bed with him. As the song ends, they go the to center of the stage and French kiss. She puts on a white trench coat and performs “Outrageous”, the last song of the act.

In the next act, Spears and her dancers wear street clothes and
perform "(I Got That) Boom Boom". Spears introduces the dancers and
background singers, then bows and thanks the audience.

The encore begins with a simulation of a system malfunction, and a countdown starts. After this, "Me Against the Music"
begins and Spears appears onstage wearing a red ensemble and performs
the song. The shows ends with Spears and her dancers in a staircase and
fireworks ignite behind the stage.

Merchandise

Spears'
cumulative concert merchandise sales total reached more than $30
million, according to Signatures Network Inc., a merchandising and
licensing company that handles Spears products. The $30 million total
is based on Spears tours since June 1999, including 1999's ...Baby One More Time tour, 2001's Oops ... I Did It Again tour and 2002's Dream Within a Dream tour as well as the first leg of her North American Onyx Hotel tour.

The Onyx Hotel Tour alone, which begun its European dates on April 26 in London, was expected to gross more than $10 million in merchandise revenue. In the 25 tour dates of the North American leg, Spears'Los Angeles show on March 8, according to Dell Furano, CEO of Signatures Network Inc. merchandise sales averaged $150,000-$170,000 a night, reaching a high of $180,000 during the

Signature claims Spears total is the highest for any solo female
artist since Spears began touring. Spears' best-selling products
include the pink ToxicToxic and 'Outrageous,'" Furano said. "A lot of the merchandise picks up themes of the songs and of the show." baby-doll shirt, the Onyx Hotel fashion jersey and tour programs and posters. "I think part of it reflects her songs like '

Opening acts

• Kelis (North America and Europe) (select venues)
• Skye Sweetnam (North America and Europe) (select venues)
• JC Chasez (Europe) (select venues)
• Wicked Wisdom (Europe) (select venues)
• Dodger (North America) (select venues)
• Eamon (North America) (was to open third leg)

Set list
Act 1 - Check-In

• "Toxic"
• "Overprotected" (The Darkchild Remix)
• "Boys" (The Co-Ed Remix)
• "Showdown"

Act 2 - Mystic Lounge

• "...Baby One More Time" (Cabaret Mix)
• "Oops! I Did It Again" (Jazz Mix)
• "(You Drive Me) Crazy"

Act 3 - Mystic Garden

• "Everytime"
• "The Hook Up"-
• "I'm A Slave 4 U"

Act 4 - The Onyx Zone

• "Shadow"

Act 5 - Hotel Security Cameras

• "Touch of My Hand"
• "Breathe On Me"
• "Outrageous"

Act 6 - Club

• "(I Got That) Boom Boom"

Act 7 - Check-Out

• "Me Against The Music" (Rishi Rich's Desi Kulcha Remix)

Critical response

Spears' tour generated mixed reviews.

• The New York Times: "The Onyx Hotel Tour was a great spectacle, but it was also one of the weakest concept shows since U2's PopMart tour. The staging highlight was Shadow, in
  which Ms. Spears was raised over the stage in a swing, sitting at the
  crest of an immense, M-shaped blue ribbon, with performers twirling in
  the fabric."
• The Seattle Times: "Last night's show was high on spectacle and low on substance, veering crazily from burlesque to fairy tale to peep show."
• The Las Vegas Review-Journal gave the show a D- and quotes: "B.S.'s
  new tour is an unfocused bore of false sexuality, horrible songs, trite
  choreography, unfocused themes and less ambition than a house cat that
  sits around licking itself all day."
• The San Francisco Chronicle: "The
  huge video displays, specially produced film segments, Cirque du Soleil
  touches, high-tech staging and grotesque master of ceremonies made
  Spears' "Onyx Hotel Tour" pure Vegas glitz and spectacle."

Broadcasts and recordings

No official DVD has been released, although there are many bootlegs. Parts of the European Leg were chronicled in Britney and Kevin: Chaotic. The Rock in Rio Festival in Lisbon aired live on SIC Radical.
Since the show was nestled between already scheduled dates in Dublin,
Ireland, the full set was not built. Screens were mounted on the main
stage and staircases were assembled resembling the original stage set
up. Props such as "the bus" were used. "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "Touch of My Hand" were not performed due to time constraints.

The show at the American Airlines Arena was filmed for a special that aired on Showtime, entitled Britney Spears: Live From Miami - The Onyx Hotel Tour attracted huge ratings. The show was rerun several times that year and still drew significantly large numbers. The show at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena was filmed as a backup to the Miami show.

The tour was directed, conceived, and choreographed by Wade Robson.

The stage set for the tour was a unique key-shaped structure. The
main stage was round with two levels and featured a ramp that circled
around to the rear, so Spears could be viewed easily by all fans
attending. A catwalk that extended from the center of the stage
connected to a second rectangular stage in the middle of the arena. The
stage setup appeared minimal, but featured multiple elevators and video
screens. The design allowed audience members to sit all around the
stage including behind the stage (in the round). In addition, there was
a magic carpet-like platform suspended by wires that sailed along the
length of the catwalk above the crowd. The stage featured sets like a
club (Boys), a two dimensional world (Anticipating), and a jungle (I'm a Slave 4 U).

Perhaps the most noteworthy structure in the stage setup was a rain
screen that poured more than 500 gallons of water onto the main stage
for the show's grand finale.

During Britney's second sold-out night at Mexico City's outdoor Foro SolJuly 28, 2002, severe thunderstorms
hit the city, causing Britney to abruptly cancel the show halfway
through the set, angering her fans. Spears left the country that night
with no comments or explanations. Spears reported during an interview
that the stage was struck by lightning^{[citation needed]} Arena on while performing and the dancers almost fell off the catwalk from the rain making the stage slippery.

While performing the encore at the Tokyo Dome, Spears slipped and fell on the wet stage. Footage of it was captured and has been widely circulated on the internet.

About the Show

The show began with a woman, dressed in a white nightgown, running
across the stage with a lantern. A video of sleeping Britney appeared.
Trapped in a bubble, she awoke. She declared that she was "trapped in a
dream within a dream" before being sucked into a sea of flames.
Immediately, her guitarist ripped into a rock-remix version of "Oops!...I Did It Again".
Spears emerged from the stage on a circular, vertical platform that
spun her a full 360 degrees turn. The show continued with pyrotechnics,
video animation, and costume changes, many of which occurred onstage.

A notable part of the show was a father (portrayed by Jon Voight)
telling a bed time story to his young daughter about a magical
ballerina who lived in a music box. Spears rose through a giant box in
the middle of stage, dressed as a ballerina. She tore off her tutu and
donned a bathrobe to perform "Lucky" and "Sometimes".

For the finale of the show, a rain screen poured more than 500
gallons of water onto the main stage. Britney walked through the rain
screen, singing a remix of her hit "...Baby One More Time" that was rearranged as a ballad for the first verse and a techno-dance jam for the rest of the song.

Opening act

• O-Town (North America) (select venues)
• Nikka Costa (North America) (select venues)
• 3rd Phaze (North America) (select venues)
• Luis Fonsi (Mexico)

Broadcasts and Recordings

Live from Las Vegas

The tour was chronicled on the HBO special entitled, "Live from Las Vegas". The special was filmed November 18, 2001 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The special was released on DVD in early 2002.

The show in Tokyo was recorded for MTV Japan.

Stages: Three Days in Mexico

Stages: Three Days in Mexico
is a behind the scenes documentary directed by Judy Hoffman that shows
Britney's arrival on Mexico, to a press conference where she is booed
for not wanting to talk about her personal life, to her last concert
where she cancelled early due to bad weather. The DVD is included with
the photographic book Stages.

Additional Notes

• Britney Spears has issued an apology to fans in Mexico City after
  rough weather forced her to leave the stage Sunday having played just
  four full songs. "I'm sorry I couldn't finish the show for my fans,"
  Spears said in a statement issued today (July 30) via her label, Jive
  Records. "The Mexican fans are one of the best audiences to play for.
  We decided that we had no choice but to cancel the show after the storm
  and lightning showed no signs of clearing up."^[5]

• Spears reportedly began the Foro Del Sol Stadium show, the finale
  of her Dream Within a Dream tour, during a break between two storms.
  The label said the decision was made to ensure the safety of Spears and
  the other performers, her crew, and the audience, and that many of the
  robotic lights and pyrotechnics were malfunctioning because of the
  fierce storm.

• The artist had performed for about 35 minutes for the more than
  50,000 fans who braved the weather when the decision was made to call
  off the show. She was in the midst of performing the single "Stronger,"
  when she left the stage, saying only "I'm sorry Mexico. I love you.
  Bye," according to a report in local paper Milenio. Now that the tour
  is finished, Spears told reporters she will "take six months off and
  just have Britney time and just do what Britney wants to do.

1. "Intro" (Video Interlude)/"(You Drive Me) Crazy"
2. "Stronger"
3. "What U See (Is What U Get)"
4. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart"
5. "What Would You Do To Meet Britney?" (Video Interlude)
6. "Born to Make You Happy
7. "Lucky"
8. "Sometimes"
9. "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know"
10. "Musical Breakdown" (Band Interlude)
11. "The Beat Goes On
12. "Don't Go Knockin' On My Door"
13. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
14. "Make Some Noise" (Dancers Interlude)
15. "...Baby One More Time
16. "Oops!...I Did It Again"

Broadcasts and recordings

Although there was no official DVD or VHS release of the tour, three television specials aired. In North America, There's No Place Like Home, filmed at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, aired on the FOX Network. In Europe, Britney Spears: Live in London, filmed at the Wembley Arena, aired on the SkyOne network. In South America, Britney Spears: Live from Rock in Rio, aired on Brazilian television Multishow (Globosat) and later on DirecTV.

The tour was announced in December 1999 as Britney Spears' fourth United States single, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart,"
was being released. The stage set-up from the Crazy 2K Tour echoed the
setting for the previous tour, though two ramps on either side of the
stage, an elevator, and a video screen were new additions to the set.
For this tour, Britney added a few new dancers and made the show more
elaborate with the addition of fire special effects.

As the tour began two months before the release of Britney's second album, Oops!...I Did It Again,
was released, Spears premiered several songs from her second album to
her audiences. "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know" is sung as Britney
sits on a magic carpet flying over the audience, and "Oops!...I Did It
Again", was also included in the set list.

Controversy

During the tour, accusations of lip-synching arose. Britney claimed
that sometimes she used a backing track if she needed help, and that
the video projection was slightly out of sync, making it appear that
she was lipsynching. The lipsynching accusations continued to arise
after future Spears performances.

Between the shows in Cincinnati and Grand Rapids, Britney filmed the music video
for "Oops!...I Did It Again". During filming, a camera hit her in the
head, requiring Spears to get stitches. Britney postponed the last show
of the tour because of scheduling conflicts with promotion for
"Oops!...I Did It Again", although it may have been postponed to give
Spears a much-needed break.

About the show

The show began with Britney's dancers moving around the stage as if
they were in school hallway before sitting down for class. When
Britney's name is called during roll, she is not there and teases the
audience for a bit before rising through an elevator at the top of the
staircase and singing the chorus of "Baby One More Time" a cappella.
Spears then launches into a dance and disappears into one of the
lockers before re-appearing to sing "(You Drive Me) Crazy".

Setlist

1. "School Roll Call" (Performance Introduction)
2. "(You Drive Me) Crazy"
3. "Born to Make You Happy"
4. "I Will Be There"
5. "Hand Jive" (Dance Interlude)
6. "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know"
7. "Oops!...I Did It Again"
8. "Who is the Ultimate Heartbreaker?" (Performance Interlude)
9. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart"
10. "The Beat Goes On"
11. "Sometimes"
12. "Encore"
    
    1. "...Baby One More Time"
    
    

Broadcasts and recordings

Footage of (You Drive Me) Crazy and Oops!… I Did It Again aired on Britney Spears TV, a Japan only television show that airs rare Britney concert footage, interviews, and more. (You Drive Me) Crazy, Oops!… I Did It Again, and Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know along with backstage clips from the Miami show was broadcast on the Rosie O'Donnell Show. Some of this tour has been broadcast on M6 TV in France. A Clip of the Intro & (You Drive Me) Crazy from Baltimore was shown on an episode of "Reve De Fans".

Britney did one other show as part of the Crazy 2K tour in Hawaii, which was taped for television. The show took place on the beach at sunset in front of the rainbow tower of the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
An estimated 10 thousand fans packed the Waikiki beach for what is
considered to be one of the largest performances to ever take place
next to the ocean waters. It was free for all fans and featured new,
Hawaiianed-themed costumes, wardrobe changes after almost every song,
and a performance by Destiny's Child. The Hawaiian concert appeared on Britney's DVD Live and More! which was released in 2000. The show was broadcast on Fox for a special. The special can be seen on the DVD/VHS Live and More!
Due to time constraints, "I Will Be There" was cut from the special.
The performance can only be seen in bootleg footage or on the M6 airing.

Click the read more for the tour dates....

About the tour

The set was a simple staircase and two platforms where Spears' band was arranged. Tommy Jeans (Tommy Hilfiger)
was the official sponsor of the United States and Canada Summer Tour.
"This year we have really put music in the forefront of everything we
do", Hilfiger said. "Britney represents the spirit of Tommy Jeans and
of youth today. I cannot think of a better way to continue this
exciting year by sponsoring one of today's hottest young recording
artists."

Spears performed eight songs from her album and covers of Madonna's "Vogue" and "Material Girl", Janet Jackson's "Black Cat" and "Nasty" and Journey's "Open Arms".

Opening Act

• Steps (North America) (select venues)
• Boyz N Girlz United (North America) (select venues)
• P.Y.T. (North America) (select venues)
• Michael Fredo (North America) (select venues)

Set List

1. "School Roll Call" (Performance Introduction)
2. "(You Drive Me) Crazy"
3. "Soda Pop"
4. "Born to Make You Happy"
5. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart"
6. 80's Medley:
   
   1. "Vogue"
   2. "Material Girl"
   3. "Black Cat"
   4. "Nasty"
   
   
7. "The Beat Goes On"
8. "I Will Be There"
9. "Open Arms"
10. "Sometimes"
11. "...Baby One More Time"