Why does Britney Spears get away with miming ?

My daughter in law went to see her in Glasgow with a couple of her friends. The tickets, accommodation, travel, meals etc cost a small fortune and she was really disappointed that Britney was very obviously miming. I don't think she will be going again any time soon either.

I'm shocked that people are still buying tickets to her shows and expecting anything else. Never been a fan of her or her music, but she used to be a very good dancer, these days from what I’ve seen she dances like a robot.

The likes of Steps got awa with it all the time too. Then there are the bigger stars that re-record vocals to make them sound live (Madonna, Beyonce and Janet Jackson are massive culprits). Kylie Minogue on the other hand always sings live as far as I can tell.

Unfortunately it costs a bit more than that! 😂

When you say 'bits'...?

Mariah certainly has a bigger problem keeping her bits motionless. 

Unfortunately I couldn't find any 'I'd buy that for a few hundred dollars!' GIFs

What about Tiesto, Guetta, etc? All these big name DJs playing to 10s of thousands of people a night. Famously pre-mix their set and just stand behind the decks miming. All male too.

The value for the fans is getting to see their idols in the flesh and the production element has taken such a forefront that everything needs to be perfect.

If Britney sang live every night, would he ticket sales remain the same? Hell no, people wouldn't stand or sit through 90-120minutes of out of tune howling, ticket sales would drop and the machine would run out of business.

She does indeed. Over the years, Kylie has actually turned into quite a wonderful live performer. Probably much to the surprise of many people.

A few years ago I went to some weekend dance festival with some friends. I only really went because Soul II Soul were on the bill, and I went to their tent to see them alone which was absolutely wonderful. The rest of it was standing around watching men on a stage with a laptop and a light show. The “star” headliner was Eric Prydz - it honestly could have been anyone up there and no one would have noticed.

I can’t tell you how bored I was, especially when there was clearly quite a bit of drug use going on in the toilets. I hate to be all judgmental about it, but the music I love doesn’t need drugs to be enjoyed as it’s a high just to see it performed alone.

Well I am happy to be judgemental about it. That's just disgusting and outrageous.

Who takes their drugs in a toilet anymore? So unhygienic.

I've been a Britney fan for 20 years and only saw her 'in person' for the first time this year at the o2 in London.

I'm not against miming if it's justifiable - miming one or two songs out of 20+ isn't really a negative if it's to the benefit of the song's performance - Madonna for example, famously mimes almost all Vogue performances because it's such a routine intense song. I'm good with that - especially as she is happy to pre-record live vocals and mime to those, offering the illusion and not taking the audience out of the performance. Hell, even Celine Dion mimes her big notes nowadays (including My Heart Will Go On). 

Britney refuses to do this and for the life of me I can't understand it. I remember loving Baby One More Time and became a full on stan when she released her second album. But I never saw her life - mainly due to location issues - but I certainly don't think she was ever worth the ticket price. I've often called her shows an album listening party with Britney 'in person'. But this year I was determined to cross her off my live list, as she's the biggest star of her generation left for me to see (I saw JT and Xtina back in the day). 

Initially I was prepared to pay full price for tickets if I could get close enough to the stage, but I could only get row S (which I turned down... only to discover was front of the catwalk) but refused to pay £140 for them. I held off and picked up a £50 ticket on the side next to block A, which was a brilliant location and a price I was very comfortable paying. So I turned up and there was something electric in the air... people were incredibly excited. The show started, Britney walked on at the side and the place just went wild.

Honestly, I've only ever heard a crowd roar like that for Madonna or the Spice Girls... and when you're in the midst of it, it's hard not to get caught up in it. Yes she mimes and yes it's very obvious it's the album vocal, but in the end it didn't actually matter. The youtube videos do her nor the show any justice what so ever. It's the experience of it all - it was a greatest hits show, Britney is a genuine star, people were drunk and there to just have a good time. 

It bugs me she doesn't re-record her vocals as there is no justifiable reason. It also bugs me she charges only a tiny bit less than the likes of Madonna and Celine, who do sing mostly live. But that's my issue and I found a way around it. So in conclusion the only real reason I can offer as to why she gets away with miming is simply because once you are there it really doesn't matter. I was very surprised at how little it detracted from the show - which really, is all she's offering. It's not a concert, but a dance show and I can get on board with that at the right price. 

I do wonder how long she can pull it off for though - but this is her first UK tour in 6 or 7 years, so if she sticks to such schedules she probably can continue to pull it off. Britney is the biggest star of her generation and her original teen audience has now grown up and have disposable income to spend on her. I mean I get all the criticism lobbied at her - and it's all justifiable - but none of that really applies when you're there, in the moment... which is what you're actually paying for. 

I really think it’s just me. I’m the same age as Britney and never even thought of her being a “superstar”. She was just kind of a regular popular pop star in the same way Steps were in the U.K. or like a 00s version of Olivia Newton John. On an international scale no bigger than the Backstreet Boys in the same way as they had a small handful of high selling albums during a little blip in time. And I always put that down to the pre-download market where the US barely issued physical singles, forcing consumers to buy albums they otherwise never would have considered. I certainly never put her in the same sentence as Madonna.

It’s only from talking to people 10 years younger that I realised she apparently meant a lot more to them than that.