After more than two years of personal drama, I guess Britney Spears doesn’t really have a choice if she’s ready or not — her Circus concert tour opens in New Orleans Mar. 3, come hell or high water.
According to People. com, Spears, 27, who left Friday for Louisiana, has been hard at work preparing for the show, which will feature her signature sexy dance moves, a stage filled with three circus rings, and magic tricks.
“She’s pretty determined,” a friend tells People. “She missed singing and performing and the freedom of that. It gives her an escape and it’s what she loves to do, so she’s definitely thankful to be doing that again.”
Britney’s current manager, Larry Rudolph, said in November that dancing and singing is what helped the singer get her life back on track. “She identifies with her career in a lot of ways and getting her career back is a great therapeutic thing for her.”
Although she’s tried a comeback before, as with her disastrous, out-of-shape appearance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, this time she does seem much more prepared, having zinged it out of the park with her “Womanizer” performance on Good Morning America in December.
“I’ve got to believe she’s ready and will do a professional show,” Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of the concert trade magazine Pollstar, told People. “If she doesn’t, it’s over.” So far, the buzz for the upcoming 31-city outing is strong.
“In general, the tickets have sold very well. Some shows are already sold out,” Bongiovanni says. “Obviously, it means there is significant fan interest in seeing her do her live show. That fact that she’s been off the scene for a while helps with the pent-up demand.”
In a hearing on Monday to extend a restraining order against Britney’s ex-manager Sam Lufti, dad Jamie Spears testified that prior to his stepping in, Britney’s life “was pretty well a disaster. She had nothing going on, just mostly [being] in the tabloids. [But now] weight-wise she’s eating properly, she’s very stable, making her meetings, taking care of her babies [Preston, 3, and Jayden, 2], doing things she’s supposed to do,” he said.
Still, legal experts say her father could remain in control for months or even years. She’ll only regain her independence once she proves to the court – backed by doctors’ opinions – that she can handle her own affairs.
Being tour will also be easier if Britney’s boys are nearby. Federline is taking the couple’s kids on the road so they can keep up their regular visitation schedule with Mom.
