Spears back on track with 1st concert in 5 years
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 | 10:11 AM ET
CBC News
Britney Spears's first concert in five years went off without a hitch and fans gave her rousing applause after the pop superstar's tightly choreographed performance at the New Orleans Arena.
Dressed as a sexy ringmaster with a cast of characters including acrobats, jugglers and martial arts dancers, Spears kicked off her Circus tour Tuesday night in the nearly sold-out arena.
Fans went wild as she descended from the ceiling suspended by wires, wearing a short red and black ringmaster costume.
Singer Britney Spears performs during the opening night of The Circus Starring Britney Spears tour at the New Orleans Arena on Tuesday. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Jive Records)
Spears began the performance with the title track to her new CD Circus, then launched into Piece of Me, which she performed largely from a cage. Other songs on her set list included Womanizer and Baby One More Time.
Acrobats circled from suspended fabric as Spears sang and danced, showing off her toned body.
"We're so happy she's back," said Justin Scarbrough, 16, of New Orleans, wearing a T-shirt with Spears's image and the words "I Support Britney Spears."
It marked a triumphant return for the 27-year-old singer whose life started spiralling out of control in 2006 soon after her separation from Kevin Federline.
She was seen partying at all hours, making bizarre comments, going to rehab and losing custody of her two young sons.
But over the past year, Spears has reversed that downward path, embarking on a controlled comeback — the result of her father's re-entry into her life. A court appointed Jamie Spears to manage his daughter's personal and professional affairs indefinitely.
Spears didn't interact much with the crowd but that didn't seem to matter to her fans. At the end of the two-hour show, she uttered: "Thank you, New Orleans."
The Circus tour will bring Spears to 27 cities in the U.S. before heading to Europe in June.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
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