Richboy
Aug 19th, 2004, 09:02 PM
In many of the message boards & forums I have visited, I constantly hear fans saying they think that the past year (August '03-'04) has been Britney's worst. I think otherwise. You have to look at the facts going all the way back to October 2003, when Britney released "Me Against The Music", her first single from "In The Zone" While the song did not fair very well on the Hot 100 and only recieved mediocre radio airplay, it did manage to spend thirteen consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Dance Singles Chart, where it still remains in the top 10, over fourty weeks later. The songs true intentions was to get Britney back in the public eye, and it definettely did its job. "In The Zone", Britney's fourth #1 album has sold 2.8 million copies since its release, and should surpass the three million mark by the end of the year. The Las Vegas marriage was the moment that everyone felt Britney had reached rock-bottom. But I think it was a turning point for the good. I believe it was like a reality-check for Britney. She realised she needed to calm down and focus on work and not go crazy. I think Britney's fan base actually grew after the Las Vegas marriage ("Toxic" also helped). People began to see Britney as a real person, not the perfect and innocent "girl next door" she was labled as in the past. She makes mistakes just like everyone else. "Toxic" was also a turning point in Britney's career. Not since "Oops!" had Britney had success with a single. "Lucky" & "Stronger" both were Top 10 hits, but only recieved average radio and video play. The singles from the "Britney" album all missed the top 10, and recieved little to no airplay. For the first time since "Oops!" in 2000, Britney had a #1 single, and her album sales reflected that. Britney's sales in 2004 with "In The Zone" were much higher than what "Britney" performed in 2002 ("Britney" still leads in overall sales by about 1 million copies [in August 2002, "Britney" had sold 3.8 million compared to "In The Zone"'s 2.8] because it had better holiday sales than "In The Zone") "Toxic" was a huge hit for Britney and it really brought Britney back onto radio stations across the world (It reached #1 in many other countries aswell) Coming off of "Toxic", Britney released "Everytime" Britney had never performed well with ballads, she has never had a ballad enter the top 10. "Everytime" hit #1 in the UK, and reached #4 on the US Top 40. After two extremely succesful singles, and a tour which had already generated over thirty-four million dollars, only in its first two legs, Britney was having herself a pretty good year. In the misdt of Britney's escalating music career, her relationship with back-up dancer Kevin Federline (her first serious relationship since her break up with Justin Timberlake in March 2002) was blossoming. In June '04, Britney's knee injury prevented her from touring, and from releasing a video to the final single from "In The Zone", "Outrageous". While this probably was the worst thing that could have happened when Britney was on tour, her fans continued to stick by her. Her fourth single, "Outrageous" managed to crack its way into the Hot 100 & Top 40 in August '04, only by heavy radio airplay because there was no video for the single. The song has proved very succesful compared to songs that had a video to accopany them (like "Not A Girl" & "Boys") and didn't even manage to chart. Following her knee injury, the announcement of her wedding shocked everyone. I think Britney is really helping her career by getting married. I think people see it as if she is settling down & starting a family. She is no longer the wild crazy girl that she was a mere year ago. It shows how much she has changed since her incident on New Years. She is finally ready to commit and take time to rest and begin a new chapter of her life. Britney recieved the "Choice Single" Teen Choice award for "Toxic" this month, aswell as recieving four VMA nominations. Britney will release a fifth CD this November, a greatest hits compilation with two new tracks, one of which is a remake of Bobby Brown's 1988 hit, "My Prerogative". Shooting for the video is this week. I think Britney is looking towards a bright future. "In The Zone"'s success was somewhat double-edged. When the album was initially released, Britney's fans weren't as supportive of her, album sales only reached 1.5 million by the end of 2003. It wasn't until "Toxic" was released that Britney's fans returned to her. I think her accomplishments over the past year will show through the success of her greatest hits CD. While the album isn't going to get as much coverage as if it was a new LP, I still see it selling at least two million copies, maybe even three million. Britney has stiff competition on November 16th (the album release) Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, & Janet Jackson all have new releases that week. Britney is easily going to debut in the top 3, my guess is she reaches #2 with over 500,000 copies, just behind Destiny's Child, which probably will enter at the top spot. I urge Britney fans to continue to support Britney. I think it is probably very difficult for Britney to juggle starting a family and her career right now (that is why she is probably releasing a greatest hits CD) Give it time, my guess is Britney will release the greatest hits CD (which will feature two new tracks), the first single will be released in September, the album release will follow in November, aswell as her marraige, she should appear at the Grammy's in January because "In the Zone" will most likely be nominated for at least one award, the second single from "Greatest Hits" should also probably be released around this time. Britney has also been said she does not want to tour for "Greatest Hits" but she would like to perform a special televised concert, which probably occur around winter-spring 2005, give her a break until 2006, when she'll most likely start working on a new album, or a new movie, and the album/movie should be released late 2006/early 2007. I hope that you have read what I have to say, and I would like to hear any opinions you have about the past year and what you think Britney will do in the future!