Britney 'Extremely Upset' in Australia

Filed under: Gut Reactions, Music News, WTF

Australian music critics have greeted Britney Spears on her first concert tour down under with poor reviews and stories of fans walking out of her show. On top of that, government officials have been critical of the singer for her use of lip-syncing during performances. All the criticism has traumatized Spears.

"Britney is aware of all this and she's extremely upset by it," Paul Dainty, Spears' tour promoter, told The Australian on Monday. "She's a human being. I'm embarrassed, with such a big international entourage here with Britney, to be part of the Australian media when I see that kind of totally inaccurate reporting."
Critics called her first concert, held in Perth on Friday, "boring" and "stiff."

In their reporting, Perth Now claimed "hundreds of fans stormed out" of the Friday concert. One fan, 22-year-old Amanda Hawlet put it bluntly: "I want my money back or I want her to sing properly. The ticket cost me $200 and she lip-synced the whole thing."

Dainty disputes that fans who paid up to $1,500 dollars would walk out as early as the third song, as was reported. Spears' manager Adam Leber took to Spears' Twitter account to defend the singer to her 3.7 million followers. "Its unfortunate that one journalist in Perth didn't enjoy the show last night. Fortunately the other 18,272 fans in attendance did. - Adam."



Before this concert flap, Britney's trip to Australia was already dogged with controversy. Last week, officials there announced they were brainstorming options to ensure fans are fully informed that parts of the concerts will be lip-synced.

"It is Britney's 'prerogative' to lip-sync, and it is my job to make sure consumers know what they are paying for up front," said Virginia Judge, Minister for Fair Trading for the Australian state New South Wales, in a statement released by the government.

One consumer protection option being considered is the requirement of disclaimers on tickets and promotional material that will indicate that portions of the show will be pre-recorded.

"Anyone paying to attend a Britney Spears concert, or any bubblegum pop show for that matter, should really know better than to go in expecting an earth-shattering vocal performance. You didn't, afterall, just pay to see Mariah Carey circa 1990," says AOL Music editor Kim Davis. "These days, you pay to see it all -- the costumes, the dancers, the stage props ... Britney's skin. Like it or not, the vocal performance is, in many cases, a fraction of the arena show these days."

"Rather than slapping a disclaimer on all ticket sales, my advice would be for consumers to hop on the Web, where anything you want to know is at your fingertips. Watch tour footage, read reviews, flip through photos. Go vicarious before you actually, well, go."