Theories Abound About Britney's VMA Flop

Performance Panned On Many Fronts; What Happened?

(CBS)  Tongues are still wagging about Britney Spears' performance at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards show -- widely viewed as lackluster, at best.

The buzz has it that Spears' dance moves were lackluster and her lip-synching way off, observed E! Entertainment news anchor Giuliana Rancic on The Early Show Tuesday.

Her act was the talk of the after-show party at Tao's, Rancic reported.

"I don't know if she should have started the show off, but I thought it was alright," rapper and record producer Jermaine Dupri told Rancic.

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Photos: Live On Stage At The 2007 MTV VMA Awards

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Musician Travis Barker said Spears seemed unprepared, noting, "It looked like she was like rehearsing or something, not to diss her or anything, but that's what I thought."

So, what went wrong?

The pre-show chatter had been all about Spears rehearsing with magician Criss Angel but, commented Rancic, no magic was evident on stage.

"Planet Gossip" co-host Tina Dirmann remarked to Rancic that, "We've all seen her hanging out with Chris Angel lately and, apparently, he was teaching her some illusion-type stuff. She wanted to do some appearing-disappearing stuff during her act. Well, it was just too complicated, they couldn't really pull it off, and so the producers nixed the idea, and she wasn't happy about it. So they had to come up with an alternate performance that night."

There have also been whispers, Rancic said, that Spears might have been on medication.

To that, Dirmann said, "People were not happy with the fact that she was partying late into the night before she would go into the rehearsals and before she had this big performance. She was out on the party scene all night long. Of course you're gonna be tired."

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Photos: MTV VMA Fashion Police

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For Rancic's part, she told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen, "I do think … it was premature. Britney's just not ready. She's not taking this seriously. She's still out partying way too late. You know, we see her every other day with the lollipop in her hand, the big sunglasses, out till 4 in the morning, doing god knows what. She's just not taking her career seriously. I think this was too soon for her to try to do this.

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Photos: 2007 MTV VMA Red Carpet

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"But a lot of people are saying, 'You know, maybe MTV is to blame, you know, they shouldn't have put her on, you know, it was too soon.' But if you're MTV and you get a phone call saying, 'Britney's confirmed, she's gonna open,' you're gonna say, 'Yes.' So, of course MTV jumped at this."

Rancic also mentioned the possibility that Spears didn't like the outfit MTV wanted her to wear, so brought her own, including boots that proved inappropriate, because they caused her to be unsteady while trying to dance.

[anilacsa]

Who says I have ever bought her cd or put her on a pedestal...that never happened! Some songs were ok, but it wasn''t enough for me to go out and buy any of her songs. Honestly, I didn''t think she has half the talent as Christina. If anyone saw the episode...I think it''s funny that the guys off of SouthPark were not too far off to the future Britney Spears. LOL

[hypnotoad72]

The wig, much like her talent, isn''t real.

All she did on the show was allow people to grope her.

She is not in bad shape, but her act is as bloated as usual.

[tnt1954]

britney knows all our messages through her 667
microchip in her head. i missed the first
five minutes of the show, and her performance.
i thought she''d be on last, to tease us all
for two hours. then she''d come on last.
i waited through all that only to find out
she''d already been on, first. what a bummer.
the black bra with the spanish flamenco style
dance was great that i just saw a frame of,
a clip. definitely britney has ''red hot mama
syndrome''. most women get that syndrome
at age 12 or 13. for the rest of their
lives. guys kinda get ''cool guy syndrome''.
at about the same age.

[bizzzz-2009]

I agree with lambofgoth. There''s women at my gym that blow Britney''s doors off.

[lambofgoth]

Britney? One of the most stunning women in history??
Her behavior maybe but not her looks. Take away the blond hair extensions and top tier stylists, she would look like every other girl in high school.

[c1rodz]

How about the simple and final comfirmation that she just CAN''T SING!!

[rajpatel3]

For all the people who say she''s not taking her career seriously.....I don''t know about you guys, but if I raked in 700 grand per month, I don''t think I would be real concerned about my job either....or anything for that matter. I think the joke is on all of you. You bought her albums, attended her concerts, joined her fan clubs, put her on the pedestal.....and her lazy, indifferent performance was her way of saying "thanks for the ride, but I''m into other things now"....like ecstasy, that''s why she''s always sucking on a lollipop.

Sarah Silverman was right. These professions, whether sports or entertainment, don''t lend themselves to long, illustrious careers. Britney lasted far longer than many because she happened to be one of the most stunning girls in history. With all her addictions, there is no way she''ll ever return to the fighting form she was in. This was just her way of telling the world that she''s sick of the music scene and to leave her alone to bar-hop until she dies of cirrhosis.

I think it''s time we say GOOD-BYE to Britney! No more pictures, No more music, No more crazy dancing! I guess I didn''t really understand how bad it was until she TRIED to open for the MTV Awards Show--it was absolutely horrible and what a big slap in the face for all the young talent out there who spend hours a day keeping their talent alive and new.
Why blame her handlers? She probably tortures them just like she tortures everyone else she comes in contact with and probably cannot be told NO! IT''s OVER! Unless she gets off the DOPE and the BOOZE---keep her out of our face, PLEASE--it''s making us sick to watch her slowly kill herself. It''s SAD and HORRIBLE!

[bizzzz-2009]

I was just reading this article. Some speculate she might have been on medication. Is that what their calling coke these days?

[bizzzz-2009]

Hey Neatera,
You shouldn''t comment on people grammar-
"...you bad grammer.." "becuase...???
Your right, Hip Hop and Rap has been a tremendous gift by the African American community. It''s message is so positive, so uplifting. The constant bombardment by the media with lyrics about b!tc#es, ho''s, smoking chronic. Who cares about the message, right? It''s all about making "the paper" That''s why I support my local drug dealers. They''re rich too.