My friend Mitch is obsessed with Britney Spears — so much so that during a dinner party at my apartment on Saturday night, he kept hijacking my computer to play her new video for "Piece of Me" and try to convince everyone in attendance that the oft-maligned diva is not only looking "fabu," but is poised for global domination in 2008. What’s more, Mitch informed me that if I didn’t blog about "Piece of Me" first thing Monday morning, there would be dire consequences…something about me winding up unconscious behind a dumpster. (Thus, I cannot once again choose to write about soft tacos instead of Britney.)
The good news for Mitch (and Britney) is that the "Piece of Me" clip, which premiered on 20/20 (news!) Friday night, is a vast improvement over the lethargic pole dancing of "Gimme More." That said, Britney’s latest choreography doesn’t involve much more than raising her hands over her head and swaying her hips; Paula Abdul burned more calories during warmup in her heyday. What’s more, the video concept — Britney engages in playful/depressing cat-and-mouse game with the paparazzi — has been on the menu in newspapers and magazines, on TV, and in the gossip blogs for what seems like an eternity. It’s the music-video equivalent of reheating a gigantic Tupperware container of mediocre pasta for breakfast, lunch, and dinner — every day for a month. After a while, your stomach gurgles with an awesome cry of protest: "Enough!" Also, there’s that matter of Britney rhyming the words "scene," "Philippines," and "magazine."
Anyhow, Mitch says my negative response is just a matter of me seeing what I want to see, and ultimately confirming my own negative preconceptions. To which I say, there isn’t a video on YouTube that couldn’t pass as entertaining after a bottle and a half of sauvignon blanc. Clearly, we’re deadlocked. It’s up to you to settle our debate about the merits of "Piece of Me" in the comments section below.
Comments (1-30) of 61 Add your comment
im not a big fan of britney but the paula video was very cool.
she once again looks lethargic…and when you find out how much photoshop went into it to make her look thin it just comes off as horrible.
There are two Britney’s in the video – the real Britney who looks bored and tired and stressed out (even the best makeup in the world won’t cover up her problems) and then the “Britney” look alikes who are fit, happy, attarctive, rested professionals.
Ho hum. Who is in charge of her video concepts? Is this the best they could do? She is done. Unless she disappears for a year or 2 and completely reinvents herself, she will just continue her downward spiral into hasbeenness.
I would hold off the idea of any sort of world domination in 2008, but i do I have to say that I think this video is a MAJOR improvement. She looks great and it’s a fun.
Anything is better than that “Gimme More” video!
I thought the exact same thing of her dance moves consisting of her putting her hands up and moving her hips thing… Obviously an improvement over Gimme More, but she still looks bored and dull in the eyes.
Hmmm, I wake up to find my wine-fueled YouTube Britney adventures plastered for all the world to see! For shame! Slezak, my dumpster threat totally still stands. You see Brit through foggy, Frappucino-colored glasses, and I cry foul!
I’ll debate the pleasures and delights of Blackout–and this video– anytime, anywhere, but on my own behalf, I’ll add the following so your readers don’t think I’m totally Britney-bonkers:
-I was no fan of the old Britney; she was barely on my radar. But the relentless, aggressively meanspirited bashing started bothering me. I gave Blackout a listen, and was shocked! It’s friggin amazing, and if this CD had Avril or Nelly Furtado or Gwen Stefani’s name on it, would be universally lauded.
But it’s britney, so people just yell “she’s fat!” or “she’s crazy!” and dismiss it with glee.
I say open your minds, grab your Venti Frapp, get behind the wheel, send some text messages, skip your court date and run a few red lights people, this is FUN stuff!
I don’t hate the video. It’s kinda cute.
ok, wait a second… no one is saying this tune in Joni Mitchell, but for someone who worships at the ‘My Humps’ altar, dissin the rhymes in this song is a bit of a stretch!
bow down, Brit is in da house, sippin her Frap, ready to rap, you got dat?
Well I certainly don’t HATE it, AND since as most others will argue, its not like MTV actually plays videos anymore, so I mean I’ll prolly see it once or twice on MTV Hits in its entirety again and thats about it. But yeah, Brit does looked completely lethargic & like she could care less. Sad for her, because the song is actually HOT, and could be a hit. I already hward the Bimbo Jones remix out Saturday night. Speaking of hot, but kind of sad, went to the Jingle Ball here in Philly last night, where Timbaland debuted his collaboration with Justin & Madonna, “4 MINUTES TO SAVE THE WORLD”, which is the single the WB Execs are rumored to want as the 1st single off Madonna’s last disc for them. The beat was as infectious as ever, but sad to say, I wasn’t too impressed with either Justin’s vocals or Madonna’s! Maybe it was just the sound in the venue…
I will never like this song because that stupid breathless hiccuppy “OY-UH” drills into my brain and makes me want to hurt someone. It’s stupid, it’s out of place, and to see her try to lip synch it at the end of the video cracked me up. But if you could edit out that brain-stabbing travesty, I think it could be almost good.
She does at least manage a few facial expressions, hinting that maybe she kinda gets it, maybe she can laugh at herself and take a shot at the paps. But that’s all been done before. Though the juxtaposition of her “classy” hair vs. the barefoot-gas-station hair–I have to say that was a nice touch of irony.
PUH–LEEEZE, diehard fans like Mitch who like synthetic pop tarts are the reason this wreck is prolonging her 15 minutes of fame.
Cue to Mitch et al: find yourselves someone with actual talent to focus on.
People are always ready to find so much wrong with Britney….just realize that she has grown up as far as music is concerned…she cannot stay the little innocent one as in her last videos…change is good..I for one thought it was good…compared to what i see in other videos from the same type of music ie: London Bridge, My humps..plezzzzz give Britney a well deserved chance to put her pumps in the mix, she will soon turn your heads and make you dance, gimme more Britney.
Ally, just for the record, i own literally every Joni Mitchell CD she’s ever done, in case youre worried about my ability to appreciate talent and genius…
in my universe, enjoying disposable, hummable pop like Blackout isn’t exactly a character flaw
I’m not going to sit here and defend “My Humps” but that seems to be the one catching most of the lumps, not just in this thread, but also 2 weeks ago when the Grammy nominations were announced. For everyone complaining, y’all really should get of your high horses, cause NOT for nothin, but Fergie did alot more shakin’ of her bon-bon in that video than Britney has in BOTH this video AND “Gimme More”. Sure it might have been a weird song, but y’all loved it at the time, and still secretly hum along to it if it comes on. Seriously, stop acting holier than thou! I didn’t realize most of America was as A.D.D. riddled as I was!
Ehh… I’d stick to the wine.
It’s a good video and great song. It should be a huge hit.
Don’t you just love the that all the body shots are at a distance? Britney shot that video in 30 minutes tops.
Seriously? Has it been so long since Mtv played videos that we’ve forgotten what a good one looks like? This is terrible, cheap and lazy, and shouldn’t be called anything else.
I agree. If we look back at Mtv’s peak, the average video looked more like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1asAYQT4mA
Cinematography, a location, actors. You could see stuff like this all the time ten years ago. Now we put Britney is cheap jeans and a cheaper weave and discuss how awesome it is. We’ve all been tricked.
Phil, I hate “My Humps” and every song by Fergie.
I do sort of like this Brit song even if it is kind of computerized. It’s got a good beat. The video itself, I’ve seen better.
The song and video are boring. It really is like she’s sleep walking through the whole thing.
I think Britney’s downfall says less about her, and more about the public. When she was squeaky clean, everyone loved her. Now, after poor mothering skills and tabloid-driven life, suddenly everone claims to have never liked her to begin with. I can’t wait to see if she’ll ever be on top again, and how many people claim, “Oh I’ve always loved her!”
I agree with Phil. People love songs in the moment, but after a while, they feel embarrassed and claim that it was garbage all along.
That aside, the song is tight, but her eyes just look so lifeless. Plus, reading reports that she is ashamed of her body just makes the shots of her from the breasts up just sad. Two kids, and the female body still can’t catch a break from the judgmental public opinion.
One question: how many women out there woud KILL to have Britney’s current
‘fat’ body that is only shot from the waist up ?
our culture has gone insane; who can have any self esteem when these are the standards?
The Britney-paparazzi relationship is a mutual-benefit society. It’s kind of disgusting, in a “can’t look away” kind of way. As for the song and the video, though? Meh. Robbie Williams addressed the concept of people wanting a piece of him a lot better in “Rock DJ.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30fuj9ldnCg
The video isn’t great, but the song is.
I should warn PW’ers that the YouTube link I posted is NSFW and may disturb children and impressionable adults.
I’m tired of the Britney defenders. If she had actual talent, it would speak for itself.
If you like her CD, Mitch, good for you. But quit trying to come up with reasons why everyone else MUST like it too. There are plenty of people out there who sing better and who do pop music better than Britney. Her album tanked, and her 15 minutes will be up as soon as she stops courting the paparazzi.
Yeah. I’m really not getting people saying the song and the video are good. I think it’s awful. I just about fall asleep halfway through. And I can’t even take her seriously in the video. Let’s see…I’m world famous, tons of money, how can I get more exposure? I know! Instead of sending my latest assistant/BFF to get my Starbucks latte, I’ll get it myself, knowing 20 photographers will be following me. I’ll then do something insane while I’m there (run over a foot, shave my head, cuss, drive poorly). Then I’ll have someone else write a song about it. That’s it!! Oh! And I’ll declare that I’m back…hoes!