Critics Slam Britney Spears' 2007 VMA Performance

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Britney Spears' VMA Performance was anything but a comeback and many people had interesting commentary about it. Here's a list of some critics and some celebrities commenting on the failed performance.

What the Critics Said:

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? So why was Britney Spears' totally lame, pathetically lip-synched Video Music Awards performance at the Palms Casino last night allowed to be seen by the rest of the world?

Spears was stuffed into a spangled bra and hot pants and jiggled like Jell-O as she sleepwalked through the song.
New York Post

Out-of-synch lip-synching. Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing home. The paunch in place of Spears' once-taut belly. At times she just stopped singing, as if even she knew nothing could save her performance.
AP Cincinnati

Britney Spears' black bikini sparkled, but her "comeback" performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last night fell as flat as her ill-fitting blond weave…Glassy-eyed and out of step, Britney seemed lost in a sea of pole dancers and overmuscled male models who groped her so much she wasn't even mouthing the words by the time her number ended.
NY Daily News

As in most train wrecks, it was hard to focus on just one thing as the Britney Spears disaster unfolded on MTV's Video Music Awards. There was just so much that went wrong. Out-of-synch lip-synching. Lethargic movements that seemed choreographed by a dance instructor for a nursing home. The paunch in place of Spears' once-taut belly. At times she just stopped singing, as if even she knew nothing could save her performance.
Yahoo-AP

Sexy never looked so sad.
LA Times

What the Celebrities Said:

Kanye West
“I have no words.”

Common
"It felt like her heart wasn't in it. It didn't feel like she was really goin' for it. It just felt like she was there, man," he added. "There's so much talk about her personal life, you wanna see her come out on top. She eventually still can. But that performance, I don't think it was what we were lookin' for ... to light it up."

50 Cent
"I told you outside, she was gonna be the hottest thing, and she did it, she worked it out. Yeah, she had a big production, things started coming out of the sky." But then he changed the subject to another performer: "Chris brown was hot too, he jumped from table to table."

Nicole Scherzinger
- "It's hard because being an artist like myself, I don't like it when I'm not in front of the house and I can't hear the monitors properly. ... I dunno, it was cool, I was just sending her good vibes the whole time."

Britney Spears , Quote Unquote , Award Shows

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Reader Comments

2:07PM 10/09/07 x.DAWN.CLARK.x

i DONT KNOW HOW BRiTNEY CAN CALL HERSELF FAT =O i MEAN OK SHES NOT AS STiCK THiN AS SHE WAS WEN SHE WAS A TEENAGER BUT SHE NOT FAT SHE HAS STiLL GOT AN iNCREDiBLE FiGURE =D AND i LOVE BRiTNEYS NEW SONG AS WELL .. i THiNK THE PERFORMANCE WOOD HAVE BEEN BETTER iF SHE HAD WAiTED A BiT LONGER TO MAKE A COMEBACK iT WAS ALL TOO MUCH TOO SOON .x

2:26PM 09/16/07 whooo

I DONT think she was fat,although would it have hurt to wear less revealing clothing? If she had just covered up some their probably wouldnt be such a big scandal about her weight - which was like 50% of the problem- I mean that is the most revealing I have seen her wear to a perfomrmance and it's after having TWO kids. As for Sarah silverman she should keep her comments to herself, id like to see her try that!

9:08PM 09/15/07 Nebbe

Britney will bounce back just wait and see and all her critics will choke on their words ! YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!!

1:35PM 09/12/07 R-nard

Britney is going Michael Jackson on us.. Despite advice from people looking out for her best intrests, she is such a big star that she thinks she has all the answeres... Well Brit... This is where your best thinking has gotten you.. When you find yourself in a hole... Stop digging. Someone had to tell her that despite her (in my opinion) still rocking bod, that that outfit did nothing for her. And I read MTV execs told her just that. And if I managed her I would have said no f'n way are you going through with this performance.. It's completely unprofessional and sloppy! Maybe someone would have if she showed up for rehersal! Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for Britney because she is a completely lost soul. I think everyone looks at her and thinks "I could help her if she were my friend." She needs love and good advice... But the reality is she pushes people who help her right out of her life. Brit.. If you are after a comeback it's time to get to work. It takes practice, hardwork, and a clear head... It's time to focus!!! You know what it took to get there... And it takes even more to stay there... YOU CAN DO IT! But it's time to cut the shlt!

12:53AM 09/12/07 Julie

I generally don't keep up with anything like this, but I just had to put my 2 cents in. I just wanted to say that most of the critics, as well as other performing artists and fans, have absolutely no business judging Spears' weight. Hell, if I had two kids I would kill to have her figure! The truth of the matter is, we've seen far heavier and much uglier people on stage. (Chris Farley...hello, he made a killing showing his off.) Leave it to current society to shoot down someone trying to get back out there and do what she loves. I agree that she's a bit too old now to be wearing attire like that and should also dress a bit more discreetly considering she's a mother, but all in all her weight is not the issue...Britney's attempt to reinstate her career is, at least for many. (By the way, all of this is coming from a person that has no weight issues whatsoever, not an overweight Britney groupie as many would think.)

9:43AM 09/12/07 Sabrina

Ok..Britney Spears is not FAT...She gained baby weight and she still trying to lose it...Give the women a BREAK people...She looks good for having kids...But her hair is real bad, and I feel bad for her, cause the show wasnt all that good, I dont really like singers lip singing...Thats means there not artists anymore...Over all BRITNEY ISNT FAT...Your FAT...LOL....

5:50AM 09/12/07 Tchiya

I think Britney Spears did her best up there on stage. Being through all she has recently and the eyes of the world on her all the time, its hard for her to feel secure and not think about what people are thinking and what the media will write and say about her! Life is a bitch and Britney has suffered and is still going through alot. I don't think she deserves all that she has been through, even though she is used to having what she wants ever since she was little (who wouldn't want that). She should be left alone, treated with respect and given the custody of her kids no matter what kind of life she leads I think she is capable of taking care of them (she has the money to secure that) (not the money greedy of a so called Kevin,by the way where was he when his ex girlfriend had their child?, ofcourse she had no money...). I'm not a big fun of Britney, but I think enough is enough, let the woman breathe!!!

8:17PM 09/11/07 Vikki

OOPS I DID IT AGAIN.................... NOTTTTTTTTTT......

6:07PM 09/11/07 NoNo

GET IT TOGETHER BRIT! I never liked her, but come on. I do hope she gets her life back in line. No one deserves that misery.

1:00PM 09/11/07 janeil

hi. i was interested in this topic so i read the forum. I didnt catch the vma's so i wanted to see how britney did because like many, im hopin she'll climb out of the rut she's in right now and put on a great performance. Although it was a complete mess, there had to be something on the go for it to be so bad..but for everyone to say stuff like wishing she'd die and so on really trips me out as to how people are, when you can't see their faces. You guys need to relax and stop hating things or people you dont know or understand. Seriously, because it is wierd and it is gross.

12:50AM 09/11/07 Les

All I have to say, is she did try! I think that she looked hot ...for having 2 kids and looking that good, come on!! all of those critics saying she looked FAT! is just wrong..that is the main reason , hospitals are overflowin with anorexics!! Welcome back Brit!

12:41AM 09/11/07 Jen#2

People are way too hard on her. Yes the performance wasn't good but it just wasn't bad enough to warrant the hate that she is getting. She's obviously a depressed girl that doesn't know how to be an adult, because no one ever taught her to be one. As for her body, I thought she looked good, she had a kid less than a year ago. Anyone who says she looks fat needs to have their head examined,she looks better than most woman, even before they have a baby.

12:13AM 09/11/07 cher

OMG she is not in bad shape, please she is not 16 anymore and she has given birth.

9:17AM 09/11/07 anonymous

Britney got hired to do a job...she failed. There is no way she should have been partying, too much was at stake. Obviously she knew this and didn't care, or she keeps believing all the hype about how wonderful she is...like the guys over at X17...they are whitewashing the whole incident. She's not fat...she has had two babies, women's bodies change after childbirth. Britney, for some reason, still thinks she is the Britney of 3-4 years ago. She is determined to be that Britney again, but it isn't going to happen. She's far away from that girl. Time for Brit to pack up the babies, move out of LaLa land to a "real" place, focus on her kids and getting the help she needs. Maybe then she could really plan the comeback she needs.Until she realizes though that she needs help, it will never happen.

8:53AM 09/11/07 vanessa

It may be true that Brit had only 24 hours to learn her routine, but it is also true that she was with diddy and other people partying all nite and not practicing her routine. Please give everyone a break. If the average woman was doing half the things she does (partying etc) her kids would be taken away from her. It is a known fact she will not listen to anyone (hence the firing of numerous assistants, stylist etc). She needs to hit rock bottom and hopefully this it it. I feel bad for those two little boys.

8:34AM 09/11/07 Heather

Its funny how everyone that has something bad to say about Britney cant even put a complete sentence together. Id love to see you all get on stage in that outfit and pull that off without anyone saying anything bad about you...

6:07AM 09/11/07 Down To Earth

On E news last night they confirmed the VMA's nixed Britney's original performance at the last minute. Britney had to learn a new routine for the show in less than 24 hours. So considering I think she did pretty damn good. The VMA's did this to Britney, she was prepared but not to learn a new show in such a short time. I think all of you people need to stop being so judgemental of this girl. She is human and has feelings also, if I was Britney I would have kicked that comics ass on stage right on TV and then told the VMA's to kiss my ass. They can diss Brit all they want but they went to far when they involved her children.

4:42AM 09/11/07 loo loo

MTV.com has the clip up. you know they won't take it down either, they're just happy she "failed" like they knew she would. what a twisted plot.

11:54PM 09/10/07 binda

If I were Britney, I'd do the video asap with the smoke and mirrors and get it out on MTV within the week. I wouldn't sit on my hands. Besides, she tried. I know for sure that I couldn't get up on live television and sing/dance.

10:41PM 09/10/07 hady

britney had a bad start for her comeback at least she gave her all....

10:27PM 09/10/07 joe bates

Ok for the Press to knock her is way out of line, the LA Times, NY Press and whom ever stupid news paper out there you all need to stop it!! Lay off Britney I bet some of you would give your left nut, left boob or what ever to have as much $$ that Britney has, I say she looks great, Id date her, she has great talent, shes been through alot. Put yourself in her shoes and see what its like for you! Shes doing what she can, when she can. From me to Britney Keep up the good work girl.

9:08PM 09/10/07 JimmyC

I'm trying to find the perfomance online. I want to see her simply because I was in college when her songs first came out, and I danced with this hot exchange student from England while listening to her music. The English check was hot, so Brit has sentimental value. Please tell me where I can find a clip, espeically since YouTube has been wiping every copy that goes up.

8:31PM 09/10/07 YOU PEOPLE ARE SICK IN THE HEAD

I agree with an earlier post. I think we need to stop bashing Britney and feel some sympathy for the woman. To see a woman so young, so vulnerable to the public eye day by day go from bad to worse, and to point it out and poke fun at it is ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. You might as well make fun of mentally ill people, or disabled people. Britney Spears needs to STOP being the butt of people's jokes. She feels like everyone is looking down upon her, how would that make you feel? At least before when people would bash her she had a confidence and success to shove it off. What does she have now??? She just ended her marriage, has 2 kids, is clearly on a destructive path, and overall is NOT happy. I can't believe critics even have the BALLS to make fun of her. It's absolutely disgusting. These critics are SICK IN THE HEAD. They need to get over themselves. Since when did old 40 year olds try and tell me whats cool and what's not.

8:30PM 09/10/07 YOUHAVENOIDEA

I would like to see ALLL OF YOU FREAKING PEOPLE WHO POSTED TRY JUST TRY AND DO WHAT SHE HAS DONE OR GO THROUGH WHAT SHE IS GOING THROUGH WITH THE MEDIA ALL OVER YOUR ASS! LEAVE HER THE F#%$ ALONE! NONE OF YOU COULD POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE IS GOING AND HAS GONE THROUGH! NONE OF YOU MAKE HALF AS MUCH MONEY AS SHE DOES AND NONE OF YOU WERE ON MTV LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! SO WHAT! Who gives a rats ass if she came out in a bra and panties. Plenty of other stars come out in worse. Dear lord. Are we going to sit here and judge? Then go judge your parents and your grandparents for the shit they did when they were younger too. We all screw up! We all make mistakes, WE ALL GO THROUGH HARD TIMES! But we also don't have the media all over our asses! Back off of Brit! She is really talented, she has to figure things out on her own. She has sold a lot of records and she was really popular at once. You know what, so were a lot of other stars! That is what happens! They can't live forever with their careers! That takes a FREAKING BUTT LOAD OF GUTS TO GET UP IN FRONT OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AND MEDIA KNOWING WHAT THEY WILL AND CAN SAY ABOUT YOU! GIVE HER A FREAKING BREAK! She needs one badly.

8:16PM 09/10/07 Joey

How would you feel as a new mother to have everyone watching and critisizing every move you make. So what she had a bad night - leave the girl alone let her live her life

7:52PM 09/10/07 Britney Fan

I truly feel the critics have been totally unfair to Britney. She is a mother, Yes! But she is not dead. What does going out and partying have to deal with being a good mother. If she left the kids alone, then the criticism would be warranted but they were with a nanny for crying out loud. So if I am hearing the critics correctly. If you are a mother, you don't have the right to go out and party? Her actions are magnified a million times because she is Britney Spears. I thought she looked hot. She has had two kids! What mother looks like that after two kids. I have seen mothers with two kids and they by far do not look like that. How would you like it if you lived under a microscope. Give her a break. She is going to be successful because of the controversy. So did anyone remember the Nelly Furtado nightmare a few years ago with Fly like a Bird. You wanna talk about lip synching. Let's talk about Lip synching. She sound awful live so she should investigate lip synching. Back off the Brit.

5:56PM 09/10/07 love britney

i dont knwo..i give her major credit for just going on stage and not backing out. considering the show was going not as planned from the beginning. she would have been slammed for backing out so it was a lose lose situation. you can tell she was not confident in the performance as she just couldnt look to the audience after she finished her performance and just went off. she will recover. she's britney FN spears! people will let her stupidity slide as soon as she comes back with a better performance. im glad her brother was there to comfort her after the performance! and to someone who said britney was spoiled from the day she was born..dont say anything if you dont know anything about her. her family has gone through rough financial problems from the time she was a little girl. like having to eat ice cream for dinner because that was all they had in the fridge. i dont think that qualifies as a spoiled life. as far as britney bombing her performance..i think she really needed it. now im sure she would like to lay low and recover from such humiliation. time for family support. i wish britney the best. i know she wil lcome back stronger.

5:42PM 09/10/07 Kerrianne

Its soooo ovius that she was lip sining. she needs serious help! shes so ugly and annoying!

5:34PM 09/10/07 Joe D

I dont care, maybe the performance wasnt all that great, maybe she just looked like she didnt even want to be there at all. But I really dont fuckin care. She is BRITNEY fucking SPEARS. I love her, always have, always will. But i know shes been through a lot, that shitbag of an ex husband destroyed her and now is trying to take her kids and money. What a fuckin loser, and he did all of this so he could have his little 15 minutes, even though no one liked him at all in the first fuckin place. What a loser. long live Britney, i cant wait to get her album and see her restore her thrown.

4:59PM 09/10/07 Morgan

All I can say is WOW. I was waiting all night to see this performance because I knew it would suck. I just wanted a good laugh! I felt kinda bad for her because she was the "pop princess" for sometime I guess. But I fell extremely bad for her children! Anyways...She sucked really bad. She was on some kind of drugs!

4:23PM 09/10/07 marguerite

WAIT. at least she showed up? she deserves at least a little credit..

4:16PM 09/10/07 ali,morocco

I think she needs helps because she struggling with her personal life, I think as a fan we can wait for her and this performance and this come back is very soon she needs first to fix things in her life and then go back to sing because honestly who would like to sing if she/he risk to loose her/his children and have no relation with her/his parents...we love u britney take ur time be well and then come back we'll wait

4:06PM 09/10/07 This is sad

Britney is the stupidest girl in the world. She was born so spoiled she never had a normal life and reality check fast! Shes plain nasty. Someone get a belt and beat her butt with it!

3:58PM 09/10/07 marguerite

Wellll I'm just all around speechless. I knew in the back of my mind it wasn't gonna be that great but i really wanted this to be her big comeback. she's rocked every VMA performance since last night.. say wahtever you want about media and weight issues and anerexia but she REALLy shouldn't have worn that anyways... i am extremely disappointed at this performance.

3:43PM 09/10/07 hmm

poor britney. its one thing to slam people when they are doing good in their personal life etc, but some of the things people are saying really says a lot about most people. i know britney has all but herself to blame, but look at what all the mess she went through with the failed marriage, ex husband wanting money, people decieving her, broken family relations..i mean..her life is crap right now. and her performance reflected that. lets judge if she is still the britney we knew once she gets her life on track.

2:39PM 09/10/07 me in oc

OMG.. SHE IS NO WHRE NEAR WHERE SHE ONCE WAS. I DON'T LKE HER BUT I THOUGHT SHE WOULD ROCK THE SHOW... AND SHE BOMBED.. WHY DOESN'T SHE JUST LAY LOW FOREVER!! PLEASE BRIT BRIT DO US ALL A FAVOR AND DIE! OR JUST GO AWAY.

2:15PM 09/10/07 Diane

She needs to sit down somewhere and stop it and give it up. look just accept that your 25 mins of fame is up. don't do this to yourself again okay!!!!

2:09PM 09/10/07 christina

she needs god!!!

2:06PM 09/10/07 greygroose5

I feel so bad for her.I really think she lost it when all that drama she went through with her life.IF I met her i would give her a big hug and hear her out.She needs some true friends.Im rooting for U Brit hang in there!

1:58PM 09/10/07 rica

i wasnt shocked or surprise by her performance i knew she was going to do something stupid i mean come on look how shes acting? why would pple to shocked???? she needs to get a bitch slap maybe that could bring sense into her!! to be honest why should we feel sorry for her? everyone looks for what they get!!!! shes running around like if shes a 15yr shes a mom now of two gorgous boys she needs to get it together!!!!

1:43PM 09/10/07 VMA - Just Awful

She is clearly not fat, but is in no way "in shape" enough to have worn stripper clothes last night. My heavens that was awful, but I couldn't help watch. This is not the end.....I think it will get worse. Much worse.

1:41PM 09/10/07 psush_girl

i actually just feel really bad for britney. i was rooting for her, but her performance was horrible. and i *knew* somebody was gonna criticize the way she looked. however, in reality, she looked amazing for just having 2 kids. and i don't really think anything was wrong w/ the way she looked, unless you're talking about the vacant look in her eyes. betty is right to think that all these critics dissing her for being "out of shape" are bad influences for young girls. they're basically saying that you have to have a taut stomach to be attractive. and that's sooooo not the case. also, the reason the performance was bad was because she did a horrible job lip-synching, her moves were dead, and she didn't look like she even cared or put any feeling into it.

1:14PM 09/10/07 Just my honest opinion

I feel bad for Britney. I hoped her performance would've rocked the house, but it didn't. I do think that maybe we don't know all that happened to make it a lackluster performance. Maybe it's true that MTV pulled the plug on what her performance was going to be and made her change. Maybe that was her "F you, MTV!!!" response. Who knows.

12:48AM 09/10/07 Marie

Don't see why people thought she was so talented before this performance, she basically does the same thing over and over, people have their hands on her she shakes a little, tosses the hair....boring!!!!!!!

12:22AM 09/10/07 thank you cali

You are so right, she is already a bad role model to young girls-with all her partying, not being responible for her children, frequent "trip" to the bathroom...what is that saying to these young impressionable kids...that it is okay to not be a true parent and take responsibility for your actions.

12:06AM 09/10/07 cali

Betty - I don't think anyone would have criticized her body if she had worn something more appropriate to the fact that did have 2 kids and doesn't have the hard body that she used to. In no way is she in shape to wear a frickin bra and panties onstage!!! By the way she is a bad role-model for young girls in a million other ways already...

11:57AM 09/10/07 KAYCIE

SHE WILL COME BACK AND REINVENT HERSELF, THEY ALWAYS DO. JUST GOTTA GIVE HER TIME. THE ONLY WAY SHE IS GOING TO GET HELP IS IF SHE WANTS IT. UNTIL THEN PEOPLE SHOULD JUST LEAVE HER THE HELL ALONE.

11:49AM 09/10/07 Betty

OMG people need to STOP saying that Britney is out of shape. The media can be so irresponsible -- if young girls look at her and then hear people make fun of her body, what will they think about themselves? Our society has become so distorted by extremes that we can't tell what healthy looks like anymore. The critics won't be happy until Britney Spears is an anorexic, which is very sad. Britney has had two kids, she is strong and in great shape, and she looks way better than any of those skinny stars popular today.

11:33AM 09/10/07 miss thang

Umm Jen...her mom TRIED to be there for Britney, but Brit DISSED her mom and WROTE her out of her life. There isn't nothing poor about Brit but her kids...I feel sorry for them not her. She is a GROWN ASS WOMAN who is acting like a child. She needs to get her shit together and quit trying to maintain a life in the lime light.

11:21AM 09/10/07 Jen

She has been through so much. Everyone has bad days. I feel bad for her. I hope things soon start going right for her. No one should go through what she's been through. Her mom should be there for her.

11:12AM 09/10/07 Julie

Great song bad performance. I was rooting for her. I never was a fan but she's been through so much. Right now she's kind of the under dog so I was hoping she'd pull it together. Maybe someday she will.

11:06AM 09/10/07 Scarleth

I feel really bad for Britney she was such a good star and she has lost even her parents for the way she acts. Even her sister is embarresed by her sister and says she wants to be nothing like her sister.

10:19AM 09/10/07 Lala

tHESE CRITICS SAID IT BEST.

10:12AM 09/10/07 jenn

I feel bad for her. She has lost that spark in her eye. Her eyes are totally dead and show no emotion. Either she is on drugs, or she is depressed. She needs help. Maybe she should hire a life coach.

9:31AM 09/10/07 Stefy

it is sad when courtney love is more togetehr then britney