Britney Spears
Britney Spears was just 7 or 8 years old when she felt the drive to perform. She tried out for Micky Mouse Club when she was 8 years old but it wasn't until she was 11 years old that she got the part. she was on the show for only two years. For the next few years, she focused on school and playing sports but her desire to sing and get back on the stage was calling her. In 1998 at the age of 17, she released her first single Baby One More Time. This song was a hit from the time that it came out in less than a year it was at the top of the billboards and sold 25 million copies. with this accomplishment, she received multiple awards. In 2000 she released Oops... I did it Again selling more than a million in the first week. From then until 2017 her songs were up and down in the billboards as she released new songs here and there. Her biggest hit was Toxic which was released in 2003. This song won her a Grammy at the 47th Grammy Awards. Max Martian is known to have written many of Britney Spears's songs although she did write some of her own.
with Toxic being her number-one hit I think that would be the best to showcase that one first. The composers of this song are Cathey Dennis, Christian Karisson, Henrik Jonback, and Pontus Winnberg. It also didn't have Britney in mind when the song was written.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU
The next song that I think deserves the second spot for a showcase is ...Baby One More Time. This song was written by Max Martian and performed by Britney Spears. This was the start of her career and also her image. The outfit that was worn for this music video was very controversial for the young audience but began to allow people to express themselves. Since this music video came out though it did seem like she was stuck with that image for the rest of her career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-u5WLJ9Yk4
Her music has always had this electric fun to it. I feel like they are a teenage girl's dream. the tempo of her songs is poppy and fun and there's a feeling of warmth and nostalgia when listening to them. When I listened to these two songs for the purpose of this blog post it took me back to when I was 16 driving my car with my friends as were screaming the song at the top of our lungs. Even at that time, the songs were going on 20 years old but the popularity was still there. Britney was a performer through and through. Although she did write some of her own songs her main job was to showcase the work of other writers. She was entertaining and put on amazing shows that kept people talking for years to come. One of the performances that really struck people was when she performed on stage with an albino cobra.
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But anyway, I think you pinpointed one of the things that makes Britney Spears such a memorable performer: her (almost peppy) energy — that element of “electric fun.” There’s something about her voice (a dry lightness, maybe) that lends itself to those quick, bouncing ups and downs, which give so much distinct energy to her performances. For example, try to imagine Adele performing these songs — the feeling is completely different! Spears’s voice also seems to evoke a childlike quality, though the subject matter is far from innocent — perhaps part of her early popularity also stemmed from that contrast of semi-childish tone and adult subject matter.
Besides the music, she really seems to embody that youthful and catchy (“poppy”) teenage energy as an overall performer, as we can see when she’s bouncing around in the music video for “Baby One More Time.” Youth is definitely a characteristic she seems to play up in her early work; it makes me wonder if her later performances are as effective, or if she’s had to change tack a little. I’m not really a “pop” person, so it’s hard to tell for me. Listening to snippets of her more recent work, she certainly still sounds young and energetic (in her early 40s).