|
Music:
Britney Spears
First, a few statistics. She's 20 years old and has sold 46 million records,
of which nearly a million have been in Japan. She's been featured on eight
Japanese magazine covers, compared to one each for Jennifer Lopez and
Destiny's Child. Next to the Backstreet Boys, she's Japan's most-liked
international musical artist.
Ready Japan? Tickets go on sale for Spears' one-off Tokyo Dome show on
March 10. In the meantime, she'll be making a quick visit to Japan to
promote her forthcoming movie, Crossroads (www.crosscroadsmovie.com).
Starring Britney in a cross-country road movie, the film opened in the
US on Feb 15, and is slated to hit Japan in May.
As the first singer to star in a movie since Mariah Carey's Glitter disaster,
Spears might be feeling a bit jittery. But if so, she didn't show it at
the Feb 12 premiere. Arriving with her boyfriend, Justin Timberlake of
*NSync, Spears told reporters, "I'm very, very happy with the movie…But
it's not even so much about it being the biggest movie in the world, as
long as my fans can go to it and be touched by it…"
 |
The famously virginal Spears loses her virginity in an off-camera scene,
but says it was necessary for the storyline. "Actually, the writer
came up with that," she commented. "It was in the script. It
totally fitted. I thought it was necessary for the character."
Meanwhile, Spears' latest album, simply named Britney, topped out on
Japan's Oricon album chart at number four, soon after its Oct 2001 release
knocked Michael Jackson's latest off the top of the US charts. The album
depicted a singer trying to navigate the difficult transition from Lolitaesque
girl-idol to full-fledged adult sex symbol.
Spears commented on this transition, portrayed in the song "I'm
Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," in a lengthy interview in the December
edition of Rolling Stone. "First, I think it's a great thing to be
sexy," said the notorious navel-barer. "I think it's a beautiful
thing to be sexy, and I think women should be proud of their bodies. And
if I wanna show my belly in a video or show a bit of cleavage, I just
don't see anything wrong with that."
In the same interview, the Kentwood, Louisiana native also took on her
detractors who say she is manufactured by the media. "It's just so
lame that people would say that," she said. "When I first got
signed…I was 16 years old…They were trying to boss me around…Then
more recently, with the second and third albums, I began to take more
control."
So what can Tokyo expect? Spears' just-completed Dream Within a Dream
tour featured a rotating stage, bungee action, and eight backup dancers.
See www.britneyspears.com for
current news and complete information.
Britney Spears plays Tokyo Dome on April 25. See listings for details.
Photos: Kyodo Tokyo
|
