The Circus Starring: Britney Spears, commonly referred to as The Circus Tour, was the sixth concert tour by American pop singer Britney Spears in support of her sixth studio album Circus. The tour reached North America, Europe and Australia. This tour was the first during which Spears has toured in Australia.

It was her first world tour in five years, following The Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004. It has become the highest grossing tour of 2009 in the US and the third highest grossing tour worldwide, grossing US$92.2 million in its North American ticket sales alone. On August 19, 2009, Spears official website announced that the tour was nominated for Billboard/Eventful Fans' Choice competition for "Best Concert of the Year".

Background

Shortly after the New York radio station Z100 premiered her new song, "Womanizer", Spears made a surprise appearance on the show and announced she would be going on a worldwide tour in spring of 2009 to support the album. The tour was officially announced on December 2, 2008 to coincide with the album's release. Wade Robson and his wife Amanda were going to direct and write the tour, but decided not to in order to focus on one of their own projects. Rehearsals for the tour began in January 2009, in preparation for a March kick off. So far, the tour has sold over 2,000,000 tickets and all the London dates on the European leg have sold out. As the tour approached commencement, it was revealed that gossip blogger, Perez Hilton, appears in a video to be shown during the opening of the show.



Additionally, magician, Ed Alonzo joins Spears on stage during a magic act. He commented about working with Spears, “She does all the classic elements of magic. Britney loves magic and really enjoys doing it. She dances so hard in the show, she gets a little break when I saw her in half or transport her from one place to end up in another. She looks incredibly toned and in fantastic shape. She has to dance really hard with all the dance crew kind of moves with hip-hop and tumbling. She works her tail off.”

Tour promoter AEG Live's president John Meglen spoke with the Las Vegas Sun about the tour, "It is one of the biggest and best-selling tours of the decade. Response and reaction has been phenomenal worldwide, and this weekend date at MGM is the highest ticket-selling gross so far. European fans cannot wait for her to get there, and in many, many venues, the tickets have been sold out instantly, and we’ve had to juggle dates to add more shows to meet the demand."

The Las Vegas Deluxe reported that "the stage alone costs $10 million to build as an intricate jigsaw puzzle, and it costs $6 million a week just to keep the tour running with its road staff of 220 -- plus the cast of circus performers! The stage gear, including sex swings, love couches, unicycles, stripper poles, a gold cage and giant picture frames, travels in some 3,000 rolling cases packed into 32 semis -- plus wardrobe for Britney and the onstage performers."

The traveling staff for the tour consists of over 200 people, 50 of them being dancers, magicians, clowns and acrobats, and 6 full-time wardrobe staff to keep the 350 costumes in order. Additionally the entire wardrobe includes around $150,000 worth of Swaroski crystals. 150 technical crew are used each night to set up the staging, lighting, rigging and special effects, and it takes approximately 12 hours to build the entire set for each show. 34 trucks are used to transport the 60 tons of equipment. In addition, the budget of the tour was revealed to be of US$ 50 million.

On July 26, 2009 it was confirmed by one of Spears's managers via Twitter that the tour will not be visiting South America, despite their efforts to try and bring the tour there.

On November 12, 2009, it was confirmed by manager Adam Leber that there will not be a DVD of the show.

Concert synopsis

The show begins with a video introduction featuring Perez Hilton parodying Queen Elizabeth I. Spears appears in the video from behind a curtain and shoots the inflatable ball he is seated on with a crossbow, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. As the video ends, the curtain goes up and she descends on a suspended platform, dressed in ringleader attire, to perform "Circus". At the conclusion of the song, she enters a golden cage, where she performs "Piece of Me", dancing and attempting to escape from her dancers. A brief interlude follows, featuring a performance by acrobats simulating a thunderstorm, before Spears goes into "Radar" which features her pole dancing on each of the stage's rings.

An interlude follows, showcasing a martial arts inspired dance to the LAZRtag remix of "Gimme More". Ed Alonzo appears on the stage next to a box and then magically makes Spears appear. She then plays his assistant and performs "Ooh Ooh Baby" dressed in a glittery dress, as she is sawed in half and escapes from a box, only to reappear on the other end of the stage, performing "Hot as Ice" in a different outfit. A brief pause occurs as Spears puts on a military jacket, and then she performs the Co-Ed remix of "Boys", which includes movements on the back of bicycles. At the end of the song she performs a military drill with her male dancers before moving into "If U Seek Amy" which features her dancing and hitting the male dancers with a pink mallet. She goes under the stage to change while some spiritual music plays and mist surrounds the stage. She then returns to continue the act with a Bollywood-inspired remix of "Me Against the Music". After the song ends, she briefly talks with the audience before she takes seat on a giant umbrella and is lifted into the air to perform "Everytime".

The show continues with a video interlude featuring Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams", showing Spears in a classically decadent party-setting, in which everyone except her is wearing masks. A distorted voice welcomes spectators to the freak show and Spears appears onstage to perform "Freakshow" with her dancers, all of them representing different rarities. She then moves onto "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)", which features the dancers taking their clothes off as the song moves forward. A video spoofing late-night chat lines features "Britney's Hotline" plays while clowns take a person from the audience and goof around with them before Spears returns to perform a medley of "Breathe on Me" and "Touch of My Hand" which includes dancing on picture frames in the air and being lifted into the air by two aerialists.

Near the conclusion of the show, there is a band interlude, and Spears appears on stage to perform "Do Somethin'" and a remix of "I'm a Slave 4 U", in which she's raised on a platform as a ring of fire starts below her. After "Heartbeat", an interlude where the dancers show their individual moves, Spears appears to perform "Toxic" with movie fence carts and a remix of "…Baby One More Time".

After a brief pause, the encore begins with the "Break the Ice" video interlude, which includes various clips of Spears' music videos. Spears returns for a performance of "Womanizer" dressed as a policewoman. At the end of the song, Spears and her dancers gather on the center stage as a wall of fireworks (similar to her "Circus" video) surrounds them. Following this, "Circus" begins to play again and Spears and her dancers then bow to each side of the arena, before they head to the left side stage. Spears' and her dance crew either dance around the left circle stage, or bow as they leave the stage.

Opening acts

Set list

Act 1: The Circus

• Welcome to the Circus (Video Introduction)
• "Circus"
• "Piece of Me"
• Thunderstorm (Performance Interlude)
• "Radar"

Act 2: House of Fun (Anything Goes)

• Martial Arts Segue (Performance Interlude) (features LAZRtag Remix of "Gimme More")
• Medley:
  • "Ooh Ooh Baby"
  • "Hot as Ice"
• "Boys" (The Co-Ed Remix)
• "If U Seek Amy"
• "You Oughta Know" (Alanis Morissette cover) (September 5-18, 2009)
• "Me Against the Music" (Bollywood Remix)
• "Everytime"

Act 3: Freakshow/Peepshow

• Everybody's Looking for Something (Video Interlude) (features "Sweet Dreams ")
• "Freakshow"
• "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)"
• "Mannequin" (July 5-26, 2009)
• Britney's Hotline (Performance Interlude) (contains elements of "Breathe on Me", with excerpts of "Boys", "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Gimme More")
• Medley:
  • "Breathe on Me"
  • "Touch of My Hand" (removed September 1, 2009)

Act 4: Electro Circ

• Band Jam Segue (Band Interlude)
• "Do Somethin'"
• "I'm a Slave 4 U"(Remix)
• Heartbeat (Dance Interlude) (featuring "Lollipop", "American Boy", "Don't Stop the Music", "Closer" and other songs)
• "Toxic"
• "...Baby One More Time" (Remix)

Encore

• "Break the Ice" (Video Interlude) (contains excerpts of "Gimme More" and "I'm a Slave 4 U")
• "Womanizer"
• Circus Reprise: The Bow

Source:

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
March 3, 2009	New Orleans	United States	New Orleans Arena
March 5, 2009	Atlanta		Philips Arena
March 7, 2009	Miami		American Airlines Arena
March 8, 2009	Tampa		St. Pete Times Forum
March 11, 2009	Uniondale		Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 13, 2009	Newark		Prudential Center
March 14, 2009
March 16, 2009	Boston		TD Banknorth Garden
March 18, 2009	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre
March 19, 2009
March 20, 2009	Montreal		Bell Centre
March 23, 2009	Uniondale	United States	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 24, 2009	Washington D.C.		Verizon Center
March 27, 2009	Pittsburgh		Mellon Arena
March 30, 2009	Houston		Toyota Center
March 31, 2009	Dallas		American Airlines Center
April 2, 2009	Kansas City		Sprint Center
April 3, 2009	Minneapolis		Target Center
April 6, 2009	Edmonton	Canada	Rexall Place
April 8, 2009	Vancouver		GM Place
April 9, 2009	Tacoma	United States	Tacoma Dome
April 11, 2009	Sacramento		ARCO Arena
April 12, 2009	San Jose		HP Pavilion at San Jose
April 14, 2009	Salt Lake City		EnergySolutions Arena
April 16, 2009	Los Angeles		Staples Center
April 17, 2009
April 19, 2009	Anaheim		Honda Center
April 20, 2009
April 22, 2009	Oakland		Oracle Arena
April 24, 2009	Phoenix		Jobing.com Arena
April 25, 2009	Las Vegas		MGM Grand Garden Arena
April 28, 2009	Chicago		Allstate Arena
April 29, 2009
April 30, 2009	Columbus		Jerome Schottenstein Center
May 2, 2009	Uncasville		Mohegan Sun Arena
May 3, 2009
May 5, 2009	Montreal	Canada	Bell Centre
Europe
June 3, 2009	London	England	The O2 Arena
June 4, 2009
June 6, 2009
June 7, 2009
June 10, 2009
June 11, 2009
June 13, 2009
June 14, 2009
June 17, 2009	Manchester		Manchester Evening News Arena
June 19, 2009	Dublin	Ireland	The O2
June 20, 2009
July 4, 2009	Paris	France	Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
July 5, 2009
July 6, 2009
July 9, 2009	Antwerp	Belgium	Sportpaleis
July 11, 2009	Copenhagen	Denmark	Parken Stadium
July 13, 2009	Stockholm	Sweden	Ericsson Globe
July 14, 2009
July 16, 2009	Helsinki	Finland	Hartwall Arena
July 19, 2009	St. Petersburg	Russia	Ice Palace
July 21, 2009	Moscow		Olympisky Arena
July 26, 2009	Berlin	Germany	O2 World
North America
August 20, 2009	Hamilton	Canada	Copps Coliseum
August 21, 2009	Ottawa		Scotiabank Place
August 24, 2009	New York City	United States	Madison Square Garden
August 25, 2009
August 26, 2009
August 29, 2009	Boston		TD Garden
August 30, 2009	Philadelphia		Wachovia Center
September 1, 2009	Orlando		Amway Arena
September 2, 2009	Miami		American Airlines Arena
September 4, 2009	Atlanta		Philips Arena
September 5, 2009	Greensboro		Greensboro Coliseum Complex
September 8, 2009	Detroit		The Palace of Auburn Hills
September 9, 2009	Chicago		Allstate Arena
September 11, 2009	Des Moines		Wells Fargo Arena
September 12, 2009	Grand Forks		Alerus Center
September 15, 2009	Tulsa		BOK Center
September 16, 2009	Houston		Toyota Center
September 18, 2009	Dallas		American Airlines Center
September 19, 2009	Bossier City		CenturyTel Center
September 21, 2009	El Paso		Don Haskins Center
September 23, 2009	Los Angeles		Staples Center
September 24, 2009	San Diego		San Diego Sports Arena
September 26, 2009	Las Vegas		Mandalay Bay Events Center
September 27, 2009
Australia
November 6, 2009	Perth	Australia	Burswood Dome
November 7, 2009
November 11, 2009	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena
November 12, 2009
November 13, 2009
November 16, 2009	Sydney		Acer Arena
November 17, 2009
November 19, 2009
November 20, 2009
November 22, 2009	Brisbane		Brisbane Entertainment Centre
November 24, 2009
November 25, 2009
November 27, 2009	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena
November 29, 2009	Adelaide		Adelaide Entertainment Centre

Postponed Dates:

• The March 26 show in Uncasville, CT was postponed to May 3, 2009, due to there not being enough time to transfer the staging equipment from the previous city.

Cancelled Dates:

• The July 24 show in Warsaw, Poland was cancelled by the Polish promoter due to an unresolved contractual dispute. Britney issued an apology to her Polish fans on her website stating that she regretted not being able to visit Poland during the tour and that she hoped to visit Warsaw in the near future.

Box office score data

Venue	City	No. of Shows	Tickets Sold / Available	Gross Revenue
New Orleans Arena	New Orleans	1	16,810 / 16,810 (100%)	$1,604,815
Philips Arena	Atlanta	1	17,194 / 17,194 (100%)	$1,695,449
American Airlines Arena	Miami	1	18,644 / 18,644 (100%)	$1,972,928
St. Pete Times Forum	Tampa	1	18,929 / 18,929 (100%)	$1,818,011
Prudential Center	Newark	2	33,535 / 33,535 (100%)	$3,865,005
TD Banknorth Gardens	Boston	1	16,659 / 16,659 (100%)	$1,909,235
Air Canada Centre	Toronto	2	37,912 / 37,912 (100%)	$3,714,316
Bell Centre	Montreal	1	21,234 / 21,234 (100%)	$1,911,733
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	Uniondale	2	33,549 / 33,549 (100%)	$3,623,790
Verizon Center	Washington, D.C.	1	18,160 / 18,160 (100%)	$1,859,147
Mellon Arena	Pittsburgh	1	16,146 / 16,146 (100%)	$1,553,944
Toyota Center	Houston	1	16,604 / 16,604 (100%)	$1,749,704
American Airlines Center	Dallas	1	17,869 / 17,869 (100%)	$1,830,923
Sprint Center	Kansas City	1	16,872 / 16,872 (100%)	$1,567,486
Target Center	Minneapolis	1	17,694 / 17,694 (100%)	$1,420,032
Rexall Place	Edmonton	1	17,109 / 17,109 (100%)	$1,422,220
GM Place	Vancouver	1	18,040 / 18,040 (100%)	$1,552,132
Tacoma Dome	Tacoma	1	21,828 / 21,828 (100%)	$1,694,410
Arco Arena	Sacramento	1	14,975 / 14,975 (100%)	$1,293,323
HP Pavilion at San Jose	San Jose	1	17,053 / 17,053 (100%)	$1,834,352
EnergySolutions Arena	Salt Lake City	1	17,095 / 17,095 (100%)	$1,076,551
Staples Center	Los Angeles	2	33,142 / 33,142 (100%)	$4,062,953
Honda Center	Anaheim	2	31,582 / 31,582 (100%)	$3,081,963
Oracle Arena	Oakland	1	17,694 / 17,694 (100%)	$1,310,285
Allstate Arena	Chicago	2	32,942 / 32,942 (100%)	$3,194,384
MGM Grand Garden	Las Vegas	1	15,728 / 15,728 (100%)	$2,482,352
Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville	1	18,611 / 18,611 (100%)	$2,349,446
Jobing.com Arena	Phoenix	1	17,005 / 17,005 (100%)	$1,769,063
Schottenstein Center	Columbus	1	17,221 / 17,221 (100%)	$1,434,383
Bell Centre	Montreal	1	11,475 / 11,475 (100%)	$922,364
Copps Coliseum	Hamilton	1	16,629 / 16,629 (100%)	$943,852
Scotiabank Place	Ottawa	1	15,883 / 15,883 (100%)	$1,071,229
Madison Square Garden	New York	3	53,356 / 53,356 (100%)	$3,814,089
TD Garden	Boston	1	15,330 / 15,330 (100%)	$1,036,457
Wachovia Center	Philadelphia	1	17,641 / 17,641 (100%)	$1,165,725
Amway Arena	Orlando	1	11,408 / 11,408 (100%)	$687,437
American Airlines	Miami	1	14,502 / 14,502 (100%)	$873,099
Philips Arena	Atlanta	1	11,900 / 11,900 (100%)	$655,507
Greensboro Coliseum	Greensboro	1	10,813 / 10,813 (100%)	$559,862
Palace of Auburn Hills	Detroit	1	12,572 / 12,572 (100%)	$935,772
Allstate Arena	Chicago	1	15,695 / 15,695 (100%)	$722,618
Wells Fargo Arena	Des Moines	1	10,397 / 10,397 (100%)	$525,479
Alerus Center	Grand Forks	1	12,713 / 12,713 (100%)	$849,983
BOK Center	Tulsa	1	10,930 / 10,930 (100%)	$794,596
Toyota Center	Houston	1	11,347 / 11,347 (100%)	$738,656
American Airlines Center	Dallas	1	13,471 / 13,471 (100%)	$1,098,940
CenturyTel Center	Bossier City	1	10,240 / 10,240 (100%)	$610,818
Don Haskins Center	El Paso	1	11,531 / 11,531 (100%)	$928,907
Staples Center	Los Angeles	1	15,306 / 15,306 (100%)	$1,162,646
San Diego Sports Arena	San Diego	1	11,845 / 11,845 (100%)	$608,300
Mandalay Bay Events Center	Las Vegas	2	18,799 / 18,799 (100%)	$1,712,858
Acer Arena	Sydney	4	66,247 / 69,640 (96%)	$9,085,822
	TOTAL	65	1,007,866 / 1,011,259 (99.7%)	$92,159,351

Tour Ranking:

• On April 9, 2009 The Circus Starring: Britney Spears took the number one slot at the top twenty tour list with an average box office growth per city of $2,384,567 and an average ticket price of $102.51.
• On May 14, 2009 The Circus Starring: Britney Spears took the number two slot at the top twenty tour list with an average box office growth per city of $2,051,607 and an average ticket price of $98.53.

Achievements

• On March 7, 2009 Britney Spears set an attendance record with a sell-out crowd of 18,644 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, beating out Celine Dion who previously gathered a 17,725 crowd. It is noted as the largest concert attendance in the arena's history as of 2009.
• On July 11, 2009 Britney Spears hit a milestone in the tour by attracting over 40,000 fans at a concert at Parken in Copenhagen, Denmark, thus being one of her largest concerts (Behind her 2002 performances of her Dream Within A Dream Tour in Mexico City on July 27 & July 28 2002, playing for 50,000 people.)
• In November 2009, Britney Spears hit the record for the most attended show ever at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia with 69,640 people in four nights.

Critical reception

After its premiere performance, Spears' 2009 tour received generally positive reviews from several critics. Although many applauded Spears for an impressive comeback, others felt the show was a bit sub par.

Stacey Plaisance of Associated Press commented that, "The 'Circus' tour was another strong step in the right direction. Spears didn't interact much with the crowd - the only thing she uttered to the audience was 'Thank you, New Orleans' at the end of the nearly two-hour show - and appeared at times to be lip-synching. But fans didn't seem to care, screaming wildly at the first sight of Spears, who descended from the ceiling on hoops suspended by wires, wearing a short red and black ringmaster ensemble."

Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times was less impressed with Spears' performance, stating, "Despite that first-night stumble and several numbers in which her dancing was no more than adequate, Spears can safely call this performance a success. She apparently has no interest in proving herself as a vocalist."

People's Chuck Arnold magazine wrote that Spears "never really hit her old stride [...] there was a lot more strutting than real choreographic feats from Spears." He further commented that there was a "lack of joy in her performance, which felt labored at times", and that a miscue occurred after Spears didn't join two backup singers for a rendition of Duffy's 'I'm Scared'".

Jeff Montgomery of MTV News both praised and dismissed Spears's performance saying, "Yes, welcome to Britney's Circus, a big, huge, loud, funny, nonsensical three-ring affair... She looks great in her myriad of outfits, and she can still move with the best of them." he continued to say "[...] it's just, well, she's almost lost in the sheer hugeness of the production around her."

As the tour progressed, more critics weighed in on Spears' spectacle, including Glenn Gamboa of Newsday stating, "She keeps things light, playing around with gender roles and wordplay on "If U Seek Amy." She gives the crowd what it wants, lots of up-tempo numbers, with only "Me Against the Music" reworked extensively into a Bollywood extravaganza."

Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun gave Spears' performance at the Air Canada Centre 3 out of 5 stars stating, "So much was going on -- there were also martial artists, bicyclists, etc. -- there was no time to really assess Spears other than to note that she looked great -- sort of a cross between Madonna and Pamela Anderson. She could lip-synch the words (one can assume) and strut around the stage well enough, but there was little in the way of genuine passion, joy, or excitement on her part."

Sean Daly of The St. Petersburg Times seems to have summed up all the reviews by stating, "When Britney, touring behind her new Circus album, plays the Times Forum, there will be as many people rooting for her success as her failure. [...] But in the end, we're all envious and thankful, jealous and applauding. We like them/us and hate them/us for the very same reasons."

Jennifer Chancellor of Tulsa World said that 'even with the sex, the innuendo, the crassness, the bombast and the million-dollar production, there’s still a subtle naïveté about Spears and her stage presence. It peeks from beneath her curtain of hair extensions and her torrid lash-batting, but it’s there.' She commented that 'in many ways, Spears is still the child-like Disney Musketeer. She’s choreographed; she’s beautiful; and her timing’s perfect. And maybe that's why the show works.'

Australian leg controversy

The Australian leg of the tour has so far received critical media attention. Controversy started when it was reported by various media organisations that hundreds of fans walked out on the opening night in Perth. It was reported that fans were "disappointed" and "outraged" regarding Spears apparently lip syncing and her subdued dancing. Fans and Spears' management fired back at the media the following day on the star's Twitter account. Spears's manager Adam Leber stated "it's unfortunate that one journalist in Perth didn't enjoy the show last night. Fortunately, the other 18,272 fans in attendance did." The response was also met with hundreds of positive comments from fans on Spears' website and Facebook, most saying the show was amazing and a great night. However, Spears was extremely upset by the attention, and released a statement stating "I hear there is a lot of controversy surrounding my show. Some reporters have said they love it and some don't. I came to Australia for my fans!".

The negative media attention continued after her show in Melbourne when it was alleged that fans had placed tickets for the remaining Australian shows on sale on the online shopping website eBay, for as little as 99 cents. However, Paul Dainty, the promoter of the Australian Circus tour defend Spears and riled back at the reports, stating "the truth is these are the grubs that buy tickets on every show and try and make a fortune on eBay and now they are stuck with them, and that "they're not interested in the artist. They're just profiteers. They buy tickets for $200 and think they that when the concerts sell-out they will offload them for $500." He also described the reports as a "complete fabrication".

Additional notes

Song Changes

• A cover of Duffy's "I'm Scared" was performed right after "Everytime" at the show in New Orleans, but it was dropped from the set list after this show.
• As the first leg of the tour progressed, dance breaks were added to "...Baby One More Time", "Toxic", and "Womanizer".
• At the beginning of the European leg of the tour, "Piece of Me", "Radar", "Ooh Ooh Baby" & "Hot as Ice", "Breathe on Me", "Do Somethin'", "I'm a Slave 4 U", "...Baby One More Time", and "Womanizer" were remixed.
• "Mannequin" was added to the set list on July 5 at the second show in Paris It was performed after "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)" and a brief light show played before Spears returned to the stage. The song has not been performed since the European Leg.
• "Touch of My Hand" was not performed during the Copenhagen, July 14 Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Berlin shows. It was added back in August 20 in the Hamilton show. However, the song was not performed at the Miami, Atlanta, Greensboro, Dallas, Bossier City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas shows during the second North American leg due to issues with the stage's lift.. The song was not performed during any of the dates in Australia.
• At the September 5th show in Greensboro, a cover of "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette was added to the setlist. The song was preceded with a spoken-word poem, read by Spears. The song was performed for the last time at the Dallas show.

Show Changes

• During the Miami show of the first North American leg, Britney did not use her whip during Circus.
• The Pussycat Dolls didn't perform at the March 23rd show in Uniondale, New York, due to Nicole Scherzinger's illness.
• Initially during "I'm A Slave 4 U", Spears was lifted by a rising surface while fire appeared from the stage, thus creating a "ring of fire". However some arenas haven't allowed this part of the show due to fire hazards. Instead Spears dances on the floor. In the European leg of the tour the platform was altered to more safely contain Britney as she was lifted.
• For the European and second North American legs, Britney sits on a smaller blue umbrella for "Everytime" instead of the large red one, the platform for the ring of fire stunt during "I'm a Slave 4 U" was replaced with a small rotating bucket with Britney's new "B" logo. An instrumental version of "Circus" played for Britney's entrance during the European leg.
• Ciara was originally promoted as being the second opening act on the second North American leg along with Kristinia DeBarge. However, less than a week before the leg began, it was revealed that she had been replaced with Jordin Sparks. No explanation was given as to why Ciara was no longer taking part in the tour.
• At the first New York City show, Britney's entrance for "Circus" was changed, with new music and a black hooded trench coat that replaced the ringleader jacket.
• At the Miami, Atlanta, and Greensboro shows during the second North American leg, the umbrella that Spears usually sits on during "Everytime" was broken, so instead she performed the song standing on the center stage..
• At the Atlanta show, due to staging equipment problems, Britney did not descend from the ceiling before "Circus". Instead, she stood with her dancers on the floor of the center ring while the curtain rose.
• Jordin Sparks didn't perform at the Chicago, IL show on September 9 due to a contract she had signed with another event. Sparks could not perform in the area 30 days prior to that event.

Other Notable Information

• During the "Break the Ice" video interlude, the only music videos that are not shown in the collage are "From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart", "Overprotected", "Overprotected ", "Do Somethin'", "Someday ", and "Break the Ice". "If U Seek Amy" and "Radar" are also not shown, but this is due to the fact that the music videos had not yet been released when the tour began.
• After finishing her performance of "I'm a Slave 4 U" at the March 8th Tampa, Florida show, Britney didn't realize her microphone was still on, and shouted: "Okay, my pussy is hanging out; fuckin'-!", which was clearly heard throughout the audience. The incident has received notable attention from many blogs, and has received thousands of views on YouTube.
• Two of the crew members on the tour, Rockey Lee Dickey Jr. and Alex Montes, were arrested for aggravated assault on March 26, 2009.
• During the May 2nd show in Uncasville, a fan managed to climb onto the stage during "Womanizer" and run up to Britney, startling her. He was quickly removed by several dancers. At first Britney stopped dancing, but after a few seconds resumed.
• During her performance in Vancouver, Spears halted the concert after "Radar" claiming that the arena was too smokey due to spectators smoking marijuana and cigarettes. An announcement was made for all spectators to extinguish any smoking-related items. Afterward, Spears continued the show.
• At the last North American show in Las Vegas, the man pulled from the audience for "Breathe on Me" was Lance Bass.

Costume alterations

At several points during the tour, alterations have been made to the outfits that Britney wears. According to Spears herself, this is done in order to keep the show fresh and change it up so it does not get boring. Some of the changes include:

Personnel

• Tour Director: Steve Dixon
• Production Designers: Steve Dixon, Nick Whitehouse, William Baker, Bryan Leitch
• Lighting Designer: Nick Whitehouse
• Production Executive: Mo Morrison
• Tour Manager: Dave Brown
• Production Manager: Jason Danter
• Show Director: Jamie King
• Musical director: Simon Ellis
• Choreographers: JaQuel Knight, Britney Spears, Chase Benz, Tiana Brown, Tony Testa, Dreya Weber, Rujuta Vaidya
• Dancers: Jose Omar, Willie Gomez, Jonathan "J-Boogie" Rabon, Chase Benz, Jia Huang, Laura Edwards, George Jones JR, Luke Broadlick, Tiana Brown, Justin de Vera, Valerie "Rais" Moise, Marc "Marvelous" Inniss, Ava "Ava Flave" Berstine, Tye Myers, JP San Pedro, Devon Jameson
• Managers: Larry Rudolph, Adam Leber
• Costume design: Dsquared2, The Blonds, David Alexander, Catriona Mackechnie, Britney Spears
• Stylist: William Baker
• Tour promoter: AEG Live
• Tour Sponsor: Virgin Mobile

References

1. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1600471/20081202/spears_britney.jhtml
2. [1]
3. {{cite press release |title=Britney Spears Returns: 2009 North American Tour |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Britney-Spears-Returns-2009-North/story.aspx?guid={7CCCDE5F-7FA8-404B-8569-A8203E9E21C5} |publisher=Market Watch |date=2008-12-02 |accessdate=2008-12-04}}
4. http://www.vegasdeluxe.com/blogs/luxe-life/2009/apr/27/photo-gallery-multimillion-dollar-britney-spears-c/
5. http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/robin-leachs-las-vegas-celebrity-watch/2009/apr/24/britneys-circus-and-kennys-carnival/
6. http://britneyspearsblackout.com/?p=16084
7. http://twitter.com/adamleber
8. http://www.dsquared2.com/
9. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/07/the-new-number-is.php
10. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/03/exclusive-the-setlist.php
11. http://www.britneyspears.com/tour/
12. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/entertainment/breakingnews/Britney-Spears-enters-top-concert-tour-list-at-No_-1-this-week-42757672.html
13. http://blog.nola.com/music/2009/05/britney_spears_lil_wayne_tours.html
14. http://www.ticket-center.com/venue-info/American-Airlines-Arena-~-FL/56.html
15. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/07/the-copenhagen-crowd.php
16. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/07/exclusive-pics-copenhagen.php
17. http://www.vma.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=227&Itemid=236
18. http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=269&articleid=20090915_11_0_BinySe376095
19. http://www.americansuperstarmag.com/news/britney-spears-breaks-silence-on-australia-lip-synching-controversy
20. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26346871-5012980,00.html
21. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26322670-5012980,00.html
22. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/08/exclusive-pics-ottawa.php?bfm_index=1&bfm_page=0
23. http://britneyspearsblackout.com/p=15805
24. http://britneyspearsblackout.com/?p=15896
25. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/09/britney-performs-you-oughta-know.php
26. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1607580/20090323/the_pussycat_dolls.jhtml
27. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/06/bfm_enlarged/enlarged-exclusive_pics_london_night_3.php?bfm_index=0
28. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKIGJGpUjDg
29. http://twitter.com/TheRealJordin/status/3869251171
30. http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/03/09/britney_spears_wardrobe_malfunction_on_t
31. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/09/britney-and-lance-bass-on-stage.php
32. http://www.britneyspears.com/2009/07/from-et-behind-the-scenes-in-paris.php
33. http://twitter.com/TCB33/status/3256959543

External links

• Official tour website