Melbourne got to experience Britney Spears this week. Apparently, the American pop star didn’t sing live, and it would appear that the 14,000 fans in the audience were ready for her as they expected a singer who doesn’t sing.

Unlike the Perth concert at the Rod Laver Arena, the Melbourne show was showed on a series of huge screens. It made an immense difference as her hoards of fans could actually see the pop diva’s famous face up close, lip-synching along to her greatest hits.

The two tiniest guests at the show were her two most die-hard fans, her sons Jayden James and Sean Preston, comfortably settled in the $1500 love seats and feeling safe thanks to a small army of security guards.

Spears would have a lot of explaining to do to her kids as she was cut in half by a magician, lap danced a man sporting handcuffs and spend parts of the gig dancing around in hot pants and a bra.

Besides the shameless miming, Spears’ Circus tour is a feast for the eyes as it just looks astonishing and her legions of fans can at least get a visual appreciation of where their money went.

Although the star as lost some of her intensity in her dance moves, she does look great and in control once again.

The dancers surrounding Spears were amazing and their choreography was designed to support her. As a dancer, the pop icon is likely the weakest element in the performance. Thankfully, her star power compensates for the several flat spots in the gig.

More interaction with her fans would give the show an extra boost. The show got a ”What’s up Melbourne” which was much better than Perth’s ”Hello Australia.” She did use her strapped-on microphone once as she went through a short live chat.

Nevertheless, one could sympathise with the pop star as she did go through an intense period where she actually lost her marbles. The life of an internationally recognisable public figure cannot be that easy. Drugs, rehab centres and divorces have daunted the star and have  certainly abbreviated her capacity to carry tunes in front of tens of thousands of fans.

We can just assume that she overestimated her strength and could simply not cancel the huge enterprise which is a series of multi-million dollar concerts. Perhaps next time around, she will have recuperated enough to be at a near 100%.