Circus (Britney Spears)

Circus by Britney Spears is a significant song featured on iHeart 00's.

## Song Wiki

***Circus*** is the sixth studio album by American singer Britney Spears, released on December 2, 2008 (Spears's 27th birthday), by Jive Records. Looking to transition from her "darker and more urban" fifth studio album *Blackout* (2007), Spears wanted to make her next project "a little bit lighter". She recorded the album during the summer of 2008, after her much-publicized personal struggles saw her placement under a temporary conservatorship earlier that year. As executive producers, Larry Rudolph and Teresa LaBarbera Whites enlisted collaborators including Spears' longtime colleague Max Martin and Danja. Their efforts resulted in a primarily pop and dance record with urban influences.

Upon its release, *Circus* received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its production but were ambivalent towards its lyrical content. It debuted at number one on the US *Billboard* 200, making it her fifth album to reach the top of the chart. The album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

Four singles were released, three of which became international hits. Its lead single, "Womanizer", peaked atop the *Billboard* Hot 100 and registered as the largest jump to the top of the chart at the time after debuting at number 96. It became Spears's best-selling single in the country since "...Baby One More Time" (1998), and received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards (2010). The second and third singles, "Circus" and "If U Seek Amy", peaked at numbers three and 19 in the country, respectively. Consequentially, *Circus* became Spears's second studio album after her debut *...Baby One More Time* (1999) to have two top-ten singles and three top 20 singles, also being her first to have two top-five singles in the United States along with five charting songs on the *Billboard* Hot 100. To promote the album, Spears embarked on a concert tour titled The Circus Starring Britney Spears, which commenced in March 2009.

## Characteristics

### Intensity

In 9.9, Id 8.1, Iτ 8.0,Iγ 9.8, IΩ 9.9, Iε 9.1

## Extra Details

### Date

8/06/1991

The extreme version of circus is an orange ultragiant or red ultragiant star in the constellation of Venezuela, it is one of the largest known stars on Just Dance, the intensity levels of the extreme version of circus has the current intensity levels higher then any other dancers, the current intensity of 9.9 (Nothing Harder!) was a upgrade from an initial intensity of 8.1, if placed at the center of the solar system, it would extend to the orbit of Neptune.

In June 8 2008 the radius of the extreme version of Circus is 6,923 *R*☉ and a temperature of 3,905 K and luminosities of 10 million *L*☉ at a distance of 4.3 kpc (14,000 ly), earlier calculations in 1991 was originally calculated a luminosity of 5.2 million *L*☉ was based on a temperature of 2,925 K and a radii of the extreme version of circus was officially calculated to be 8,900 *R*☉ and a mass of 430 *M*☉ based on intensities of 8.1.

## Recording and production

During the summer of 2008, it was confirmed that Spears was in the process of recording her sixth studio album. With the album's announcement came the additional confirmation of the involvement of producers Sean Garrett, Guy Sigsworth, Danja and Bloodshy & Avant. During its development, Garrett and vocal producer Jim Beanz complimented Spears's work ethic after her much-publicized personal struggles the previous year.

Spears chose to write much of the material for the album and worked to develop a more pop-influenced record with collaborators she had worked with earlier in her career. She stated that *Circus* marked the longest time she had spent recording an album, adding, "I think it is more urban [...] I'm writing every day, right here at the piano in this living room" and also described the album as her best work to date.

Producer Claude Kelly discussed the album's initial lack of concept saying, "When I went in with [Dr. Luke] we knew we were going to maybe write something for [Britney], but there was no concept, it was just knowing her style and knowing what she does. Max Martin, who produced Spears' debut single "...Baby One More Time", produced "If U Seek Amy" for the album. The Outsyders, an Atlanta-based production team, produced the album's first single, while Fernando Garibay worked on two bonus songs for Spears. Danja reported that he worked on the tracks at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, and Spears recorded them at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank; the Canadian trio Let's Go to War co-wrote and produced the track "Mmm Papi". Lil Jon, Rodney Jerkins, Sean Garrett, and Taio Cruz announced they were working with Spears, though their songs weren't included on the official track listing.

Bonus track and the fourth single from the album "Radar" was, since it was included on Spears's previous studio album *Blackout* (2007), recorded on November 8, 2006, the day after Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline, at Sony Music Studios in New York City.

## Music and lyrics

Spears performing "Womanizer" during The Circus Starring Britney Spears in 2009
*Circus* is a pop and dance record, which has been described as a sequel to Spears' fifth studio album *Blackout*. Spears described the album as "lighter" than *Blackout*, which was more urban sounding. Its "fiery" and "confrontational" lyrics have been also compared to those of its predecessor.[*failed verification*] The album has been compared to the works of Janet Jackson, Eurythmics, New Order and the songwriting of Prince, Leiber & Stoller and Phil Spector. *Circus* incorporates themes that were acknowledged in Spears's earlier work. "Circus" and "Kill the Lights" discuss fame, which was previously seen in "Piece of Me", while "Womanizer" and "Shattered Glass" talk about a womanizing man.

*Circus* opens with its lead single "Womanizer". It features synth sirens with a repetitive chorus, and lyrically discusses a cheating man; it was described by Spears as a girl anthem. "Circus" addresses her feelings as an entertainer and performing, highlighted in the lines "All eyes on me in the centre of the ring just like a circus / When I crack that whip everybody gonna trip just like a circus". Its electronic dance elements were compared by PopJustice to those of Spears's earlier single "Break the Ice". The ballad "Out from Under" incorporates acoustic guitar backings. "Kill the Lights" is a dance-pop song that talks about Spears's conflict with paparazzi. Critics noted similarities to Spears's own "Piece of Me". "Shattered Glass" utilizes dark electronic beats and details a non-repairable relationship.

"If U Seek Amy" integrates "glam-rave" elements with traditional pop styles; it gained controversy for its double entendre, where the title sounds phonetically like "F-U-C-K me". The electropop track "Unusual You" deals with a woman finding unexpected love. It has been compared to musical themes from the 1980s and 1990s, and has been noted as a "pulsating ballad", with the song also drawing comparisons to the "shimmering waterfall mood first popularized by Janet Jackson". "Blur", which features Spears singing in a lower register, sees the inclusion of urban influences, and lyrically recalls the morning after a party with lyrics "Can't remember what I did last night/I gotta get my head right, where the hell am I? Who are you? What'd we do last night?"; it drew similarities to Spears' song "Early Mornin" from *In the Zone*. "Mmm Papi" draws elements from a 1960s go-go rock guitar and Latin-pop dance hall themes. Despite its "fun" nature, it was criticized for appearing to "revisit the Lolita persona of "*…Baby One More Time*". It has been suggested that its lyrics deal with either Spears's father Jamie or paparazzo Adnan Ghalib. "Mannequin" is a dance-pop song with a trip hop influence; while being noted for its "risky" and "futuristic" nature, it has also been suggested that Spears's vocals sounded "lifeless". "Lace and Leather" is an electro-funk track which gained comparisons to "*Control* era Janet Jackson", Prince, and Vanity 6's works from the 1980s and featured a then-unknown Kesha as a backing vocalist. "My Baby", described as having a "faux-Janet Jackson vocal", was written by Spears about her two sons Sean Preston and Jayden James Federline.

## Title and artwork

Spears commented of the album's title: "I like the fact that you're always on the edge of your seat when you're at a circus. You're never bored [...] You're just really engulfed in what's going on around you. And you want to know what's going to happen next." Spears also revealed she titled the album *Circus* due to her life being "a circus" at the time.

The cover artwork and booklet images for *Circus* feature Spears in circus-styled settings. The photos were shot by Kate Turning.

## Release and promotion

*Circus* was initially scheduled to be released worldwide on December 2, 2008, Spears's twenty-seventh birthday. However, after unauthorized online leaks, imeem began streaming the album from their website on November 25. The album shared a release date with the similarly titled album *The Circus* by British group Take That. Both standard and deluxe editions of the album were released in Europe on November 28, 2008 and in the United States on December 2, 2008.

To promote the album, Jive Records set up a hotline where fans could leave a message for Spears, some of which received a return phone call from her. Some songs were previewed through the website of the New York radio station WKTU and Amazon.com. MTV aired a ninety-minute long documentary *Britney: For the Record* on November 30, 2008, documenting her return to her career. In May 2009, Jive's official website held a Britney Spears Global Fan-Fiction Contest, which required a fan to submit a two-hundred-word story based on one of the songs from *Circus*. The public were allowed to vote for their favorite short story which would be produced into an animated music video. The winning story was based on the song "Kill the Lights"; the video premiered on July 27, 2009.

Spears's live comeback began on November 6, 2008 with a cameo appearance at the Dodger Stadium show of Madonna's Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008–09). Midway through the performance of "Human Nature", Spears joined Madonna on stage. The week prior to the album's release, Spears performed in several countries as a part of the Circus Promo Tour. On November 27, 2008, Spears performed "Womanizer" live at the 2008 Bambi Awards in Offenburg, Germany, where she received an award for Best International Pop Star. In addition, she performed the song on *Star Academy* in France the following day and on *The X Factor* in the United Kingdom on November 29. Her performance on *The X Factor* was watched by an average of 11,880,000 citizens in the United Kingdom. Spears premiered her second single "Circus" at the Big Apple Circus on *Good Morning America* in New York City, and also performed "Womanizer" on December 2, 2008 which coincided with her twenty-seventh birthday and the release of *Circus*. On December 16, 2008, she performed on NTV Japan's-3000 *Best Artist of 2008*.

While performing on *Good Morning America* on December 2, 2008, Spears announced her fifth worldwide concert tour, titled The Circus Starring Britney Spears. She first revealed the first leg of twenty-five dates in the United States and two in the United Kingdom. Her longtime manager Larry Rudolph stated that the tour would "blow people's minds and promises to show Britney's fans something they will never forget", later adding, "she goes full-speed the whole show — about an hour and a half. It's pretty intense. This is a full-blown, full-out Britney Spears show, It is everything everybody expects from her — and more!" Spears also expressed excitement in including songs from *Blackout* into the setlist, as she didn't tour to promote it. The tour began on March 3, 2009 in New Orleans' New Orleans Arena and finished on November 29, 2009 in Adelaide's Adelaide Entertainment Centre. There were four legs of the tour, visiting North America twice, and others being Europe and Australia. The stage was composed of three rings and set in-the-round to resemble an actual circus. Fashion designers Dean and Dan Caten created the costumes. A giant cylinder screen was set above the stage to showcase videos and backdrops. Effects were provided by Solotech. The setlist was composed generally from her albums *In the Zone*, *Blackout* and *Circus*. In June 2009, Spears announced she would tour Australia for the first time; she was also rumored to tour South America, though her manager Adam Leber denied this despite their efforts to do so.

Controversy arose during the Australian leg of the tour after several fans walked out of the performances due to Spears's alleged lip-synching; such claims were later denied by Spears's management and promoters. The tour was ranked as the fourth highest-grossing tour of the year in North America, becoming the highest-grossing tour of the year by a solo artist. In February 2010, Pollstar released their Top 50 Worldwide Concert Tours of 2009; *The Circus Starring Britney Spears* was ranked as the fifth highest-grossing tour worldwide of the year, with a gross of $131.8 million. In May 2010, *Hollyscoop* ranked the tour at the fifth position in their 15 Most Profitable Female Tours Ever list.