Do You Think Britney Spears Was Phoning It In At The Billboard Music Awards?

Robbie Daw | May 23, 2011 11:14 am

If last night’s on-stage team-up of Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj at the Billboard Music Awards was supposed to be a preview of the pair’s upcoming tour, well, at least half of that bill looks entertaining. Brit first popped in for a surprise appearance with show opener Rihanna. But was it just us or was there not a live Spears vocal in the house? Again, forgive us if we need to phone up the ear doctor for a check-up, but Britney appeared to be the only artist of all who performed at the Vegas event last night who lip-synced. And she had two numbers! By all rights, Spears should have been the star of the night.

At least the “Till The World Ends pop icon danced a bit livelier with Rihanna during “S&M” than at her Good Morning American gig back in March. Alas, when she marched on stage following Nicki’s peppy “Super Bass,” Brit busted zero moves.

Whether it’s sheer laziness or a case of her camp being super-cautious with the “fragile” singer (remember, she’s apparently mentally incapable of testifying in court, according to her own parents), Britney really shouldn’t be put in front of the public until she sorts out whatever issues seem to be going on behind the scenes. It’s a cheat to her fans — after all, she’s certainly performed with decent-enough live vocals in the past — and, to say the very least, it just makes her look bad.

At the end of her stint with Rihanna, after they’d had the pillow fight, Britney went in for a rushed hug with the “S&M” singer and then started to walk off stage, leaving RiRi to stand there alone. Sadly, it was a short but very telling moment. And it made us long for the days when a calm, cool and collected Spears used to mop that stage up with all else who set foot on it.

Do you think Britney has lost the desire to perform live? And more importantly, after seeing the Billboard Music Awards, would you buy a ticket to see one of her upcoming concerts?