REVscene Automotive Forum - Pop star Britney Spears walks off the stage in Vancouver

Tonight at GM Place

Stay tuned for updates throughout the night...

Love her or hate her, it’s impossible to ignore the public’s endless fascination with pop star Britney Spears’ both on and off the stage — when she’s up and when she’s down.

It’s tough not to cheer on the comeback pop princess. After all, it seems she’s finally left her weedy patch behind her. That’s worth some applause isn’t it?

But like a train wreck, a hockey brawl or a wardrobe malfunction, people love to watch a misstep or two. To gawk.

In the past few years there’s been plenty of both ups and downs.

Her very public breakdown has been caught on tape, film or camera-phone, then regurgitated back for public consumption. And judgment.

Thanks to the hounding paparazzi and endless appetite for all things Brit, we’ve witnessed everything from a missing underpants fiasco to an impromptu decision to shave her head in 2007. And lets not even get into all the divorce, dieting, mothering and parental stuff.

Unless you’ve been living on another planet, you’ve heard it and seen it all before.

It seemed to many that the girl who became a superstar more than a decade ago, with fizzy dance hits like Baby One More Time and Toxic, might simply have burned too brightly too quickly. Then burnt out.

So even after her 2008 comeback kicked into overdrive, it is no doubt a relief to Vancouver's Britney fans to see the Louisiana native’s signature white-toothed grin on-stage.

To see the pop princess back in shape, the potato-chip and grits’ belly gone and the hair extensions flowing.

To see whatever happens next.

Here’s a play-by-play of the concert, so far:

6:30 p.m. Line-ups of bare-legged girls gather outside the stadium, braving the cold for the occasion. I haven’t seen so many spray tans and stilettos before in one space.

There’s also moms and their tween daughters in neatly-tucked trousers, even a grandmother or two. And there are guys, some wearing fedora hats, others with obvious highlights and even a few K-Fed types in low-hanging jeans.

6:45 p.m.: Close to the ticket line-up, I notice one fan is particularly glammed up — in a good way.

Cassandra Collen of Vancouver, a 24-year-old actress, says she decided to dress like Britney as a sexy stewardess, from her Toxic video. “I love her. She’s fabulous,” says Collen, wearing a blonde wig she bought for the concert and a vamped version of the uniform. “She’s one of the best performers out there.”

Inside GM Place, I pass a 20-something in a tutu and more than a few teenager girls who seem like they forgot their skirts at home.

Everyone’s having a good time though and the excitement is tangible.

7:00 p.m. to 7:40 p.m: The Pussycat Dolls pop ensemble gets the crowd hot and bothered with their sultry dance moves — yes, they pack their own pole and props — and their polished tunes.

They kick the show off with their break-out hit, Don’t Cha, dancing around the circular stage in thigh-high boots and sparkling leotards. The set ends on a high note with their hit, When I Grow Up.

8:00 p.m.: Circus performers take the stage. One woman can walk on her hands. Another seems to fly as she flips on a balance beam held on the shoulders of two brawny men. Overhead a sign in lights reads, Big Apple Circus.

8:17 p.m: The lights dim. It’s dark except for the glow of cell phones. Everyone screams. A red lifts off the circular main stage. A video of blogger Perez Hilton introduces Britney on-screen.

When the pop diva appears on-stage minutes later, dressed as a ringleader, holding a whip, her fans can scarcely contain their screams.

They manage to get even louder when she removes her jacket, revealing a sparkling bra and bare midriff. Britney’s midriff!

8:36: Stage has been dark again for a few minutes. The impatient-for-Brit crowd chants: “Britney. Britney. Britney.” There’s even a few boos and some howls. Are they in pain?

People want more Britney. But the gal’s got to change doesn’t she? Tsk.

8:44: Still nothing on-stage. Just darkness. “Britney. Britney. Britney.” This doesn’t usually happen until an encore.

8:45: Still nothing. And then a voice comes over the loud-speaker with an announcement about smoking in GM Place.

“It’s become uncomfortable and unsafe for the performers, including Ms. Spears,” the voice says, eliciting big boos from the crowd. “The show will resume as soon as the air around the stage is clear.”

Is this for real?

It is.

“The performance will not proceed until the air clears."

8:51: I receive a text from a friend at the concert, seated closer to the stage than I am.

“Seriously? Is this a stall?”

Well, we’re still looking at a blackened stage. Still waiting for the air to clear?

People are chanting her name. Others are just yelling and howling. The mood is sour. I'd hate to be a smoker right about now.

8:59: The entire stadium is doing the wave in the darkness, their movements lit by their mobile phones. It's deafening.

9:03: “We want Britney.” Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. “We want Britney.” The organ is playing. This is like a hockey game without any players.

9:05: She’s back. The blonde hair reappears on-stage, dressed in a sparkling silver dress singing the song, Ooh Ooh Baby.

9:06: The dress is gone, the midriff is bare again — it's back — and Spears’ energy seems to have increased. She busts out some choreographed moves along with eight male dancers. She counts as they do push-ups, hands on her hips. Yeah, the crowd loves it.

9:13: A pink shrug on, it’s time for the cheeky, If U Seek Amy. The crowd is reviving, but still seems a little deflated from the extended period of darkness.

9:18: A quick change. (She came back.) And Britney’s in teal sari pants. Surrounded by her dancers, Spears’ shakes and shimmies to the Bollywood mix, Me Against the Music.

9:21: She speaks to the crowd for the first time: “What’s up Vancouver,” she says.

Her Vancouver fans, adoring as ever despite the strange turn in the night, holler their greetings to Brit.

And with that, she floats into the first ballad of the night, the soft tune, Everytime.

The audience sings along with her to the chorus: “And everytime I try to fly, I fall.”

It’s a good bonding moment.

9:27: Another costume change leaves a Brit-free stage once again. This time, there’s a winged-woman on-stage, music and lights.

9:30: Back again. And now Britney’s got black hair in a bob, wearing yet another little, sparkling bodysuit and high boots. She holds a fan as she performs the song, Freakshow, moving about the stage, along with her dancers.

9:32: Couches and large picture frames appear on four corners of the stage for the next batch of music-video-worthy choreography as the song, Get Naked, begins. There’s a lot to take in at any given moment.

"Get naked. Get naked," the crowd sings along with Britney.

9:40: She emerges out of the stage, looking naked but for strategic bits of sparkling fabric for the sultry song, Breathe on Me.

9:43: Britney is in the air seated on two bare-chested men — their bodies her swing. This Circus full of some seriously steamy stuff.

9:50: Britney is still on stage, romping around in a black bodysuit and shaking her familiar assets to her hit song, Do Something.

9:54: Things really heat up when the centre of the stage ignites into a ring of fire, with Britney overhead, performing Slave.

The flames extinguishes before she lowers down. Safe and sound.

The song ends with the star unleashing a quit hit of some of her best grooves of the night.

10:04: The song, Toxic, one of her early hits, gets some of the night's biggest cheers. She’s changed into some glittering leggings with a matching fedora and a sailor-striped bra.

* Notorious celeb blogger Perez Hilton has posted an "exclusive statement" from Britney's rep in Vancouver. Visit www.perezhilton.com to see what he has to say about it. (Caution: expletive language).

Here's the statement from Britney's camp posted on Hilton's website:

"We want to apologize to all the fans who attended our Vancouver show tonight for the brief pause in Britney's set. Crew members above the stage became ill due to a ventilation issue."

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