What’s a lover of pop starlets to do?
In making plans for this Friday night, Chicago concertgoers had a real dilemma — likely depending on their age. It’s the ultimate pop tart showdown: Britney Spears in concert at the United Center vs. Katy Perry at Allstate Arena.
The two music stars are only three years apart in age, though Spears has nearly a decade on Perry in the pop consciousness. They haven’t crossed paths much creatively, though the Internet is currently buzzing with rumors that a remix of Spears’ latest single “I Wanna Go” will appear next month featuring guest vocals by Perry.
Here’s a look at the match-up …
UPDATE: Katy Perry’s show on Friday night has been postponed due to illness!
BRITNEY
KATY
Age
29
26
Hair
Currently
recognizably long and blond. She shaved her head in 2007.
Black,
but has been blond, bright blue and recently red.
Innocent
beginnings
Cast
member of the revived “Mickey Mouse Club” in 1992.
The
daughter of two pastors, Perry grew up singing in their ministry. Her first
album was Christian rock.
Debut
album
“…Baby
One More Time” in 1999.
Religious:
“Katy Hudson” in 2001. Pop: “One of the Boys” in 2008.
Relationship
status
Divorced
from rapper Kevin Federline. Custody battle continues over their two sons.
(In March, K-Fed revealed he’s having another child with current girlfriend
Victoria Prince.)
Married
comedian-actor Russell Brand last October.
Same-sex
experimentation
Kissed
Madonna at the 2003 MTV VMAs.
First big
hit was “I Kissed a Girl,” saying she did it “just to try it” and, hey, she
liked it.
Fragrance
Radiance —
smells like berries, petals, musk.
Purr —
smells like candy, Juicy Fruit.
Chart
success
“Hold It
Against Me,” from her current “Femme Fatale” album, broke airplay records
when it debuted in January and debuted at No. 1 for digital tracks in dozens
of countries.
Perry’s “Teenage
Dream” album is the ninth album in history to score four No. 1 singles (and
the first by a female artist to do so since Mariah Carey’s 1990 debut). If “Last
Friday Night,” the newest single, reaches No. 1 (it’s No. 4 at press time),
she’ll tie the record Michael Jackson set with “Bad.” In addition, she
recently became the first artist ever to stay in the Billboard Top 10 for 52
consecutive weeks.
“Glee”
cred
Last
fall, the hit Fox series devoted an entire episode to Spears’ songs,
including “Toxic,” “Stronger,” “Slave 4 U” and more. Spears appeared briefly
in the episode.
Perry has
not appeared on the show, but her music has: “Teenage Dream” (by a male choir,
even better than Perry’s original), “Firework” (by Rachel) and “California
Gurls” (by blue-haired cheerios). Payback: “Glee’s” Kevin McHale (Artie)
appears in Perry’s “Last Friday Night” video.
Current
protege
Spears
has performed with young R&B diva Nicki Minaj, who is an opening act on
Spears’ current tour.
Perry
voiced support for teen phenom Rebecca Black when Internet haters attacked
her. Black appears in Perry’s latest video, and Perry sings “Friday” in her
current concerts.
On
the new Selena Gomez album, “When the Sun Goes Down”
Spears
co-wrote the dance song “Whiplash” — which is obvious.
Perry
co-penned “That’s More Like It,” a cheeky teen-pop number.
Guests
in latest video
The video
for “Hold It Against Me” spoofs product placement, showing off Spears’
perfume, cosmetics line Make Up Forever, online dating site Plenty of Fish,
and Sony. Perry previously tweeted a criticism of this.
The video
for “Last Friday Night” features cameos by Corey Feldman, Debbie Gibson,
Hanson, Rebecca Black, even Kenny G.
Current
tour’s stage gimmicks
Spears
climbs on, saddles or straddles a lot of items: a giant guitar, two thrones,
an Egyptian boat, colorful speaker stacks, an airborne platform, a
motorcycle, a Mini Cooper, various dancers and one lucky guy pulled from the
crowd.
The theme
of Perry’s show is candy candy candy: Oversized lollipops, gumdrops and iced
cakes decorate the stage, and cotton-candy vendors throughout the crowd.
Perry cavorts with a giant slot machine and an Elvis impersonator, dresses as
Catwoman, Dorothy (from “The Wizard of Oz”), plumes herself in peacock
feathers and winds up costumed as a large Hershey’s kiss.
Vocals
Spears,
an active dancer, has been frequently criticized for her reliance on “support
vocals,” particularly during the Circus tour. Perez Hilton attended a
rehearsal for the current tour and estimated that Spears actually sings 40
percent of the songs.
Reviews
of the current tour report that Perry appears to sing all her songs.
Questionable
moments in current show
The cage-dancing,
the lap dancing, the S&M hoods — it all seems so quaint now.
“This is
a PG-13 show,” Perry says. She mimes fellatio with her microphone. She also
eats a brownie that causes things to go wacky, before smirking, “Stay in
school, don’t do drugs.”
Reviews
of her last Chicago-area concert
Allstate
Arena, April 2009: “Now here she was in the flesh in Rosemont in the midst of
her second comeback attempt, once again staggering zombie-like through a
carefully planned, rigidly controlled and relentlessly marketed show based on the familiar commodity
she’s been peddling throughout her career: S-E-X.” (Jim DeRogatis for the
Sun-Times)
House of
Blues, March 2009: “Perry could stand out in the current female pop company
of Fergie, Lady Gaga and even Madonna’s recent material, while also
possessing the retro quirkiness of Cyndi Lauper, the guitar charged
sensibilities of Pat Benatar and occasional club grooves a la Blondie.” (Andy
Argyrakis for concertlivewire.com)
Tickets
for Friday’s show
Still
available: $29.50-$350, ticketmaster.com (concert capacity appx. 22,000)
Sold out
(concert capacity appx. 18,500)
The verdict: If you had to choose, I hope you chose Perry.
She actually sings, she’s fresh, and her current album is chock full of catchy
tunes that put Brit-Brit to shame. See you Friday at Allstate!
