Britney Spears - Are we ready for her comeback?

So Britney is apparently on her way to a comeback, for the thirty thousandth time. With her cover story on next week’s Rolling Stone, professing that “Yes She Can!” I am wondering what exactly are we waiting for her to do? The pop star, who first made her way onto the scene with suggestive song, “Oops I did it Again” and an even more suggestive Rolling Stone cover, ten years ago, has lived just a few lives at this point. She has been the poster child for Disney and puritanical BS only Southern celebs or those with Disney contracts sell to the public. She was Ms. Sexy, who found her strength in tighter and tighter outfits and making out with Madonna. We saw her as Mrs. Mom, when she made the abrupt decision to marry a no good back up dancer with a pregnant girlfriend and have two children with him. We saw her be the new woman after that marriage failed and emerge as if from some adult cocoon, attempting to convince the public she was a great mother and even more, a great woman. And then we saw her as Ms. Meltdown, just a year ago, where she was doing drugs, attacking paparazzi, shaving her head, dating photographers, having wild nights, being picked up by ambulances and losing ALL control over her daily life. The culmination of this mess was her “performance” at last year’s MTV Music Awards, which was the night I resigned to no longer discuss her or the once music network (I have failed on both accounts.) The one time dream girl of teenage boys all over America had become a car wreck and another in a long line of sad stories of child stars and successful female singers. Most people, me included, began the countdown clock on the expiration of Britney’s longevity in the business.

At this point, just one year later, it seems that Ms. Spears has gotten her act together and never too late to do so, for both her professional and personal lives. She will debut a new CD next week, and an MTV documentary, along with the Rolling Stone article, in which she will allow reporters to dig through the muck that has been her past few years and attempt to sell us as to why she really is “back for good”. While I mean no harm to Ms. Spears, but what exactly is she making a comeback with? Her albums, overly produced and written by virtual strangers to the singer, sound nothing like a person who has just spent 10 years soul searching and from previous interviews, I can’t imagine the depth of these. What I would love to see Britney do in her next incarnation is truly follow in Madonna’s foot steps, but even more so, gain a “self”. Madonna, while a magnet for controversy and contempt, she always made everything she did seem like it was honestly from her. Not a made up PR scheme or jumping on the newest trend, but something Madonna wanted to do, so she did it. Britney has yet to find that depth within herself or even her “career persona” to own what she has done or will do in the future. And for any “artist” seeking longevity, if you don’t have “self”, you have NOTHING. For now, I will keep an open mind as to the next part of her journey and technically her audiences. I know there are many people out there rooting for her, hoping there is not another crisis on the horizon for our pop star. I can honestly say that I do hope that the drama that has followed this girl around for years is far gone and now, she can hopefully create a career based on her talents and interests, as opposed to pleasing her handlers and the masses.