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''Circus'' is the sixth
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American singer
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
. It was released to coincide with her 27th birthday on December 2, 2008, in the United States, by
Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...
. Transitioning from the "darker and more
urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...
" themes of her fifth studio album '' Blackout'' (2007), Spears wanted to make her next project "a little bit lighter". She recorded much of the album between March and September 2008, after being involuntarily placed under a conservatorship earlier that year, following her highly publicized personal struggles in 2007. As
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
s,
Larry Rudolph Larry Rudolph (born July 24, 1963) is an American talent manager and former entertainment lawyer. He is best known as the former manager of Britney Spears from 1998 until 2021. Career Rudolph was born in The Bronx, New York. He graduated from ...
and
Teresa LaBarbera Whites Teresa LaBarbera Whites is an American A&R, music executive, talent scout, and executive producer, who is best known for discovering Destiny's Child and Jessica Simpson. She is currently the A&R executive for Chloe x Halle. Career Originally t ...
enlisted Spears' previous collaborators such as
Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic
known professional ...
,
Bloodshy & Avant Bloodshy & Avant are a Swedish songwriting and record producer, production duo consisting of Christian Karlsson (DJ), Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson and Pontus "Avant" Winnberg. They have worked with many prominent artists, including Britney Spears ...
,
Guy Sigsworth Allan Arthur Guy Sigsworth (born May 1960) is an English record producer and songwriter. He has worked with many artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian ...
and Danja, as well as new ones, including
Dr. Luke Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as the Saturday Night Live ...
,
Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...
and
Claude Kelly Claude Kelly (born December 27, 1980)Shirley Halperin and Bob Love"THR Names Music's 35 Top Hitmakers,"''The Hollywood Reporter'', February 6, 2013. is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer. A four-time Grammy Award nominee, and h ...
. Their efforts resulted in a primarily
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
and
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
record, whose lyrical themes addressed fame, infidelity, and infatuation. Deemed Spears' comeback record, ''Circus'' received generally favorable reviews from
music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
s upon its release; the production was complimented but lyrical content and Spears' vocal performance were met with ambivalence. A global commercial success, the album debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 505,000 copies, becoming her fifth number-one album. Since then, it has been certified
triple platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA). By September 2009, the album had sold over four million copies worldwide. At the
52nd Annual Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...
, its lead single " Womanizer" was nominated for
Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...
. ''Circus'' produced four singles. "Womanizer" debuted at number 96 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and ascended to the summit in its second week, registering the largest leap on the chart at the time. It became Spears' best-selling single in the country since her debut " ...Baby One More Time" (1998). "
Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
" debuted and peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; consequently, ''Circus'' became Spears' first album since her debut '' ...Baby One More Time'' (1999) to have two top-ten singles. Subsequent singles "
If U Seek Amy "If U Seek Amy" (also broadcast on Radio edit, radio as "If U See Amy" or simply "Amy") is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, ''Circus (Britney Spears album), Circus'' (2008). It was released on March 10, 200 ...
" and "
Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
" peaked at numbers 19 and 88 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively. To further promote the album, Spears embarked on the world tour
The Circus Starring Britney Spears The Circus Starring Britney Spears, commonly referred to as the Circus Tour, was the seventh concert tour by American entertainer Britney Spears. It was launched in support of her sixth studio album, ''Circus'' (2008). Rumors of a tour arose as ...
(2009).


Background and development

Throughout 2007, Spears' professional endeavors were tremendously overshadowed by her personal struggles, including the aftermath of her vigorous partying and suffering from a
nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
, during which she shaved her head to intense media scrutiny. Despite the difficulties, Spears released her fifth studio album '' Blackout''–considered her best and most influential work by numerous critics–in October. However, it became her first studio album not to debut atop the US ''Billboard'' 200–debuting at number two–but nevertheless produced "
Gimme More "Gimme More" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, ''Blackout (Britney Spears album), Blackout'' (2007). It was released on August 31, 2007, by Jive Records, as the lead single from the album. "Gimme More" was ...
", Spears' first ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top-three hit since her debut " ...Baby One More Time" (1998). Upon its release, Spears' publicized behavior began clashing with her image;
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
of
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
said the album served as a
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
"for Britney's hazy, drunken days, reflecting the excess that's splashed all over the tabloids", while noting that the album had a coherence that the public Spears lacked. In January 2008, Spears refused to relinquish custody of her sons to her ex-husband Kevin Federline's representatives. She was subsequently hospitalized at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...
after police that had arrived at her house noted she appeared to be under the influence of an unidentified substance. The following day, Spears's visitation rights were suspended at an emergency court hearing, and Federline was given sole physical and legal custody of their sons. She was committed to the psychiatric ward of
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as UCLA Medical Center, RRMC or Ronald Reagan) is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United S ...
and put on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold under California state law. The court placed her under a
conservatorship Under U.S. law, a conservatorship results from the appointment of a guardian or a protector by a judge to manage the personal or financial affairs of another person who is incapable of fully managing their own affairs due to age or physical or m ...
led by her father
Jamie Spears James Parnell Spears (born June 6, 1952) is a retired construction business owner. He is the father of Bryan Spears, Britney Spears, and Jamie Lynn Spears. Early life James Parnell Spears was born to June Austin Spears (1930–2012), and ...
and attorney Andrew Wallet, giving them complete control of her assets. She was released five days later, while the conservatorship would not be terminated until November 2021, following Spears' highly publicized battle against her father and others involved in the conservatorship. Soon after being placed under the conservatorship, work on Spears' sixth studio album commenced. Consequently, the release of "
Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
" as the fourth single from ''Blackout'' was canceled so Spears could focus on ''Circus''.


Recording and production

In July 2008, it was confirmed that Spears was in the process of recording her sixth studio album. "
Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
" was originally included on Spears' fifth studio album '' Blackout'' (2007), and was recorded on November 8, 2006, the day after Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline, at the
Sony Music Studios Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W. 54th Street, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhat ...
in New York City. Alongside the announcement of ''Circus'' came the additional confirmation of the involvement of producers
Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler (born March 30, 1979), known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is known his songwriting work on a series of commercially successful R&B and hip-hop songs, beginning with Ush ...
,
Guy Sigsworth Allan Arthur Guy Sigsworth (born May 1960) is an English record producer and songwriter. He has worked with many artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian ...
, Danja and
Bloodshy & Avant Bloodshy & Avant are a Swedish songwriting and record producer, production duo consisting of Christian Karlsson (DJ), Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson and Pontus "Avant" Winnberg. They have worked with many prominent artists, including Britney Spears ...
. During its development, Garrett and vocal producer
Jim Beanz James David Washington (born August 26, 1980), known professionally as Jim BEANZ, is an American music producer, songwriter, singer and record producer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is signed to Timbaland Productions and Sunset Entertainment ...
complimented Spears's work ethic after her much-publicized personal struggles the previous year. Spears co-wrote four tracks on the album and worked to develop a more
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
-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 Claude Kelly (born December 27, 1980)Shirley Halperin and Bob Love"THR Names Music's 35 Top Hitmakers,"''The Hollywood Reporter'', February 6, 2013. is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer. A four-time Grammy Award nominee, and h ...
discussed the initial lack of concept for ''Circus'', saying: "When I went in with r. Lukewe knew we were going to maybe write something for ritney but there was no concept, it was just knowing her style and knowing what she does.
Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic
known professional ...
, who frequently collaborated with Spears on her first three studio albums '' ...Baby One More Time'' (1999), '' Oops!... I Did It Again'' (2000) and '' Britney'' (2001), wrote and produced "
If U Seek Amy "If U Seek Amy" (also broadcast on Radio edit, radio as "If U See Amy" or simply "Amy") is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, ''Circus (Britney Spears album), Circus'' (2008). It was released on March 10, 200 ...
". The Outsyders, an Atlanta-based production team, produced the lead single " Womanizer", while Fernando Garibay worked on "Amnesia" and "Quicksand", neither of which made the standard edition track listing. Danja reported that he worked on tracks at the Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, while Spears recorded them at the Glenwood Place Studios in
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...
. Canadian trio Let's Go to War co-wrote and produced the track "Mmm Papi".
Guy Sigsworth Allan Arthur Guy Sigsworth (born May 1960) is an English record producer and songwriter. He has worked with many artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian ...
, with whom Spears had previously collaborated with for her single "
Everytime "Everytime" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fourth studio album, ''In the Zone'' (2003). It was released as the third single from ''In the Zone'' on May 10, 2004, by Jive Records. After her relationship with Justin Timber ...
", produced two songs on the album: the ballads "My Baby" and "Out from Under", the latter of which is a
cover song In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released ...
first performed by Joanna Pacitti for the soundtrack to the 2007 film ''
Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin (Latina), ...
''.
Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...
,
Rodney Jerkins Rodney Roy Jerkins (born July 29, 1977), better known by his stage name Darkchild, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has collaborated with a broad range of popular artists. Jerkins has won two Grammy Awards from 19 nomi ...
,
Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler (born March 30, 1979), known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is known his songwriting work on a series of commercially successful R&B and hip-hop songs, beginning with Ush ...
, and
Taio Cruz Adetayo Ayowale Onile-Ere (born 23 April 1980), known professionally as Jacob Taio Cruz ( ), is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Cruz was discovered in the mid-2000s by American record producer Tricky Stewart, joinin ...
announced they were working with Spears, though their songs were not included on the final track listing.


Music and lyrics

''Circus'' is predominantly a
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
and
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
record, described as a
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to Spears' fifth studio album '' Blackout'' (2007). Spears described the album as "lighter" than the
urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...
-oriented ''Blackout''. The album has been compared to the works of
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...
,
Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British New wave music, new wave duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band t ...
, and New Order, as well as the songwriting of
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
, Leiber & Stoller and
Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...
. It incorporates lyrical themes previously acknowledged in Spears' work: "
Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
" and " Kill the Lights" discuss fame, much like "
Piece of Me "Piece of Me" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, '' Blackout'' (2007). It was released on November 27, 2007, by Jive Records as the second single from the album, but was actually the last song recorded. It ...
" (2007), while " Womanizer" and "Shattered Glass" talk about a
womanizing Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...
man. ''Circus'' opens with its lead single "Womanizer", which 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 Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...
elements were compared by
PopJustice Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 by UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for ''NME'', ''The Guardian'', ''Attitude'' and many others. It is composed of the work of editor Robinson, features editor Michael C ...
to those of Spears' earlier single " Break the Ice" (2008). The ballad "Out from Under" incorporates acoustic guitar backings, while "Kill the Lights" is a
dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
track speaking about Spears's conflict with
paparazzi Paparazzi (singular form paparazzo) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people, such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities who go about their daily life routines. Paparazzi are known f ...
. "Shattered Glass" utilizes dark electronic beats and details a non-repairable relationship. "
If U Seek Amy "If U Seek Amy" (also broadcast on Radio edit, radio as "If U See Amy" or simply "Amy") is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, ''Circus (Britney Spears album), Circus'' (2008). It was released on March 10, 200 ...
" integrates "glam-rave" elements with traditional pop styles; it gained controversy for its
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
, where the title sounds phonetically like "F-U-C-K me". The
electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...
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: "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 ''In the Zone'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on November 15, 2003, by Jive Records. Spears began writing songs during her Dream Within a Dream Tour, not knowing the direction of the record. She ...
'' (2003). "Mmm Papi" draws elements from a 1960s go-go
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
guitar, as well as
Latin pop Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...
and
dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...
themes. Despite its "fun" nature, it was criticized for appearing to "revisit the
Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession ...
persona of "'' ...Baby One More Time''". It has been suggested that its lyrics deal with either Spears' father Jamie or paparazzo and Spears' ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib. "Mannequin" is a
trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...
-influenced
dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
track; while being noted for its "risky" and "futuristic" nature, it has also been suggested that Spears' vocals sound "lifeless". "Lace and Leather" is an electro-
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
track which gained comparisons to "'' Control'' era
Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...
",
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
, and
Vanity 6 Vanity 6 was an American female vocal trio that gained popularity in the early 1980s. They were protégées of musician Prince. Led by singer Vanity, they are known for their song " Nasty Girl". Vanity left in 1983 and the band was reformed as ...
's works from the 1980s, and featured a then-unknown
Kesha Kesha Rose Sebert (born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. Her first major success came in 2009 when she was featured on rapper Flo Rida's number-one single, "Right Round". Kesha's music and ima ...
as a
backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...
. "My Baby", described as having a "faux-Janet Jackson vocal", was written by Spears about her two sons Sean Preston and Jayden James Federline. ''Circus'' closes with its bonus track "
Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
", an electropop and
Eurodisco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is a genre of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the middle 1970s, incorporating elements of pop music, pop and rock music, rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...
song featuring distorted
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
s emulating
sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...
pulses, which received comparisons to those of
Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synth-pop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball (electronic musician), David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit versio ...
's "
Tainted Love "Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. In 1981, the song attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synth-pop du ...
" (1981). In its lyrics, Spears lets the subject know he is on her radar, while she lists the qualities the man has.


Title and packaging

Spears commented on the title of ''Circus'': "I like the fact that you're always on the edge of your seat when you're at a
circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
. 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 album's
cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...
work and booklet images were photographed by Kate Turning and feature Spears in circus-styled settings. Spears revealed the album's cover alongside its track listing via her official website on October 31, 2008.


Release and promotion

In September 2008, it was announced ''Circus'' would be released on December 2, Spears' 27th birthday; it shared its release date with the similarly titled album '' The Circus'' by British group
Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...
. However, following unauthorized online leaks,
imeem The online service imeem was a social media website where users interacted with each other by streaming, uploading and sharing music and music videos. It operated from 2003 until 2009 when it was shut down after being acquired by MySpace. The co ...
began streaming ''Circus'' on November 25. To promote the album,
Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...
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 WKTU (103.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a rhythmic adult contemporary formatted radio station city of license, licensed to Lake Success, New York, a suburb of New York City. WKTU is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios at 125 West 55th ...
and
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
.
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
aired a 90-minute documentary '' Britney: For the Record'' on November 30, documenting her return. In May 2009, Jive's official website held the "Global Fan-Fiction Contest", which required participants to submit a 200-word story based on one of the album's tracks. The public was allowed to vote for their favorite short story, which would be produced into an animated
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
. The winning story was based on the song " Kill the Lights", and the video premiered on July 27. Spears' live comeback and promotional activities for ''Circus'' began on November 6, 2008, with a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
at the
Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...
show of
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
's Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008–2009). Midway through the performance of "
Human Nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...
", 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, Spears performed " Womanizer" live at the 2008
Bambi Awards The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and oth ...
in
Offenburg Offenburg (; "open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in south-western Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrat ...
, Germany, where she received an award for Best International Pop Star. In addition, she performed the song on ''
Star Academy ''Star Academy'' is a Dutch-developed reality television talent show format that first aired in the Netherlands as '':nl:Starmaker (televisieprogramma), Star Maker''. Format There are many versions of the show, each country having its own sl ...
'' in France the following day and on ''
The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–200 ...
'' 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 UK. Spears premiered the second single "
Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
" alongside "Womanizer" at the
Big Apple Circus The Big Apple Circus is a circus based in New York City. Opened in 1977, later becoming a nonprofit organization, it became a tourist attraction. The circus has been known for its community outreach programs, including Clown Care, as well as i ...
on ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' on December 2. On December 16, she performed on
Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...
's ''Best Artist of 2008''. While performing on ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' on December 2, Spears announced her fifth worldwide
concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...
, titled
The Circus Starring Britney Spears The Circus Starring Britney Spears, commonly referred to as the Circus Tour, was the seventh concert tour by American entertainer Britney Spears. It was launched in support of her sixth studio album, ''Circus'' (2008). Rumors of a tour arose as ...
. She initially revealed the first leg of 25 dates in the United States and two in the United Kingdom. Her longtime manager
Larry Rudolph Larry Rudolph (born July 24, 1963) is an American talent manager and former entertainment lawyer. He is best known as the former manager of Britney Spears from 1998 until 2021. Career Rudolph was born in The Bronx, New York. He graduated from ...
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 A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...
, as she did not tour to promote it. The tour commenced on March 3, 2009, in New Orleans'
New Orleans Arena Smoothie King Center (locally referred to as SKC) is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the Central Business District, New Orleans, Central Business District, adjacent to the Caesars ...
and finished on November 29, in Adelaide's Adelaide Entertainment Centre. The tour consisted of four legs: two in North America, one in Europe and one in Oceania. The stage was composed of three rings and set in-the-round to resemble an actual circus. Fashion designers
Dean and Dan Caten Dean and Dan Caten (née Catenacci; born December 19, 1964) are Canadian people, Canadian fashion designers, radio personalities, and businessmen. They are identical twin brothers and the founders and owners of Dsquared², an Italian luxury fash ...
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 ''In the Zone'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on November 15, 2003, by Jive Records. Spears began writing songs during her Dream Within a Dream Tour, not knowing the direction of the record. She ...
'' (2003), ''Blackout'' and ''Circus''. In June, Spears announced she would tour Australia for the first time; she was also rumored to tour South America, though her manager
Adam Leber Adam Leber is an American talent manager, entrepreneur, and investor. The CEO of management company Rebel, and formerly a founding partner at Maverick Management, Leber currently manages Lil Nas X, Labrinth, and LSD among others, and formerly m ...
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' alleged
lip-synching Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...
; such claims were later denied by Spears' 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 ''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017. ''Pollstar'' holds an annual award ce ...
released their Top 50 Worldwide Concert Tours of 2009; the Circus Starring Britney Spears was ranked as the world's fifth highest-grossing tour of the year, with a gross of $131.8 million. In May 2010, ''Hollyscoop'' ranked the tour at number five on their "15 Most Profitable Female Tours Ever" list.


Singles

" Womanizer" was released as the
lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...
from ''Circus'' on September 26, 2008. The song was met with positive response from critics, who complimented its hook and empowering lyrics, deeming it a return of form and a "comeback" single for Spears. It debuted at number 96 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 before leaping to the summit the following week, breaking the record for the largest leap on the chart. The song has sold over 3,500,000 digital downloads in the United States. Internationally, it reached number one in Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Israel, Norway, Sweden and Turkey, and on the
European Hot 100 Singles The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...
. At the
52nd Annual Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...
(2010), the song was nominated for
Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...
. Its accompanying
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
premiered on October 18, as a spiritual sequel to "
Toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...
" (2004); both videos were directed by Joseph Kahn. It portrays Spears as a woman who disguises herself in different costumes and follows her boyfriend through his daily activities to expose him in the end. The video won Best Pop Video and was nominated for Video of the Year at the
2009 MTV Video Music Awards The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV. The ceremony was ...
. "Womanizer" remains one of Spears' biggest hits and has been covered by numerous other artists. "
Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
" was released as the second single from ''Circus'' on December 2, 2008. It debuted and peaked at number three on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song has sold over 3,200,000 digital downloads in the US. Internationally, it peaked atop the Türkiye Top 20 and within the top ten in Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Israel, New Zealand, Scotland and Sweden. Its
Francis Lawrence Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker and producer. After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thriller ''Constantine ...
-directed accompanying music video portrays Spears as a ringleader of a circus accompanied by different performers, and features scenes of Spears in different circus settings. The video received positive reviews from critics, but was criticized for featuring "cruelly trained animals"; however, those claims were dismissed. It won a Best Video award on
Fuse TV Fuse is an American television channel owned by Fuse Media, LLC, that was originally launched in 1994 as MuchMusic USA, a localized version of the Canadian cable channel MuchMusic, owned by CHUM Limited which was also the parent company of City ...
, and was nominated for three
MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...
in 2009. "
If U Seek Amy "If U Seek Amy" (also broadcast on Radio edit, radio as "If U See Amy" or simply "Amy") is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, ''Circus (Britney Spears album), Circus'' (2008). It was released on March 10, 200 ...
" was released as the third single from ''Circus'' on March 10, 2009. Due to the song's
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
in the chorus, the
Parents Television Council The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by Conservatism in the United States, conservative political pundit L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which ...
(PTC) threatened to file indecency complaints with the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) against any station that played the song between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. A clean edit of the song, titled "If U See Amy", was later sent to radio by
Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...
. The song peaked at number 19 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making ''Circus'' Spears' first album since ''...Baby One More Time'' to produce three top-20 singles. Internationally, it peaked atop the
Brasil Hot 100 Airplay The ''Billboard'' Brasil Hot 100 is a record chart in Brazil for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard Brasil'' magazine. First launched in October 2009, the chart was initially published monthly and measured the airplay of songs on radio stations ...
, whilst reaching the top ten in Belgium, Israel, Malaysia and Mexico. Its
Jake Nava Jake Nava is a British director, mostly known for his work in music videos for Beyoncé, Arctic Monkeys, Adele, Britney Spears and The Rolling Stones. He also directs TV commercials, notably for Guinness and Levi Strauss & Co. Early life and ed ...
-directed accompanying music video was released on March 12, and depicts Spears poking fun at American culture. "
Radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
" was originally included on Spears' fifth studio album '' Blackout'' (2007) and set to be released as its fourth single. However, its release was canceled when Spears began work on ''Circus''. "Radar" was later included on ''Circus'' and officially released as its fourth and final single on June 5, 2009. The song originally entered the US
Digital Songs The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking ...
at number 52 due to digital downloads from ''Blackout''. After being confirmed as a single, entered the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 90, peaking at number 88 the following week; it became Spears' lowest-peaking US-released single on the chart. Its
Dave Meyers David Meyers may refer to: *Dave Meyers (director) (born 1972), American music video director *Dave Meyers (basketball) David William Meyers (April 21, 1953 – October 9, 2015) was an American basketball player who played for the Milwaukee Buck ...
-directed accompanying music video portrays Spears as an aristocrat at a
polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
mansion, who's involved in a love triangle with two polo players. Despite not being released as singles, several tracks from ''Circus'' appeared on ''Billboard''s component charts upon its release. "Shattered Glass", peaked at number 70 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, higher than the released single "Radar". It additionally peaked at number 29 on the US
Digital Songs The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking ...
and number 75 on the
Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...
. ''Note: Select a chart listed inside the drop-down menu.'' The song also entered the US Pop 100 chart, peaking at number 57. "Lace and Leather" and "Mmm Papi" peaked at numbers 84 and 94 on the Pop 100, respectively. "Out from Under" debuted at number 40 on the
Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name s ...
on August 14, 2009, reaching number 32 the following week and staying on the chart for five weeks.


Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Circus'' received generally favorable reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...
rating out of hundred to reviews from mainstream critics, ''Circus'' received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 64, based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Stephen Thomas Erlewine provided a favorable review, describing it as a "friendly remake of the hedonistic '' Blackout''", but preferred its predecessor for being more "sleek or addictive" than ''Circus''. Genevieve Koski of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' appreciated that Spears appeared to "put some real effort into her ''Circus'' performances", rather than seeming "flat-sounding" as she felt ''Blackout'' had. Writing for
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
, Nick Levine opined that Spears "sounds more confident" than she had on ''Blackout''. While Chris Willman from ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' appreciated the overall production of ''Circus'', he was critical of Spears' recently established pattern of "putting out albums with titles that promise more self-revelation than she's ultimately able to provide."
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
gave ''Circus'' a two-star honorable mention, stating that it was "still fun more often than not". Jon Pareles of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' expressed his enjoyment of the "crisp" material that incorporated "catchy melodic interludes". Caryn Ganz from ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' opined that the "clubby, adventurous pop" included on the album could have been a satisfactory successor to her fourth studio album ''
In the Zone ''In the Zone'' is the fourth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on November 15, 2003, by Jive Records. Spears began writing songs during her Dream Within a Dream Tour, not knowing the direction of the record. She ...
'' (2003). Writing for ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', Steve Jones applauded Spears for being "resilient" and " nowingwho she is as a singer" and not " astingtime searching for artistic direction or overthinking her appeal." ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' considered ''Circus'' "no better or worse than Janet Jackson's dominatrix-lite ''
Discipline Discipline is the self-control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed, and the ability to keep working at something that is difficult. Disciplinarians believe that such self-control is of the utmost importance and enforce a ...
''." Alexis Petridis of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' gave a more mixed review, suggesting that Spears "frequently sounds disconnected, even a bit bored" throughout the record, whereas ''Blackout'' was a "relentless, risky album made by a woman whose obituary was apparently being prepared by
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
." A writer for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' gave a negative review, opining that Spears' vocal delivery sounded emotionless in mid-tempo and ballad-paced tracks. ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
''s Eric Henderson shared a similar sentiment, suggesting that the album's "self-actualization" gave off a "hollow" feel through the majority of the record. Ann Powers from ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' felt that ''Circus'' served as a "bang-up job" of stating that "Spears is still a young woman trying to manage an impossible situation." Writing for ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', Hamish MacBain was disappointed that "Spears is quite simply rubbish at being sexy", adding that ''Circus'' is the "umpteenth attempt to turn the perceived chaos of Britney's transition to adulthood – she's 27 next week! – into sleazy, raunchy, dirrty adult-pop product."


Accolades


Awards and nominations

, - ! scope="row", 2008 , Virgin Media Music Awards , Best Album , rowspan="6", ''Circus'' , , style="text-align:center;" , , - ! scope="row", 2009 , Bravo A-list Awards , A-list Album , , style="text-align:center;" , , - ! scope="row", 2009 , Hungarian Music Awards , Foreign Dance-Pop Album of the Year , , style="text-align:center;" , , - ! scope="row",
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, ''NME'' Awards , Worst Album , , style="text-align:center;" , , - ! scope="row",
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
,
Premios Oye! Premios Oye! (Premio Nacional a la Música Grabada) were presented annually by the ''Academia Nacional de la Música en México'' from 2003 to 2013 with the exception of 2011 when they were not presented, for outstanding achievements in the Mexica ...
, English Album of the Year , , align="center", , - ! scope="row",
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
,
Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...
, International Album of the Year , , align="center",


Listings


Commercial performance

In the United States, ''Circus'' debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200, with first-week sales of over 505,000 copies. It registered the second biggest debut-week sales of 2008 for a female artist, only behind
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's '' Fearless''. The album spent nine weeks within the top ten, making it Spears's longest-running top-ten album since '' Oops!... I Did It Again'' (2000), which spent 23 weeks inside the top ten. It was certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) on January 29, 2009. The album placed sixth on the year-end ''Billboard'' 200 for 2009. According to
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
, the album had sold 1.7 million copies in the US by March 2015. With over 51,000 units sold in its first week, the album opened atop the
Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...
; it marked her highest first-week sales in Canada since ''Oops!... I Did It Again'', which sold 95,000 copies. In less than a month, it became the ninth best-selling album of 2008 in the country, selling 143,000 copies, and one of the top ten best-selling digital albums of the year with over 10,100 downloads. In March 2009, the album was certified triple platinum by the
Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to some of Canada's leadin ...
(CRIA). In Mexico, ''Circus'' debuted atop the international album chart and at number three on
Top 100 Mexico Top 100 México was a record chart which accounted for sixty percent of the albums sold in Mexico. The chart had the support of major record distributors in Mexico and was issued by the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videograma ...
, selling over 46,000 copies and being certified gold by the
Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON) (English: Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms, A.C.) is a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in M ...
(AMPROFON) in its first week. Across Oceania, ''Circus'' was a top-ten success, peaking at number three in Australia and number six in New Zealand. It was later certified double platinum by the
Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA) and platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...
(RIANZ). In Japan, the album peaked at number five on the
Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...
and was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pro ...
(RIAJ). In the United Kingdom, ''Circus'' debuted and peaked at number four on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, spending 31 weeks on the chart, and at number seven on the
Scottish Albums Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...
. The album was certified platinum by the
British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI). In France, the album sold 18,319 copies in its first two days, debuting at number five. Across Europe, it peaked at the summit in Russia, Switzerland, the international album chart in Greece, and the
European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart was the European adaptation of the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart. It ran from March 1984 until December 2010. Also commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums, the chart showcased the sales of an act in 19 E ...
. Furthermore, the album reached the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. By September 2009, ''Circus'' had sold over four million copies worldwide.


Controversies

''Circus'' and endeavors during its promotional campaign were subjects of various controversies. Controversy first arose on December 5, 2008, when Australian music site Undercover.com.au reported a complaint on the lyrical content of "
If U Seek Amy "If U Seek Amy" (also broadcast on Radio edit, radio as "If U See Amy" or simply "Amy") is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her sixth studio album, ''Circus (Britney Spears album), Circus'' (2008). It was released on March 10, 200 ...
" from Leonie Barsenbach, a housewife from
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, who stated: "I was astonished and totally taken aback when I heard my 5 and 7-year-old kids walking around the house singing 'F-U-C-K' ... When I asked them what it was, they told me it was Britney Spears. I was horrified. I got them the ''Circus'' album but there was no warning on it ... It is extremely offensive. I feel deceived." ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' writer Daniel Kreps defended Spears, arguing that parents should have been aware of her lyrical themes. After the song was announced as the third single from the album in January 2009, American radio stations were unsure about playing it due to its
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
in the chorus;
WFLZ-FM WFLZ-FM (93.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Tampa, Florida. It airs a contemporary hit radio (CHR/Top 40) format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The station's studios and offices are located on Gandy Boulevard in South Tampa. ...
produced their own edit of the song, titled "If U See Amy". Shortly after, the
Parents Television Council The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by Conservatism in the United States, conservative political pundit L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which ...
(PTC) threatened to file indecency complaints with the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) against any station that played the song between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. RBR.com reported that "interestingly, ''Circus'' was reviewed by Common Sense Media, another organization whose mission is to help parents manage their children's media consumption. It rated it appropriate for age 13 and up, but made no specific mention of 'If U Seek Amy'. Even more interestingly, reputed incoming FCC Chair
Julius Genachowski Julius Genachowski (born August 19, 1962) is an American lawyer and businessman. He became the Federal Communications Commission Chairman on June 29, 2009. On March 22, 2013, he announced he would be leaving the FCC in the coming weeks. On Januar ...
is a founding board member of Common Sense." The accompanying music video for the
title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...
of ''Circus'' caused further controversy due to its use of exotic animals. On December 9, 2008, animal rights organization
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights ...
(PETA) issued a press release condemning Spears for using "cruelly trained lions and elephants" and demanding her to "stop using exotic animals in her videos and concerts once and for all". Spears had previously received criticism from the organization when she used an albino python and a caged tiger during a performance of "
I'm a Slave 4 U "I'm a Slave 4 U" is a song recorded by American singer Britney Spears for her third studio album, ''Britney (album), Britney'' (2001). Written and produced by Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes, it was released on September 25, 2001 ...
" at the
2001 MTV Video Music Awards The 2001 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 6, 2001, honoring the best music videos from June 10, 2000, to June 8, 2001. The show was hosted by Jamie Foxx at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Highlights of the show inclu ...
. Kari Johnson from Have Trunk Will Travel responded by saying: "
he company He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter ca ...
has never issued a written endorsement, nor does it condone using electrical devices to discipline and control elephants except in situations where elephant or human safety is at risk. ..The
American Humane Association The American Humane Society (previously American Humane), is an American animal welfare organization founded in 1877 that works to rescue, care for, and protect animals by taking action wherever and whenever they are in need. It was previously ...
monitors animal action in film and television. A representative was on the set of the Britney Spears 'Circus' video with our elephants, Tai and Kitty, to ensure their safety and welfare ..Britney, the director, producers and the entire crew were respectful of the elephants' needs and comfort and a pleasure to work with." The Australian leg of the album's accompanying tour
the Circus Starring Britney Spears The Circus Starring Britney Spears, commonly referred to as the Circus Tour, was the seventh concert tour by American entertainer Britney Spears. It was launched in support of her sixth studio album, ''Circus'' (2008). Rumors of a tour arose as ...
caused controversy following its opening show in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
on November 6, 2009, when '' The Advertiser'' writer Rebekah Devlin reported that a number of fans had walked out of the show; they were apparently "disappointed" and "outraged" regarding Spears'
lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...
ing and subdued dancing. Australian tour promoter Paul Dainty denied the allegations, while Spears' manager responded via his
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account by saying: "It's unfortunate that one journalist in Perth didn't enjoy the show last night. Fortunately the other 18,272 fans in attendance did"; Spears' official website also posted a list of positive reviews from a number of fans.


Track listing

Notes * "Out from Under" is a cover of the song of the same title recorded by Joanna Pacitti for '' Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2007). * signifies a vocal producer * signifies a co-producer


Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''Circus''. * Rafael Akinyemi – songwriting (track 1) * All Sets – set design * Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica – additional engineering (track 1), engineering (tracks 4, 8), mixing (tracks 4, 8), songwriting (track 8) *
Stacy Barthe Stacy Barthe (born July 19, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she began her musical career as an intern for Geffen Records, Geffen and Jive Records' urban contemporary, urban divisions from 2003 to 2005. Sh ...
– songwriting (track 8) *
Jim Beanz James David Washington (born August 26, 1980), known professionally as Jim BEANZ, is an American music producer, songwriter, singer and record producer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is signed to Timbaland Productions and Sunset Entertainment ...
– additional engineering (track 1), songwriting (track 4), vocal production (track 4) * Matt Beckly – engineering (track 2), vocal editing (track 2) *
Arnthor Birgisson Arnthor Birgisson (Icelandic: Arnþór Birgisson; born 12 February 1976) is an Icelandic naturalized Swedish songwriter and producer. He moved to Sweden in 1978 (aged two) and has lived in Stockholm since. Information As young Arnþór att ...
– songwriting (track 3) *
Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...
– drums (tracks 2, 5 and 11), keyboards (tracks 2, 5 and 11), production (tracks 2, 5 and 11), programming (tracks 2, 5 and 11), songwriting (tracks 2, 5 and 11) *
Bloodshy & Avant Bloodshy & Avant are a Swedish songwriting and record producer, production duo consisting of Christian Karlsson (DJ), Christian "Bloodshy" Karlsson and Pontus "Avant" Winnberg. They have worked with many prominent artists, including Britney Spears ...
– bass (tracks 7 and 13), engineering (tracks 7 and 13), guitar (tracks 7 and 13), keyboards (tracks 7 and 13), mixing (track 7), production (tracks 7 and 13), programming (track 7 and 13), songwriting (tracks 7 and 13) * David Boyd – additional engineering (track 10) * Luke Boyd – backing vocals (track 8), songwriting (track 4) * Nikesha Briscoe – production (track 1), songwriting (track 1) * Jim Carauna – additional engineering (track 13) * Chad Carlisle – engineering assistance (track 2) * The Clutch – engineering (track 13), production (track 13), songwriting (track 13) * Tom Coyne – mastering (all tracks) * Danja – production (tracks 4 and 8), songwriting (tracks 4 and 8) * Brendan Dekora – engineering (track 1), engineering assistance (track 12), mixing assistance (track 12) *
Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. She was discovered as a teenager by music manager Simon F ...
– backing vocals (track 2) *
Dr. Luke Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as the Saturday Night Live ...
– drums (tracks 2, 5 and 11), guitar (tracks 2, 5 and 11), keyboards (tracks 2, 5 and 11), production (tracks 2, 5 and 11), programming (tracks 2, 5 and 11), songwriting (tracks 2, 5 and 11) * Pati Dubroff – make-up * Bojan "Genius" Dugić – engineering (track 1) * Laura Duncan – styling * Eric Eylands – engineering assistance (tracks 5, 6, 9 and 11) * James Fauntleroy II – songwriting (track 10) * Niklas Flyckt – mixing (track 13) *
Serban Ghenea Serban Ghenea () is a Canadian audio engineer and mixer. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award a total of 45 times and has won 21 times. Early life and education Ghenea was born in Romania, and in 1976 he moved to Montreal with his family. H ...
– mixing (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6 and 11) * Angela N. Golightly – production coordination (track 10) * Aniela Gottwald – engineering assistance (tracks 5 and 11) * Tatiana Gottwald – engineering assistance (track 2) * John Hanes – additional Pro Tools engineering (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6 and 11) * Dabling Harward – engineering (track 10) * Leah Haywood – backing vocals (track 3) *
Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including " World ...
– songwriting (track 3) * Jeri Heiden – art direction * John Heiden – design * Andrew Hey – engineering (track 10) * Sam Holland – engineering (tracks 2, 5 and 11) * Anders Hvenare – mixing (track 7) * Steven Jacobi – production management * Henrik Jonback – bass (track 13), engineering (tracks 7 and 13), guitar (tracks 7 and 13), songwriting (tracks 7 and 13) * Chris Kasych – engineering assistance (tracks 2, 5) *
Claude Kelly Claude Kelly (born December 27, 1980)Shirley Halperin and Bob Love"THR Names Music's 35 Top Hitmakers,"''The Hollywood Reporter'', February 6, 2013. is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer. A four-time Grammy Award nominee, and h ...
– backing vocals (tracks 2 and 5), songwriting (tracks 2 and 5), vocal production (track 5) *
Kinnda Kinda Vivianne Ingrosso (née Hamid; born 2 July 1982), better known as Kinnda, is a Swedish artist and songwriter. Kinnda is also known as Kee Hamid, Kee Ingrosso, or just Kee. Kinnda has been married to Swedish house producer Sebastian Ingro ...
– backing vocals (track 6) *
Rob Knox Robert Arthur Knox (21 August 1989 – 24 May 2008) was an English actor who portrayed the character of Marcus Belby in the film ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'', and had signed to appear in its sequel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly H ...
– production (track 10), songwriting (track 10) *
Savan Kotecha Savan Harish Kotecha (born August 28, 1978) is an American songwriter and record producer from Austin, Texas. Kotecha is of Indian ( Gujarati) descent. He was also the executive music producer of the 2020 film '' Eurovision Song Contest: The S ...
– songwriting (track 6) *
Alexander Kronlund Alexander Erik Kronlund (born 10 December 1971 in Bredäng) is a Swedish producer and songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be calle ...
– songwriting (track 6) * Derik Lee – engineering assistance (track 1) * Let's Go to War – instrumentation (track 9), production (track 9), programming (track 9), songwriting (track 9) * Kasia Livingston – backing vocals (track 7), songwriting (track 7) * Myah Marie – backing vocals (track 2) *
Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
AllMusic
known professional ...
– backing vocals (track 6), production (track 6), programming (track 6), songwriting (track 6) *
Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen ...
– mixing (track 9) * Harvey Mason, Jr. – mixing (track 10), production (track 10), songwriting (track 10) * Chris McMillan – hair * Nicole Morier – backing vocals (track 9), songwriting (track 9), vocal production (track 9) * Jackie Murphy – art direction * Candice Nelson – backing vocals (track 13) * Jared Newcomb – engineering assistance (tracks 4 and 8), mixing assistance (tracks 4 and 8) *
Debi Nova Deborah Nowalski Kader (born 6 August 1980), better known by her stage name Debi Nova (), is a Costa Rican singer-songwriter that is widely considered to be the most successful Costa Rican artist in the country's history. Nova first started as a ...
– backing vocals (track 11) * The Outsyders – production (track 1) * Andy Page – acoustic guitar (tracks 3 and 12), drum programming (tracks 3 and 12), electric guitar (tracks 3 and 12), engineering (tracks 3 and 12), mixing (tracks 3 and 12), piano (track 12), synth bass (track 3), synthesizer (track 12), strings (track 12) *
Shelly Peiken Shelly Meg Peiken is an American songwriter who is best known for co-writing the US No. 1 hits " What a Girl Wants" and " Come On Over Baby" by Christina Aguilera the US No. 2 hit " Bitch" by Meredith Brooks, " Almost Doesn't Count" by Brandy, ...
– songwriting (track 3) * Tim Roberts – mixing assistance (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6 and 11) *
Larry Rudolph Larry Rudolph (born July 24, 1963) is an American talent manager and former entertainment lawyer. He is best known as the former manager of Britney Spears from 1998 until 2021. Career Rudolph was born in The Bronx, New York. He graduated from ...
– executive production, management * Anna Schoenberger – prop design * Kesha Sebert – backing vocals (track 11) * Shellback – programming (track 6), songwriting (track 6) *
Guy Sigsworth Allan Arthur Guy Sigsworth (born May 1960) is an English record producer and songwriter. He has worked with many artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian ...
– drum programming (track 3), hang samples (track 3), keyboards (track 3), production (tracks 3 and 12), songwriting (track 12), strings (track 3) *
Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...
– songwriting (tracks 9, 10 and 12), vocals (all tracks) * Nick Steinhardt – design * Ron Taylor – Pro Tools editing (tracks 4 and 8) * Valente Torrez – engineering assistance (track 3), mixing assistance (track 3) * Kate Turning – photography * Windy Wagner – backing vocals (track 5) * Seth Waldmann – engineering (track 6) * Henry Walter – engineering (track 9) * Eric Weaver – additional engineering (track 9), engineering assistance (track 2, 5 and 11) *
Teresa LaBarbera Whites Teresa LaBarbera Whites is an American A&R, music executive, talent scout, and executive producer, who is best known for discovering Destiny's Child and Jessica Simpson. She is currently the A&R executive for Chloe x Halle. Career Originally t ...
– A&R, executive production * Chris Worthy – guitars (track 9) * David "Touch" Wright – production coordination (track 10) *
Emily Wright Emily Wright (born July 1, 1980) is an American songwriter, record producer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles. Early life Wright grew up in Wethersfield, Connecticut, graduating from Glastonbury High School and the Greater Hartford A ...
– engineering (tracks 2, 5 and 11), vocal editing (tracks 2, 5 and 11) *
Andrew Wyatt Andrew Wyatt Blakemore (born May 15, 1971) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, he began his career playing in New York bands such as The A.M. and Black Beetle. He gained wider ...
– engineering (track 7)


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


See also

*
Britney Spears discography American singer Britney Spears has released nine studio albums, eight compilation albums, nine box sets, three extended plays (EPs), 50 Single (music), singles (including two as a featured artist), 11 Promotional recording, promotional singles, ...
* List of ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums of 2008 * List of number-one albums of 2008 (Canada) * Britney Spears conservatorship case


Notes


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* *
''Circus''
at
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
{{Authority control 2008 albums Albums produced by Benny Blanco Albums produced by Bloodshy & Avant Albums produced by Danja (record producer) Albums produced by Dr. Luke Albums produced by Greg Kurstin Albums produced by Guy Sigsworth Albums produced by Max Martin Britney Spears albums Jive Records albums Albums produced by Fernando Garibay