Come Back To The Five and Dime, Britney Spears, Britney Spears

Britney Spears is 29 years old today. It's twelve years since ...Baby One More Time was released. Of all of the pop stars of recent years I think she has been the best case of what happens when someone too young becomes famous very quickly. I wish some of the parents who allow their children to take part on shows like X Factor would look at Britney as an example of what happens when instant fame is given to someone still growing up. I do think what the public loved about Britney is that she has always had a great likeability factor but her image was sexualised from the very beginning of her pop career and that was then intensified as the years went by. The result of what began with Britney and Christina is now seen in the images of female stars such as Rihanna and Kesha. I never thought that Britney's 'adult' image really suited her and deep down I would imagine that she was never completely comfortable with it herself. I remember just feeling so sad for her when her very public breakdown was in the news every day. I do think that Britney has some of the best pop songs of the past decade and more. I think she will always be someone who has never been allowed to grow up properly and lots of the media from Rolling Stone magazine to the tabloid press in the US and Europe has added to that. She's been out of the spotlight over the past few months and I hope it has been a happier time for her. One of my favourite Britney songs never appeared on an offical album. It's called Baby Boy and was supposed to have been on the Blackout album. A friend gave me a bootleg copy of the album when it came out and Baby Boy was one of the songs on it and is the one that stood out the most for me.