The Britney Phenomenon Explained by Me

Before you judge me (boys especially) for being a Britney Spears fan, you have to understand that Opps! I Did It Again was one of the first CDs I had ever bought as a 13 year-old at which I listened to on repeat for weeks on my Sony Walkman CD player (remember CD books?!). Pop music, Britney Spears, midriff bearing tops--that was my life as a teen, and over a decade later, every new Britney song and album reminds me of how awesomely fun life was back then and can be when listening to pop music.

See, Britney defies traditional music stardom because for over a decade she is able to produce hit after hit and sellout concerts without fail. There is human quality about Britney--that want to "just have fun"--which she established early in her career and which all her fans identify her by. What she has playing on her side is the sentiment of FUN, the nostalgia of that high school dance, the college party or that epic night in Vegas. We remember moments in our lives based on her chart-topping hits ("Womanizer" fittingly came out when I was in London) and even moments in her personal life serve as milestones, like that time she married her friend Jason in Vegas, her awful reality TV show with K-Fed and her infamous head shaving.

Manufactured image, lip-syncing, weight gain--in our eyes Britney Spears can do no wrong as long as she continues to exude that fun, kick-ass Britney factor on stage. Am I right that Glee dedicated an entire episode to her? I don't watch that show.

Simply, Britney was the Bieber of my time.

Catch a one-hour MTV special "Britney Spears: I am Femme Fatale" this Sunday at 9 pm EST, and for all of you who wonder does Britney still have it? Watch a crowd-shot video of her GMA performance of Till the World Ends that captures that spark we crave in a Britney performance (starts around 0:55):