And sometimes, you can't get too cerebral about it - you just have to let the fun and energy of it all take you away.
Britney had a great rapport with the crowd, who loved it when she ran across the stage from side to side, waving and blowing kisses. "What's up Calgary? I'm so excited to be here. This is my first tour on my own and there's only one rule - you have to have fun!" she said between songs. "Has anyone ever been in love?" she asked before one ballad, triggering a chorus of screams. Obviously, there was no lack of love for Britney last night in Calgary Tommy Jeans model Michael Fredo started the evening off on a rather mediocre note.Dwarfed by a huge white Tommy Jeans logo backdrop, Fredo had the voice and the looks that made the young girls swoon and jealous guys hurled unprintable insults at him - especially when he ripped off his bright-yellow shirt to reveal his well toned chest.
Unfortunatley, Fredo's songs weren't quite as impressive. They were vacuous and utterly forgettable. Even the bootie-shaking beauties who flanked the singer couldn't add much excitment to his unoriginal material. British superstars Steps fared a little better, even though they spent half their set trying to teach the audience how to dance. You see, the co-ed five piece are called Steps because they have certain steps that are unique to each of their singles. However, the crowd was much too pysched and impatient to see the star of the show to concentrate, no matter how hard the perky quintet tried. But the group's unbelievable energy works wonders for them. They came across like five Young Canadians who had just been given a shot to pure adrenaline and a stack of Abba's entire back catalouge of recordings. In fact, if you closed your eyes and listened to the group's finaly song, a cover of The Bee-Gee's "Tragedy," you could swear it was Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Frida together again. Montreal's SKY seemed like the odd band out, but the duo's smooth jazzy, R&B-flavoured pop proved to be a nice break in a night that was otherwise filled with tooth-rotting sweetness. While they may not have the same well-rehearsed dances moves as Steps and Spears or the teen-dream looks of Fredo, SKY was certainly the mosy musically accomplished of all the acts.