Sometimes you wonder how your life would have been if you had done things differently. If you had gone to a different college, if you had taken that other job, married that guy, got off your fat ass and worked a bit harder…

What would life be like now for Britney Spears if she had staged a successful comeback at the Video Music Awards? Criss Angel was going to get involved in the performance of Britney’s Gimme More single at the show, performing magic tricks arnd moving beyond her previous stage show. The Los Angeles Times asked him what he had up his sleeve.

“With Britney I presented concepts to create, within her performance, illusions that would happen in the open. You would see Britney and then she would split into two Britneys and then four Britneys with no boxes or covers. It would just be a visual effect using no screens. People in the past have used the art of magic in music performances but mostly in a cheesy way. Magic has not kept up with popular culture and technology.

“Other things I wanted to do with her was to literally transform her into birds and then for her to reappear in the audience. I also thought of having her levitate over the audience. It was going to be really visual moments that were all epic tableaux that were beautiful, artistic, elegant and, most important, unique — things MTV hasn’t seen in music. I wanted to captivate people in the moment. That was the essence of what I wanted to do with the Britney performance, because I think the performance she did with the snake was a highlight of her career and I wanted to trump that and I thought we had it.”

So, what happened?

“Britney is really strong with her own ideas. And what I had planned wasn’t an easy thing to do and would have required a lot of rehearsals. Ultimately, I told her I needed 100% commitment or I wasn’t going to be able to do this. I told her that, ‘You have to feel comfortable.’ So, we explored it and she decided it wasn’t for her, and I completely understand.”

Los Angeles Times

That Criss Angel idea sounds awesome – it’s a pity that she deemed it too much work. Kind of like turning up for a court appearance.

If this had taken place, and Britney pulled it off with such pizazz we all exclaimed “Girlfriend is back!” and catapulted her average sounding single to the top of the charts, would she still be the crazy lady we saw walking around in her wedding dress? Or has she been a little nutty all along and has her fall been inevitable from the day she appeared scantily clad in her high school uniform?

I know it is going to take more than just a hit single to cure her crazy, but maybe she just has an attention disorder and that would be a good way of getting some positive attention. This I say in my totally unqualified speculation.

I’d really love to see Brit stomp all over her craziness, get her shit together and go back to being that totally amazing performer she actually was. Remember when she was great?