Have You Heard
The News (International)
Is Britney the
Elvis of our times?
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It was
The Guardian who started it, and now news papers all
over the world seem to copy the story about the
'many similarities' between Elvis and the fallen pop
diva, Britney Spears. Much to our surprise, the
Guardian discovered that both Britney's and Elvis's
life have the same pattern. But - is that true or
just a fantasy? We'll let you be the judge.
IS
BRITNEY THE ELVIS OF OUR TIMES?
Huge hits, massive celebrity, failed rehab,
disastrous love affairs and a penchant for cat suits
and Las Vegas. The Princess of Pop's life echoes
that of the King. But are we hounding Britney Spears
to a similar fate
It is 1977. These are the dying days of Elvis
Presley. Skip forward 40 years, and Britney Spears
appears at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards to unveil
her new single, Gimme More. The response is not
good: "Spears was stuffed into a spangled bra and
hot pants," jeers the New York Post, "and jiggled
like Jell-O as she sleepwalked through the song."
The similarities between the lives of Britney and
Elvis, two of the most successful acts in the
history of pop music, are striking. Born in
Mississippi more than 45 years apart, their lives
have followed a similar course, encompassing not
only No 1 singles, Grammys, wealth and fame, but
substance abuse, divorce and a dubious attraction to
Las Vegas. This week, Spears launched her new album,
Blackout, to critical applause, but after a year of
increasingly unpredictable behaviour, failed rehab
stints, attacks on the paparazzi and an ongoing
child custody battle, it remains to be seen whether
the Princess of Pop can navigate the immense
celebrity - and attendant excesses - that destroyed
the King.
Both Presley and Spears were sturdily managed white
pop acts who found fame repackaging traditionally
black music for a white audience. In the 1950s,
Elvis combined rockabilly with the gospel music of
his church and the rhythm and blues he heard in
Memphis and gave it a pop spin. "He opened the door
for black music," Little Richard once said. Britney,
too, draws heavily on traditionally black musical
styles: appraising 2004's In the Zone, Guardian pop
critic Alexis Petridis observed: "There is southern
hip-hop, deep house, Neptunes-style R&B, the
ubiquitous Diwali beat and, most importantly, oodles
of Madonna."
Both performers owe much of their ascent to stardom
to the marketing of their sexual allure. The Elvis
controversy was sparked by a performance on The
Milton Berle Show in 1956, during which he performed
a cover of Hound Dog, a song which, like Spears'
1998 debut... Baby, One More Time, carried blatant
sexual undertones. But it was the performance as
much as the lyrics. With Elvis it was the pelvis,
the seductive shake that drove female fans to
distraction and saw one of his early TV
performances, on the Ed Sullivan Show, censored so
that viewers saw only Presley's upper body. Britney,
of course, skipped into the public consciousness
provocatively clad in school uniform and pigtails.
Her currency was raised by the disclosure that for
all her saucy cavorting, she was in fact a good
little church-going girl and a virgin to boot.
There have been other visual similarities along the
way - the hair-cutting for example: Elvis was
publicly shorn for his stint in the military;
Britney, for less explicable reasons, wielding the
clippers herself before the baying paparazzi. They
have both, too, demonstrated a love for cat suits
and sequins, and last week, as Britney unveiled her
newly augmented pout, there was an echo of the
King's famous lip-curl.
And then there is the junk food. These days Spears
is no longer the toned young popstrel we first met -
at the VMAs this year, abdominal muscles were
reportedly spray-painted onto her stomach, and she
is frequently photographed with fast food takeaways,
sugary drinks and packets of her beloved Cheetahs.
For his part, Elvis never lost his taste for fried
peanut butter and banana sandwiches, cheeseburgers
and hollowed out loaves filled with peanut butter,
grape jelly and bacon, at 42,000 calories a pop.
According to the coroner who performed his
post-mortem, the last thing Presley ate was four
scoops of ice cream and six chocolate-chip cookies.
They have each had their Vegas moments, too. The
King's 1968 comeback famously took place in Sin City
to a magnificent reception. In happier times,
Britney performed her hit Slave 4 U at the 2001 VMAs
in the city, accompanied by a live snake. Alas,
Vegas was also to herald the start of a downward
spiral for Spears: it was here in 2004, at the
Little White Wedding Chapel, that she married
childhood friend Jason Alexander, a marriage that
was annulled 55 hours later.
Failed love affairs have blighted Spears and
Presley. Soon after meeting dancer Kevin Federline
in 2004, Britney married him and bore two sons in
quick succession, only for the couple to divorce
acrimoniously in 2006. The debate over custody
continues, in an increasingly tormented fashion.
Elvis married Priscilla Beaulieu in Vegas in 1967,
and they had a daughter, Lisa Marie.
Following allegations of infidelity, the couple
separated in 1972, and agreed to share child
custody.
After his divorce was finalised in 1973, Presley's
weight shot up and he grew increasingly dependent on
prescription drugs and the solace offered by books
on spiritualism - when he died he was reading Frank
Adams' A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus.
Britney has followed a similar pattern; her weight
gain has been the subject of constant media
attention, and the judge presiding over her current
child custody case referred to her "habitual,
frequent, and continuous use of controlled
substances and alcohol". Recent paparazzi shots
revealed a packet of the prescription medicine
Provigil in her handbag.
As his fame grew, Presley became increasingly
isolated. Holed up in Graceland, with his private
jets, jungle-themed room and pandering
acquaintances, he was separated from the simpler
life he had loved, and no longer sure who his real
friends were. Towards the end of his life, Presley
was devastated by the publication of a tell-all book
that included contributions by three of his former
employees, who revealed the extent of his drug
dependency. Britney, too, must be wondering who she
can trust. She is alienated from her family, and
already this year, former nannies and bodyguards,
lovers and friends have sold their stories to the
press - tales of wild sex, drugs, alcohol and
debauchery.
Presley died 30 years ago, in August 1977, keeled
over on the shag-pile carpet of his bathroom after a
suspected drug overdose combined with long-running
heart problems. It was an unceremonious end to a
spectacular career. "Elvis Presley's death deprives
our country of a part of itself," said US president
Jimmy Carter.
"He was unique and irreplaceable... His following
was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world
over of the vitality, rebelliousness and good humour
of his country." Now we see Spears, messed up,
puffed up, drugged up, and wonder: are we hounding
the pop princess to a similar fate?
Source: The Guardian
Posted: 9th. November 2007
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