Britney Spears ‘didn’t work hard enough’ to save her career, says Criss Angel

Magician Criss Angel has revealed that his plans to help Britney Spears spectacularly relaunch her career died because she would not work hard enough.

Britney stunned the world with her stodgy routine performance at the Video Music Awards which was expected to have been a stunning attention-grabber.

Now Criss Angel has revealed that they DID have amazing plans - but Britney just was not prepared to put the work into it.

Angel says the show he planned with Britney would have been "beautiful, artistic, elegant and unique" - and easily better than her previous awards shows such as dancing with a giant snake.

She would have transformed into a bird that flies into the audience - and at another point actually levitate over everyone.

But he told Spears it would be hard work - and so she was not interested. Instead she gave such weak performance, with a dull dance routine, it made headlines around the world - with many critics insisting it was the final kiss of death for her career.

"What I had planned wasn't an easy thing to do and would have required a lot of rehearsals," Criss said. "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."

The show he had planned sounds truly spectacular. "With Britney I presented concepts to create, within her performance, illusions that would happen in the open," he revealed. "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."

By Owen Williams, Jan 14 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy