When talking about huge comebacks, ATRL and other sites often list Circus as one of the greatest music comebacks. It was launched by a big hit Womanizer which she performed on the biggest stages worldwide including:

 

 

 

The album opened with 500 000+ copies in the US, but overall it sold somewhere between 3.5-4 million worldwide which is what Rated R/4 approximately sold. Does it live up to 'a huge comeback' expectations a la Confessions On a Dancefloor or The Emancipation of Mimi?

Circus era was huge. 

No

It wasn't on the same level of TEOM or COAD but it definitely was a comeback

 

She scored a #1 and a top 3 single from the era - her best singles performance for an era at that time since BOMT 

 

Her first era to have 2 radio top 10 hits since Baby One More Time

 

Her biggest sales week since In the Zone almost 5 years later

 

Most weeks in the top 10 since Oops

 

Highest year end placement (#6 on the Billboard 200) since Oops almost 9 years prior

 

 

Edited February 26, 20233 yr by naval23

No it performed decently but it wasn't a "huge" comeback like Emancipation was for Mariah

Circus (the single) was the #10 biggest song GLOBALLY of 2009 according to the IFPI.

Womanizer was Top 80 on both the US Hot 100 YEC of 2008 and 2009 (similar to We Found Love), its chart performance was cut in half by its September release date.

 

Regardless of whether or not its album sales were mid, Circus' singles were massive and was definitely a step up commercially from whatever the hell Blackout was. I'm not a Britney fan but lets not lie the Circus singles were HUGE!

 

 

Yep it was massive. All the singles were big hits ww. And she was everywhere. Especially following Blackout ( which was another big era) with all that controversy surrounding her. 

 

I couldn't get tickets for her Melbourne shows because they were all sold out within minutes  I was devastated  

4 minutes ago, MingYouToo said:

Circus (the single) was the #10 biggest song GLOBALLY of 2009 according to the IFPI.

Womanizer was Top 80 on both the US Hot 100 YEC of 2008 and 2009 (similar to We Found Love), its chart performance was cut in half by its September release date.

 

Regardless of whether or not its album sales were mid, Circus' singles were massive and was definitely a step up commercially from whatever the hell Blackout was. I'm not a Britney fan but lets not lie the Circus singles were HUGE!

 

 

How was Circus 10? It wasn’t that big. 
 

I wouldn’t say the era was huge, but it was a decent comeback. 

I remember Womanizer and If U Seek Amy being hits in my country. Circus the song not so much, unfortunately.

 

It definitely was a comeback commercially, but for me it more felt like a comeback reputation wise. People were loving Britney again and rooting for her again.

 

Except for Megyn Kelly of course 

 

 

16 minutes ago, naval23 said:

It wasn't on the same level of TEOM or COAD but it definitely was a comeback

 

She scored a #1 and a top 3 single from the era - her best singles performance for an era at that time since BOMT 

 

Her first era to have 2 radio top 10 hits since Baby One More Time

 

Her biggest sales week since In the Zone almost 5 years later

 

Most weeks in the top 10 since Oops

 

Highest year end placement (#6 on the Billboard 200) since Oops almost 9 years prior

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, MingYouToo said:

Circus (the single) was the #10 biggest song GLOBALLY of 2009 according to the IFPI.

Womanizer was Top 80 on both the US Hot 100 YEC of 2008 and 2009 (similar to We Found Love), its chart performance was cut in half by its September release date.

 

Regardless of whether or not its album sales were mid, Circus' singles were massive and was definitely a step up commercially from whatever the hell Blackout was. I'm not a Britney fan but lets not lie the Circus singles were HUGE!

 

 

 

Yes

I already see Shelter being mad in here

so Deffo!

 

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, MingYouToo said:

Circus (the single) was the #10 biggest song GLOBALLY of 2009 according to the IFPI.

Womanizer was Top 80 on both the US Hot 100 YEC of 2008 and 2009 (similar to We Found Love), its chart performance was cut in half by its September release date.

dont forget the Circus Tour, which was Huge for a young star

one of the first females to have a +100m tour!

 

OP tried it tho!

Circus (a) made it to #6 on Billboard 200 YEC, the two first singles were worldwide hits and the tour had one of the most successful runs from that year. I don't think anyone has ever perceived it as a TEOM-sized era, but it was clearly a great comeback.

20 minutes ago, naval23 said:

It wasn't on the same level of TEOM or COAD but it definitely was a comeback

 

She scored a #1 and a top 3 single from the era - her best singles performance for an era at that time since BOMT 

 

Her first era to have 2 radio top 10 hits since Baby One More Time

 

Her biggest sales week since In the Zone almost 5 years later

 

Most weeks in the top 10 since Oops

 

Highest year end placement (#6 on the Billboard 200) since Oops almost 9 years prior

 

 

7 minutes ago, blown away said:

It definitely was a comeback commercially, but for me it more felt like a comeback reputation wise.

this!!

Yes!

 

If U Seek Amy only reached #19 but its an iconic Britney song and video.

4 minutes ago, MingYouToo said:

Circus (the single) was the #10 biggest song GLOBALLY of 2009 according to the IFPI.

Womanizer was Top 80 on both the US Hot 100 YEC of 2008 and 2009 (similar to We Found Love), its chart performance was cut in half by its September release date.

 

Regardless of whether or not its album sales were mid, Circus' singles were massive and was definitely a step up commercially from whatever the hell Blackout was. I'm not a Britney fan but lets not lie the Circus singles were HUGE!

 

 

Circus basically rode off Blackout major publicity. Blackout may not have been a massive era but it was still big ....not only Gimme more was huge but she had unbelievably bad publicity. Which in some case is still publicity. 

 

Circus polished her image and continued the success in a more positive way. 

No. And it doesn't help that it's very forgotten now 

It was huge, but it could have done better if she re-released the album with 3. No one asked for that Greatest hits. 

• Had two major hits- Grammy-nominated Womanizer & Circus (two top three singles)
• Womanizer became her first #1 song since 1999, one of the most viewed music videos at the time (70m+ views), and one of the biggest singles of 2008 & 2009
• Britney's best-selling digital single, helping her transcend from the pure sales market into the digital market. It also charted in the top 10 of almost every chart it charted in and was in the year-end charts of several countries in 2008, AND 2009.
• Also garnered first-week download sales of 286,000, the biggest opening-week tally by a female artist (clearly showing there was hype and that the GP was here for her)
• Britney: For The Record, the documentary attracted nearly 12,000,000 viewers globally (5.6 million alone on MTV and mainly attracted an international audience) and was one of the most-watched programs on TV during the week of its release.
• Had a controversial single that kept Britney as a media staple- IYSA
• The album sold 800k+ globally in its first week and sold 4 million copies by the end of 2009 (so no, it did not sell in the same range as Rated R)
• 15th highest-selling album of 2008, her best-selling album since 'In The Zone'
• Helped refocus Britney's popularity into music, after the tumultuous years of tabloid culture latching onto her personal issues
• Garnered the most attention on the night of the 2008 VMAs, winning three of their awards
• Headlined one of the first tours to gross over $100 million dollars and remained in the ten highest-grossing female tours for 10-12 years
• Despite not being released as singles, several tracks from Circus appeared on Billboard's component charts upon its release.
• "Shattered Glass", peaked at number 70 on the US Billboard Hot 100, higher than the actual single "Radar".
• Unusual You, L&L, and MP peaked at numbers 80, 84, and 94 on the Pop 100, respectively. Out from Under debuted at number 40 on the Swedish Singles Chart staying. Having your non-singles chart that too in the international charts was unheard of at the time.
• One of the most searched celebrities of 2008 & 2009
• Went platinum in 7 countries, and achieved gold certifications in 18 countries
• Propelled Britney to the position of competing with then-popular singers like Gaga, Beyonce, and Rihanna
• Redirected Britney's career in a positive direction and ushered her into the 2010s as a successful popstar.

Looking through these, I'm afraid to conclude that yes, Circus was a huge comeback for Britney 

Edited February 26, 20233 yr by Blackout2006

Even with all the turmoil in her life, I don't think Blackout was a flop to the proportion of calling Circus a comeback. It was labeled that way by her team as part of her image rehabilitation process, but Britney herself didn't like the term. "I don't like it when they call it the comeback, (...) I 've been here the whole time"

22 minutes ago, Icarus said:

No. And it doesn't help that it's very forgotten now 

Not the Camilla stan talking about what is "forgotten"

8M CSPC is impressive but that album is completely forgotten, like completely.

It was a big era, Blackout was never a flop IMO to make Circus a comeback.

 

 

Yes 

7 minutes ago, Kimi said:

8M CSPC is impressive but that album is completely forgotten, like completely.

Womanizer and Circus are both still remembered bops tho, and IUSA had a resurgence among the gheys