”Hold It Against Me,” less a music video than an endlessly anticipated, relentlessly blog-ified Video Event, has finally been held.
The verdict? It’s kind of … frantic. And not unlike the commercials for her many fragrances; call this one I Am Curious (Android).
Plus there’s the product placements for her actual fragrances, among other things—including the Gaga “Telephone” redux Plenty of Fish. Also: bullet-cased panties, a voluminous wedding dress turned splatter-paint canvas, and some hooded, twirling ninja dudes with no eyes.
The best part is undoubtedly the battle of Britney vs. Britney, in which our lady Crouching Tiger Hidden Fight Clubs her own self to the death (or narcolepsies? It’s a toss-up). Otherwise, she seems to spend a large portion of the video with the half-distracted air of a person who thinks they may have left the stove on at home.
“You just cannot deny / there’s a spark in between us,” she sings, but the spark feels imposed more by the quick edits and bravura setpieces of director Jonas Akerlund than anything else; her dance moves are scarcely shown, spliced into strobelight-second flashes of small, I’m-trapped-in-an-invisible-box movement. It’s hard not to wonder: Is Britney having any fun?
We’ve analyzed enough, though; watch it below, and tell us what you think:
So I guess Leah is not a fan of Brit. C’mon, the video is not the train wreck you make it out to be! I really like it, with all of her old videos playing in the background, and I think the costumes and concept are actually really cool. Then again, I’m one of those die-hards that would follow her into hell, so….
actually thought it was pretty dope… very artistic… who cares if the dance moves were below her norm?
beginning of video..wack! end of video-D>O>P>E>
The video by itself holds its own, but because we have to consider the countless teasers before the premiere, let’s say the video is just average and unoriginal. She (and the director) made us think this video would be a [Single Ladies/ Bad Romance / Whip My Hair] 2.0. NOT!
What was the purpose of her previous videos in the background? They had very little to do with the lyrics. What was the scenario anyway?
The product placement was pretty lame too. We know what Make Up Forever is, we don’t need to see Britney blush her cheeks.
Overall, the video fails to live up to its hype. But since I found the song boring and generic on the first place, I’m not disappointed. Better luck , next time, Brit!
One aspect I did find very provocative was the Kantian critique of female worn thongeries and BLACK SWAN freak out chilblains. Did anyone notice the Inception top spinning around at the 1:27 mark, slow it down. Very clever Spears. Game ON!
I thought it was a fun video, cooler then I was expecting actually. Well the second half was cooler anyway, too much product placement silliness in the first half.
Brit has proved herself time & again since day 1 as the finest of artists in song&dance!She is an icon as well as a beauty! I thank the heavens that they blessed us with everything she is for all ages.She will perform in time as the likes of Cher but in her time no female artist will come near in all comparisons!Remember-All she wants to do is make us happy! And she does.Thank You BitBit & God Bless you&yours!!!
I think all the quick edits and product placement were meant to be distracting and “frantic”… While I was watching the video, I couldn’t help but think it was a comment on the fast paced, throw it away after one use society that we live in today. Or perhaps I’m giving Britney too much credit? Is only Lady Gaga capable of making a video worth analyzing these days in the eyes of EW? Lol
The video is a metaphor for the “Product” Britney Spears vs the real one. Or something like that.
I liked it, especially the part where she beats herself up.
I’m sorry, you’re giving this girl WAY too much credit. There is not metaphor in this steaming pile of you know what lol What a terrible video
benG Your so right!! It just shows britney fans are like lindsey fans anything is good enough for them.
Linsey lohan is trying to clean up her act by haveing a CHILD!!! imagine what will happen to our young!!!
Yeah, my favorite part was when she beat herself up – at least it’s nice to know that she’s sick of herself sometimes too.
Directors come up with the treatments for videos, so no matter how shallow you may find Britney to be…there is symbolism and a meaning to the video. She may nit be responsible for it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth analyzing and I interpreting.
Andrea,BenG,Aunt Sassy,& LG- shouldn’t all of u little monsters be on a little yellow school bus somewhere? Your comments show IGNORANCE AT IT’S BEST! Will all of u please give us a list of all your songs that have reached #1 so we can go watch their videos and u can show us how the singing and dancing should be done?
I agree with Classy, It is not a matter of giving “THE GIRL” too much credit. I doubt she created the video’s concept by her self, if she did i bet that is the way she feels about the media. BUT saying that “There is not metaphor” only shows how ignorant people are and also some lack of critical thinking (if you know what that is). There are just so many metaphors in video or movie production that you BenG probably wouldn’t be able to handle it. Im talking about the color, shape of objects, the texture, the angles – all that to create emotion and a message.
Besides actually the metaphor seams to be obvious to me, if you can’t see it then you shouldn’t post useless comments!!!
Not great….passable…mixed bag. Bring on Born This Way!
Erica, gaga says that her little monsters are the freaks, geeks, outcast, the fat and ugly, friendless and the unwanted. I’m here to tell u that not only are u not wanted by society, but you are not wanted here either!
baby, i’m beautiful and Born This Way! Britney looks like she shops at yard sales eating pies without her make-up! GAGA is QUEEN!!!
Leah gave the song a bad review too so I can’t take anything she says seriously. I thought the video was fantastic.
I love the video!
I don’t care how long madonna or britney has been around….GAGA whooping pop ass…lol.
LG, longevity matters. Lady Gaga would be blessed by The Holy Spear-It if in ten years she has the career Britney has.
Britney won’t be around another 5….lol. GAGA whooping her ass off the charts as we speak!
LG, do you lack reading comprehension skills? Britney has already been around for 11 years… so until your precious monster has been around just as long, sit down, show some respect and STFU.
Lady Gaga has been on scene for three years and she already broke all kinds of records and won five Grammys and all of those MTV awards. That is more than amazing for just three years so I really don’t see how she won’t be sticking around for some twenty years or so.
And this video is cool and OK. And that’s it.
Dancing is really terrible. Even I can do better dancing than that. But the coloring thing and beating up, no matter how pointless, is pretty cool.
Why do people always compare? Lady Gaga is not the only recording artist in this world. Who gives a crap? This is about Britney.
And to be completely honest…Lady Gaga’s new song it TERRIBLE.
I don’t get the Britney Vs Gaga fan feud. I doubt either one cares that much about the other. There is plenty of room for two divas. And they are both SO different that there is no reason to compare. I am more of a Brit fan but that doesn’t make me dislike Gaga at all. Its kind of sad that people waste their energy bringing this negativity into the fandom. If you like Gaga and not Britney then stop wasting time reading and complaining about Britney and vice versa. Come on people. This isn’t middle school…
I’m confused by this fan war. If Lady Gaga is so much better then Britney Spears, why is that you seem so threatened by Britney that you feel the need to take time out of your day to come onto an article about Britney Spears new video and comment about how much better Lady Gaga is then her and say nothing at all relevant to the video? I don’t see one Britney fan on here saying anything about Gaga. As a fan of both artists (though I’m a bigger fan of Gaga) this fan war is really starting to annoy me. I’m sure both their new albums will be successful, no need to spread hate and comparisons.
I remember like 5 years ago online comments this like those ones, but they were about Britney and Avril Lavigne, Now its about Britney and Lady Gaga….
Just face it, soon Gaga will be out of the picture and those comments will be about Britney and someone else.
Ugh. She’s so old.
flooba- you’re a sad pig
Go stick your head back in the mud and when some poor soul feels the need to see you again have them clean your ears real well and get a MRI of your brain by your new neurologist. Ta!
I’m sure it wasn’t, but it looked kind of…cheap.
What an awful video. Boring as hell!! And can artists give the product placement a rest. Toxic was the high point, since then no big named video director has been able to put things right.Britney just looks like Samantha Fox.
I thought the vid was boring and the quick cuts just jarring. and brit not dancing so well…just a pile of blah for me.
I was bored. and that is not what i think she was going for.
@ Nana – Please explain to us what the concept was!!!! Follow her into hell??? You a dumb Ho!!!!
EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE EVER WANTED HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM ME! THANK YOU SPEARS! I LOVE YOU SPEARS! I NEED YOU SPEARS! please shave your head again…
This video was amazing. I’ll admit it was jarring and fast, but that’s been Britney’s life. If you can’t see the metaphor, then you are not someone who understands true art. If you choose to like or dislike, I don’t care, but the concept was very strong and well executed. Way to go Britney!!!
The problem with music videos, and most films today, is that the current generation of directors think they are deeper, and more artistic than they actually are. There really is nothing beyond the “flash factor”. If bright lights are flashing, it must be something interesting.
My only issue is the a.d.h.d. speed of the video. I don’t think anything is onscreen longer than 1.5seconds, which always leaves me feeling like there wasn’t much to see. The song grew on me after a few listens, but the video gets a big “meh”.
well,i’m really fun of britney but a new video clip of spears hold it agaisnt me,my comment is not satesfiying enought to watch britney dancing as i knew her in the pasted video mostly so great fantastic n sexy energic dance but i only get to them them just a bitt of them in this clip,i wish in the next will be better.
anyhow i love britney spears:-)
I LOVE BRITTNEY SPEARS!!!!!! I LOVE MY GIRL ALSO HER NAME IS SELENA GOMmEZ
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!!!!
LOOOOOOOOVE IT!!! BRITNEY, YOU ARE AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE BEST!
Britney never was the best. And this video is an example of her mediocrity. Nothing but a Sony commercial. Guess GAGA will run right over her again!
Gaga is having a good run no doubt, but get off your high horse. She doesn’t even outsell Taylor Swift. When Britney was at HER prime, no other female could outsell or outperform her. Can’t say the same for Gaga. And this track was already a worldwide number one hit for Brit, so get over it.
gaga doesn’t outsell tswiftie because country music fans still buy actual cds at walmart. lady gaga fans know how to work computers.
In gagas ” lovegame” music video, I noticed that she is weaeing a flesh and rainbow coloured skin outfit. It is also studded with diamonds. I remembered from some ime ago that old britney did the same thing WAY before lady gag me ever did that………and gagas new single, Born This Way, is the same as madonnas songs. Coincidence? I think not. The truth is is that gaga is a modern day verison of the decnt singers that made their own music. Why is it that when ever a great artist makes a classic, some do—-e has tongo and kill It? Gagas songs have been played with Don’t Stop Beliving, Enter Sandman, and Bulls eye Parade. Get a life.
This video SUCKS!!
I agree. This was horrible. Bad editing. Too frenetic, no real dancing again. The whole concept didn’t seem to go with the lyrics of the song. Sucked like you said.
I agree with every you said. It’s a bad video because of all these reasons.
I’m sick of the half-naked singers….it’s OLD! The video is not that good. The song is good, your typical dance number.
I think it’s not quite bad enough to warrant “sucks”, but definitely mediocre and dull enough to warrant a big yawn.
yeah it was boring, i stopped watching at the 2 minute mark – lame
It’s classic BS. quick edits to hide the fact she can’t really dance, autotune to hide the fact that she can’t really sing, lots and lots of distraction and dazzle to cover a general lack of creativity. In short, it’s perfect for her short-attention span, yet high tolerance for crap fans.
Guess some can never get their body back after kids. she is no where near sexy
yeah for all the hype it got i was in all very disappointed. i mean.. it was all over the place. no real substance to it – and ive been a long life fan of britney since day 1! i would stand by her thru anything, yet even i was left thinking “wtf?”! being a hard core fan doesnt mean you have to believe the celeb is gods motherf**king gift! lol but yeh.. it could have been less flashy and at least stood still long enough for me to notice who the hell was in the video! lol and did anyone else think britney looked a little… wooden in her dancing? yeah, thought so. ah well… i prefer this song to gaga’s new song anyway! just maybe not the video..
But if Lady GaGa, did it then it would be “the video of the decade.” Right?
Jeff, if Lady Gaga had made a video of this song, the end product wouldn’t have been this…
Exactly it would have been 9 minutes of trying way too hard and imitating Madonna.
Exactly Jase! LOL
Amen jase. Call it like u c it
haha that is so kinda true!
GAGA would be 9 minutes of whooping Britney’s ass for real…lol.
are you 12? not every sentence has to end with “lol”… oh, and newsflash.. whatever your precious monster does, has already been done..not one original thought in her drug infused body.
@Me
Really? Not one? Are you sure?
Thank god Britney never tried any drugs.
Its.the hot new thing to be a junkie……one of my friends boyfriendsnwas caught smoking weed in the bathroom. I may just be going to to a bad skool, but that seems to be “cool” thing and now all the rapers are rapping about it and the children are acting it out. What happened to a decent Society?
@ ANTIME.
GRABBING UR PRIVATE AREA HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE!! SO HAS DRESSING UP IN A COP GEE AND DANCING ON A POLE FOR THE MEDIA!!!
i suddenly feel very dizzy this was less a music video and more fast paced clips put together. and the eyeless men very creepy!!!
So proud of Britney! Amazing work, once again! Love Love Love!!!
I really love it! Sure her dancing isnt what it was when she was 19, but none of us are the same as we were when were teenagers! Its a great video.
She’s not even 30 yet. There’s NO reason for her to not dance like she did a decade ago, she’s still young. Look at Madonna and Janet Jackson, they’re middle-aged yet they dance with more vigor and spirit than Britney has in the past few years.
And beyonce is the same age as Brit granted she doesnt have any kids
Pyrotechnic fabulosity!! There wasn’t nearly as much dancing as they said there would be- not even close-but the video is quite gorgeous overall. I love the fight scene and the white dress scene and the dancing with all the glitter n stuff at the end. Is she battling herself? I interpret it as she’s hurt own self and almost completely knocked herself out of the game…but she got back up ! That’s probably not right, but it was cool to look at regardless. I think she needs to quit trying to dance in 5 inch heels! Her style of dance is usually very technical and athletic. I know it’s the trend to gyrate in stilettos, but I’d rather see her break it down and if she needs to wear Skechers like she did back in the day , then so be it. And I know the Gaga stans are gonna try to dissect the dancing in this clip, but I honestly thought she did better than Gaga at the Grammys dancewise. Oh, and she looked so beautiful throughout. Yes! She is still the Queen:-)
Britney is the Queen? And here I thought Madonna was.
I meant no disrespect to Madomna babe. I meant queen of the younger generation.
Oh geez! I meant Madonna.
@classy.
ITA! I feel like over the last few years, she is trying to look so sexy in all the videos, but if she would just put some flats (or even wedges) on, she might be able to get some energy into her dance moves. Another poster said “wooden” and that’s totally true, she dances in place and doesn’t move around as much as she used to…
VH1 had a weird competition show a few years ago on which they would compare two similar stars. On one episode, they compared Britney and J.Lo in their dancing, step-mothering and [I forget the other category] skills. I think J. Lo won because when she dances, she doesn’t just stand in one place and move her arms.
J.Lo is quite underrated as a dancer. I’ve always thought she was one of the best. She just doesn’t consistently make cool enough songs or videos to back it up…unlike Britney:-)
Eh…it’s just okay. I don’t really get it. Some of the visuals are interesting…but then she just starts fighting herself?
And the dancing looks a bit messy…
Not impressed…boo Jonas.
But yeah, Gaga being a jailed lesbian criminal who likes to randomly poison people makes a lot more sense. Did I mention the title of this song was “Telephone”?
Britney trumps Gaga. And don’t tell me “enough with the competition” – we all know the media is pitting these two against each other, so now let’s just go with it.
Well, “Telephone” was the sequel to Paparazzi, in which she first killed her boyfriend, hence jail. And ‘Telephone’ is Tarantino-inspired, with a underlining message about our ‘over-consumption of the media’ and it ‘making us sick’.
This…I didn’t see a vision? Cool to look at at times, but kinda messy.
And Britney is Britney. And Gaga is Gaga. They’re different, at least the role music/art plays in their lives.
This is the funniest comment I’ve ever read. Britney trumps Gaga? I can’t stop laughing.
Britney trumps Gaga? Let’s hear Brit sing that song live, without using Autotune.
Britney couldn’t trump GAGA if GAGA slept for a month. GAGA would wake up, write a song, and send it out to WHOOP BRIT’s ass.
What does trump even Mean? Or do I wanma keep my youthful Innocence?
Telephone was a better video then this, sorry, but Gaga wins that one. And songs lyrics often don’t have anything to do with the videos anyway, both HIAM and Telephone included.
Britney used to make really fun music videos and I disappointed because I don’t think she needs to try this hard.
The product placement in this is out of control. The video isnt particularly interesting, but neither is the song. Hold it Against Me and Born This Way definitely have a fierce battle on for most overhyped song ever.
I kinda agreed. And it seems even MORE hyped because the media and everyone are pinning Britney Vs. Gaga…which is ridiculous-they can both coexist…they like/respect each other…
Yes, because the fact that Britney Spears is including a form of dubstep in a pop song does not deserved to be hyped up. Bottom line, Gaga fans like to state how innovative and creative and unique she is, yet she makes a song that we could hear straight out of the 80s. Britney, on the other hand, produces a song that is like nothing we have heard from her before. Sorry, but Britney hype was real hype. and it lived up to it.
Sure did!
that’s why GAGA is #1 all over the world right now huh?
So she added a dubstep? So maybe finally it’s something ‘different’ from her? If so, it’s about time. It really just sounds like another Britney song to me…I see no ‘growth’ or ‘innovation’
So stripping and regurgitating a Madonna song is innovative and shows growth? Surely you jest.
Okay it has dubstep… the lyrics and basic beat… heard it a million times before.
She didn’t add dubstep, her producer did. She has never been in control of her own life until she shaved that head.
Brett I’m just gonna assume you are joking about that whole revolutionary dubstep idea.
If Gaga is supposed to be some kinda standard then yeah…anyone who is releasing music that sounds like 2011 instead of 1984 is quite revolutionary.
Ok, Britney didn’t produce anything, Dr. Luke, Max Martian, and Billboard did. Anyway, I do like the dubstep in Britney’s song, but it’s not that original, it’s been popular in Europe for years. And Gaga’s Born This Way was definitely not original at all. I wouldn’t describe either artists new song as being original honestly.
I agree. This video was a great new commercial for Sony cause I’m guessing it was the official sponsor of it.
Totally agree! Was this a Sony Super Bowl commercial?
Yeah it was very frantic and I was hoping for more dancing, especially during the breakdown. I think the whole two weeks of teaser promo hyped it too much. Oh well. She looked pretty and the fight scene was fierce. She’s still amazing IMO.
Britney seems a little bored when she’s singing and dancing. Can she she at least be more enthusiastic about her first song in three years?
3 years? Her last single was out in October 09. That’s a little over a year ago….
And it also was a #1 Single… I swear people like to talk out their butts. Jase, thanks for being one of the few reasonable and informed people here.
I am a huge britney fan! but i dont love the video. i just really want to see her dance and instead i just see clips mashed together and the product placements really annoy me. thank being said, the scene of her fighting herself is fantastic!!! otherwise i feel let down. I will always love and support britney, but i cant help but notice that spark is gone.
that not thank
I liked the video. It was fantastic but it’s been better than her others. Compare this to 3, her last single — million times better. That being said, the product placement, even if there was a point in including it, was dumb. She looked hot but didn’t dance enough, which I can’t excuse. I’m sorry, you’ve got Usher who is older than you Brit, busting it on stage. Even Janet who is over a decade older, is still killing it with her moves. I need you to DANCE. I liked the fight scene, I liked the old videos in the background, but I wish she had pulled it together a little more. Taking the video in a more artistic direction would have seriously elevated this song, especially the amazing bridge. Not fantastic by any means, but definitely a step up from what she was doing on her last album. Good luck, Brit!
Woops, I mean to say it wasn’t fantastic but it was better than any of the videos from the Circus album, and better than the video for 3. In my opinion. I do feel like she tried. Not 100% but still an improvement.
WHAT?! The “Circus” video was the best!! I loved it.
I disagree about the “Circus” videos. I really liked “Circus” and I thought “Womanizer” was one of the best videos she’s ever done. I do agree with you about the awesome bridge on this new song, though. Best part.
What a generic song. The lyrics are terrible. What is the deal with all the product placement in music videos nowadays? I’m also completely over this trend of female pop singers wearing as little clothing as possible. Britney, Rihanna, Beyonce, Christina, Gaga…they’re all constantly wearing little more than a bra and panties.
Generic? Do you know anything about music? See: dubstep. Also, we’re commenting on the VIDEO, not the song. See the initial song post to give your opinion that no one is going to care about.
well, the song IS in the video…So I’ll allow it.
Wow, so it’s uses heavy bass in the dance break and it’s suddenly not generic? The song is OK at best and the video isn’t that great. Disappointing. Britney hasn’t put anything good out since Blackout.