"Circus" is a song by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on December 2, 2008, through Jive Records as the second single, following "Womanizer" (2008), from her sixth album, Circus (2008). Written by Dr. Luke, Claude Kelly and Benny Blanco, "Circus" is a metaphor for the public's perception of Spears' life. After she listened to the track for the first time, she felt inspired to create an album and a tour with a circus theme. "Circus" is an uptempo electropop and dance-pop song with elements of pop rock and "half-rapped" vocals. The song's lyrics talk about being an entertainer and putting on shows.
"Circus" was well received by contemporary critics, with reviewers complimenting Spears' confident persona and praising the song's electronic production. "Circus" was a commercial success, peaking inside the top-ten in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and Sweden, while reaching top-twenty positions in many European countries. The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on American pop radio and is her second best-selling digital song in the United States, having sold over 3.2 million downloads as of July 2016.[1] On a global scale, "Circus" was one of the top 10 best selling songs of 2009 with 5.5 million digital copies sold that year across the world, according to the IFPI.[2]
The music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, was released on December 4, 2008. It portrays Spears as the ringmaster of a circus accompanied by different performers, and it is interspersed with scenes of Spears in different circus settings. The video received positive reviews from critics, but was criticized by PETA for featuring "cruelly trained animals". However, the exhibitors denied these claims. Spears performed the song on Good Morning America on December 2, 2008. It was also the opening number of The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009), where she was dressed in a ringmistress outfit, designed to represent a metamorphosis. Spears has also performed the song during her residency concert Britney: Piece of Me. The song appears in Just Dance 2016.
