Britney Spears’ newest concert tour to promote her “In the Zone” CD raises the question of when the school girl in braided pigtails turned into a porn star. Although Spears is in her early 20’s and perfectly entitled to express herself, there was much buzz over her showcase of creativity.

The Showtime channel aired her live, R-rated concert on March 28 at American Airlines Arena in Miami. After much hype, and a trip down memory lane, the show began at 9 p.m. and ran for approximately an hour and a half.

Introduced by a creepy, overly made-up male creature dressed as a circus performer, Spears assumed her usual performance role with costume changes and exotic dance moves. The stage transformed into various scenes from the Onyx Hotel, the theme for the evening.

For her first song, “Toxic,” she appeared wearing a black catlike bodysuit, almost resembling the red one she wore for her “Oops I Did It Again” video years ago. For her blast from the past tribute, Spears wore a pink frilly leotard and sang her early songs, “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” along with a cabaret style rendition of the first hit.

Her new beats and lyrics add a different style to Spears’ music, including the “In the Zone” chart topper, co-sung with Madonna, with whom she shared an infamous kiss. Spears’ new style and attitude has evolved throughout the years, but she certainly matured her song topics, costumes and dance moves. That girl sure can dance.

The risque performance of “The Touch of My Hand” had Spears clad in a flesh-colored sparkly leotard, thrashing about behind a silhouetted bathtub curtain. While this, and the other sexual acts suggested may have been appropriate for the movies or cable television, it is disturbing for concert audience members who did not receive a warning on their ticket stub as to the inappropriateness of the performance.

Ironically, her lyrics ‘Me against the music’ perfectly described the show. It seemed to be a fight against Spears’ vocals and the beat, as she attempted to lip-synch her songs she was obviously more comfortable dancing to.

As an entertainer: Spears is amazing. She has what it takes to catch people’s attention and hold on to it for the few hours she is on stage. As a singer, actress and role model to children: not so much.