[3][4][5] In October 2007, it was reported that Spears was planning to go on tour to promote the album and was holding open dance auditions, but this was later denied by Jive Records.

[6][7] In February 2008, similar reports surfaced that Spears had already rehearsed in private for a month at Millennium Dance Complex in Los Angeles, and would be leaving to Europe during the following weeks for a worldwide tour.

[9] In September 2008, after New York City radio station Z100 premiered her single "Womanizer", Spears made a surprise appearance on the show and announced she would be going on a worldwide tour during 2009 to support her sixth studio album, Circus (2008).

[26] The production design was done by Road Rage, a formed alliance between Nick Whitehouse, Bryan Leitch, William Baker and Steve Dixon.

[29] There was a semi-transparent Element Labs Stealth cylinder screen above the stage, comprising 960 panels that Solotech built into custom frames.

Front of house engineer Blake Suib explained that, "[Me] and Solotech were asked to come up with a design that blocked the fewest seats but provided the quality and coverage that [Spears] expects and that we were looking for".

Spears used a Crown CM-311AE headset microphone wearing the mic's beltpack (usually hidden in color matching material) on her top or pants, she did not use in-ear monitors; instead 12 Meyer CQs were positioned, eight flown around the center ring and two on each of the smaller stages.

Whitehouse also had 18 PRG Bad Boy luminaires, 16 of which sat in pods that hung in various positions lower than the rest of the rig, with two more at either end of the stage.

Fifty Martin Professional Atomic Color strobes and four front of house Robert Juliat Aramis followspots rounded out the lighting package.

We are confident that this tour partnership, an autobiographical tribute for one who has always been in the spotlight: scrutinized, watched, imitated, photographed, criticized and loved, will be an enormous success".

[37] The wardrobe for the song "Mannequin" included black jeans from True Religion and a yellow tank top with rhinestones designed by Spears herself.

As the video ended, Spears descended from the ceiling on a suspended platform, wearing the headdress, a ringmaster jacket, black shorts, high-heeled boots and carrying a whip.

[28] The song ended with Spears taking off her ringleader jacket to reveal the Swarovski-crystal corset and running into the center of the main stage, as she was surrounded by jets of smoke.

[28] The next song was the Co-Ed Remix of "Boys", which Spears performed wearing a military costume, while surrounded by her dancers, some of them riding bicycles.

[28] At the end of the song she performed a military drill with her male dancers before moving into "If U Seek Amy", which featured her pushing them with a giant pink mallet, in a similar way to Whac-A-Mole.

[28] A video spoofing late-night chat lines featuring "Britney's Hotline" played, while clowns took a person from the audience and goofed around with them.

Spears returned to perform "Breathe on Me", dancing on a giant picture frame, and "Touch of My Hand", in which she sported a blindfold while being lifted on the air sitting in the backs of two aerialists.

[34] In the fourth section, there was a band interlude, and Spears appeared on stage to perform "Do Somethin'", with a gun that shot sparks in her hand.

[45] Years later, in 2021, it has been alleged by one of the background dancers that Spears herself stopped the show and refused to go back, citing fears of marijuana appearing on drug tests she is routinely submitted to under her court-appointed conservatorship, leading to her losing custody of her children.

Stacey Plaisance of the Associated Press commented that the tour was "another strong step in the right direction" and that Spears delivered "a tightly choreographed, if perfunctory performance".

[47] Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times stated, "despite that first-night stumble and several numbers in which her dancing was no more than adequate, Spears can safely call this performance a success".

[49] Dixie Reid of The Sacramento Bee commented that the show was "a mesmerizingly big production with entertaining videos (including the infamous Spears-Madonna kiss), confetti, sparklers and even a stilt-walker.

[51] People writer Chuck Arnold wrote that Spears "never really hit her old stride [..] there was a lot more strutting than real choreographic feats from [her]".

[40] Jeff Montgomery of MTV both praised and dismissed Spears's performance saying, "Yes, welcome to Britney's Circus, a big, huge, loud, funny, nonsensical three-ring affair... She looks great in her myriad of outfits, and she can still move with the best of them.

[53] The Hollywood Reporter's Craig Rosen claimed that "in the end, Britney and company delivered an entertaining spectacle, but one couldn't help but wish that she would strip it all down and show a little more of herself".

[55] A week after the tour was announced, 400,000 tickets were purchased for the North American shows, which prompted promoters to add seven more dates in Los Angeles, Toronto, New Jersey, Chicago, Long Island, Anaheim and Montreal.

[19] Spears performance at the American Airlines Arena broke the attendance record previously held by Celine Dion, with a crowd of 18,644 people.

[56] The first North American leg, which was sold out, resulted in an average of 20,498 tickets per show and a gross of $61.6 million, becoming the highest-grossing tour of the first semester of 2009 in the continent.

[69] Spears's manager Adam Leber responded in his Twitter account, saying, "It's unfortunate that one journalist in Perth didn't enjoy the show last night.

[74][75] On November 12, 2009, Spears's manager, Adam Leber, posted on his Twitter account that there were "...No plans for a Circus Tour DVD at the moment.