It was directed and choreographed by Wade Robson, who explained the main theme of the show was Spears's coming of age and newfound independence.

Most of the performances were accompanied by extravagant special effects, including confetti, pyrotechnics, laser lights, and artificial fog and snow.

The tour was broadcast live on an HBO special on November 18, 2001, and went on to win an Emmy for Outstanding Technical Direction on the 2002 ceremony.

It marked the first time Concerts West outbid CCE, with reports claiming Spears would earn between $13 and $15 million during the tour.

We went with Concerts West because they're a strong touring company and because they have ancillary properties, in that [parent AEG owns] arenas and some 7,000 movie theaters throughout the country.

[11] The tour was postponed one more day due to production delays and finally kicked off at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

[12] Before the tour began, Spears announced she planned to give $1 of each ticket to the children of firefighters and police officers killed during the September 11 attacks.

[13] On February 26, 2002, more North American dates were released through her official website to kick off in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay.

In conjunction with entertainment company WFX, they offered a cell-phone service that featured collectible merchandise and a membership card with access to backstage reports directly from Spears.

"[18] "We had no idea the potential of the water screen, until we set it up in Lakeland, Florida [the site of the tour's rehearsals], six or seven months after we decided to put it in.

You can almost hear them whispering to each other, ‘Is that water?’ They've seen so much to this point, and a lot of the kids at these shows are at their first concert, so the pyro, the lasers, the flying barge, and the bungee—all of these effects are new to them.

Rob discovered the company (Chameleon Productions of Orlando, Florida) that makes the screen, and I immediately looked at what they had in stock, which was a straight line.

Steve Cohen Productions also served as the tour's lighting vendor and sublet the gear they required from Westsun and Fourth Phase/LSD.

Apart from the Syncrolites, the rest of the lighting was a combination of Coemar and High End Systems automated fixtures and conventional luminaries.

"Overprotected" was performed next with Spears (dressed in a futuristic version of one of Elvis Presley's jumpsuit) surrounded by laser lights.

[18][19] She returned to the stage wearing a tank top with glittery tomboy looking suspenders and pants for a dance-oriented performance of "Boys".

[18] There was a skit in which her dancers chased her, before Spears loses the rock star jacket revealing a glittery red and purple halter top for a performance of "What It's Like To Be Me" in the small stage.

[21] She took out the costume to reveal a green top and small brown skirt for "I'm a Slave 4 U" in a jungle setting while surrounded by artificial fog and laser lights.

The projection gradually shrunk until Spears rose from the stage while wearing a plastic cowboy hat, blue hip-huggers, and a matching bra top.

It was described by Corey Moss of MTV as "similar to ["I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman"], but with a bit more traditional R&B flair, a la Alicia Keys".

Larry Nager of The National Enquirer commented that "[the concert] packed more technical wizardry than Harry Potter, but almost no actual singing".

"[24] Jim Farber of the New York Daily News compared it to tours of other teenage artists, saying "her latest 90-minute extravaganza had to be the costliest, most elaborate and, to be honest, least tacky to date".

"[25] Camille Lamb of The Daily Collegian named the show "an elaborate, highly homogenized display of capitalism at its finest".

"[26] Neva Chonin of the San Francisco Chronicle believed the show "was pure Britney excess, [...] hugely entertaining" and added that "while it's all too easy to deride Spears' contrivances from a distance, in person there's no denying her charisma or her archetypal appeal.

She's like a refugee from David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, a gleaming dream cipher waiting to be filled with an audience's fantasies.

And she works that role with flawless professionalism, punctuating her choreographed moves with an amiable accessibility that drew fans into her airtight world even as it kept them at a safe distance.

"[21] While reviewing the Femme Fatale Tour in 2011, Jim Harrington of the Oakland Tribune deemed the show as "one of the best pop music productions I've ever witnessed.

Concert promoter Ocesa Presenta director Guillermo Parra explained to El Universal that "there was no trick nor deceit, but climatic conditions cannot be controlled".

[29] Jive Records released a statement saying, "A hazardous lightning storm made it essential for Spears to depart the stage.

[30] Spears requested that HBO aired the concert to the American Forces Network (AFN) on its AFN-Atlantic and AFN-Pacific channels at no cost.