The tour, divided in five segments, portrays a story in which Spears is a secret agent, who is chased by a stalker named Tormento Lancie (played by Rudolf Martin).

Ray Wedell of Billboard speculated that the reason may have been that Spears was deemed by news outlets as the headliner, while Iglesias was considered the opening act.

Spears stated, "This is the Femme Fatale tour and I'm thrilled to have Nicki Minaj, Jessie and the Toy Boys, and Nervo join me and get everyone on the dance floor.

[15] In March 2011, Spears's manager Larry Rudolph told MTV News that the tour would have a "post-apocalyptic vibe", and commented that "Till the World Ends" "keeps becoming a theme for us."

[21] On May 11, 2011, Sabi spoke to MTV News at a St. Bernard Project dinner, hosted by Spears, stating that she would join her during the performances of "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" at select dates, such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City.

According to Jocelyn Vena of MTV, the stage "has it all: lights, video screens, a funky neon-colored floor, lasers, lifts and giant butterfly wings.

For example, at the Uniondale show on August 2, 2011, Spears sported wavy hair, inspired by Sarah Jessica Parker and the street style of New York women.

"[31] After a neon sign reading "Femme Fatale" is lifted from the stage, the show begins with a video introduction in which Spears is arrested by the police after a chasing sequence.

The next section begins with Spears in a pink latex and lace jacket emerging from inside a speaker to perform "Big Fat Bass", while will.i.am appears in the backdrops.

She removes the jacket to reveal a nude leotard for the performance of "How I Roll", which features a pink convertible Mini Cooper-like car and her dancers wearing colorful outfits.

After a costume change, Spears goes into the song "If U Seek Amy" while wearing a white skirt over a fan, recalling Marilyn Monroe's iconic scene in The Seven Year Itch (1955).

In her next number "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" Spears is surrounded by her dancers carrying picture frames, and includes an appearance by Sabi in select cities.

[34] Accompanied by her female dancers, Spears performs "I'm a Slave 4 U" with gay soft porn in the backdrops,[35] and subsequently a cover of Madonna's "Burning Up" sitting atop a giant silver guitar.

[33] Barry Walters from Rolling Stone called the show "possibly her flashiest, fastest moving, and most entertaining production yet", and added that the night belonged to Spears, as "she managed to prove that she's still progressing as a showgirl.

Her body perpetually moved, she sang steadfastly into her headset (okay, she's got plenty of digital support, but she doesn't merely lip-sync), and she shimmied through an endless parade of outfits.

"[37] Carla Meyer of The Sacramento Bee stated that "Though Spears performed like a pro throughout the show, hitting all her marks, she had shown hesitancy in her movements — natural for the first stop on a tour.

"[38] August Brown of the Los Angeles Times stated that "the Femme Fatale tour gets its drama by largely erasing — or at least tweaking — the past.

With her voice heavily processed and laden with backing tracks, she appeared onstage as some strange blend of Michael Jackson, Madonna and Kraftwerk's Ralf and Florian.

'"[42] Shirley Halperin of The Hollywood Reporter stated it was "entertaining", but Spears "doesn’t quite have that spring in her dance step anymore and who requires a constant barrage of visual distractions while she mostly lip-synchs along to her hits".

The theatrics are awkward and confusing, the dance routines are numbingly bland and old-hat, the song selection is weak and misguided, and Britney's star power, so blinding on tours past, is remarkably dim.

"[43] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph gave the show one star out of five, and called it "the saddest, laziest, dullest and most tawdry pop concert I have ever witnessed."

He added that "the most amazing thing about the whole second-rate spectacle was that thousands of people, having forked out around £50 a head for tickets, practically raised the roof, cheering every dismal dance move, roaring for lip-synched vocals and lustily applauding limp erotica.

A spokesperson explained, "Offering a deal on Groupon is not a reflection of the quality or status or sales of a show" but rather "segmented marketing and a way to reach new and additional consumers.

"[45] A staff editor for VH1 noted that as of June 16, 2011, 18,000 tickets were sold at discounted prices through Groupon for fifteen of the first twenty-four dates of the tour, including 1,800 at opening night in Sacramento.

The Groupon deals for shows in Seattle, Winnipeg, Saint Paul, and Atlanta actually expired before all available discounted tickets were sold.

[47] On July 22, 2011, the shows in Atlanta and Nashville ranked Spears at number ten on Billboard's Hot Tours list, with a combined gross of $1,563,934.

The move divided opinions in the music industry of the United Kingdom: festival organizer Melvin Benn said that discounted tickets work "particularly well for an awful lot of concerts.

Although it is common for major music labels to send takedown requests to YouTube, it is thought to be the first time the RIAA filed legal action against the video hosting site in order to obtain the personal details of an uploader.

The case was closed after a week; according to a copyright lawyer, it is most likely that the subpoena was granted by the court and that YouTube agreed to hand over the personal details that were requested.

[63] During the concert in Lima, Peru, the song "I Wanna Go" was professionally filmed by Coca-Cola as part of the competition "Dance with Britney Spears.