Britney Spears was the brains behind her iconic music video for her debut single ‘…Baby One More Time’.
The 36-year-old singer – who recently announced her new ‘Domination’ residency at the Park Theater at the Park MGM in Las Vegas starting in February – had a smash hit with the track when it was released in October 1998 and the high school set promo catapulted her to global stardom.
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the song and her choreographer Randy Connor has revealed that a then 16-year-old Britney was not a "puppet" on set and came up with the classroom theme at the "last minute" as she felt it would connect with her intended audience and he and director Nigel Dick knew she’d come up with a brilliant idea.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Randy said: "Britney was no record label’s puppet. She had a key voice in the production and her creative touches made the video iconic. The school class was her idea, which she convinced the management would be better than their idea. Britney wanted the video to relate to her fans and their experiences, so felt a school was more natural and realistic to them and her personality. The idea was they are daydreaming about getting out and having fun, remembering a guy she broke up with. It was kinda last minute but [director] Nigel and I thought it was a fantastic idea."
The ‘Slumber Party’ singer was also responsible for tying up her shirt which was part of her school uniform outfit, unintentionally creating a look that has endured with fans for two decades.
Randy added: "All the uniforms were picked up from K-Mart with costumiers working fast to get them fitted. After a couple of takes Britney felt that the tails of the shirt were getting in the way of her hand movements. So before another take she tied a knot in the shirt. It happened naturally. She was in fantastic shape so her midriff was toned. I heard she kept that outfit. It has become an iconic look. It is now one of people’s go-to costumes for Halloween."
In the video, Britney was seen performing backflips and high energy dance moves, however, a recreation of the famous lift from rom-com ‘Dirty Dancing’ ended up on the cutting room floor.
Randy revealed: "She learned acrobatics and practiced for hours. She is a natural athlete and fast learner, who just relished every rehearsal. I lost count of how many backflips she did. It was groundbreaking too with the casting, because we had a diverse cast of dancers – which represented what the truth about American schools. There was an incredible moment where Britney ran and jumped into the arms of our lead dancer. It was beautiful."
Randy can recall that Britney couldn’t stop jumping up and down on her hotel bed when she was shown the final edit because she knew that she and her team had nailed it.
He said: "She knew it was special and proud her idea came good. Her look and sound were different. Straight after, everyone knew the words, kids were doing the choreography and it was all over radio. After its release it took a life of its own."
Britney Spears created ‘school classroom’ music video
