Madonna's a shrewd lady. Bringing former mouseketeer sweethearts Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake together again on the same stage is sheer marketing genius. I mean, she knows we're all going to write about it. Talk about irresistable catnip for the digerati - holy google hits Batman! We, and when I say "we" I don't mean just us lowly bloggers, but also those "professional" purveyors of "news", will find this "story" impossible to stay away from. Even before it happened, there were several postings on the potential reunion of Justin and Britney, each of which serving as free advertising for Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour.

It is true that some greeted the news less reverentially than her Madge-ness would desire and rightly point out that bringing a tabloid page to life is a cheap way to try to maintain some "relevance" as opposed to the trendsetting Madonna of old. But, you know that Madonna knew that too and simply decided to take the unavoidable criticism for the stunt. She's always been rightly of the mind that as long as they (meaning "us") are talking about her, she maintains relevance. I say, well played Madonna, well played. Now if you really want to hit that public relations home run you are looking for, try to get Jessica Biel to show up and challenge Britney to a bra and panties fight over Justin. Now, that would be sticky and sweet Ms. Madonna.

Labels: Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Madonna