Making a triumphant return to the MTV Video Music Awards nine years after her last less-than-stellar performance, Britney Spears took the occasion to pay homage to one of her biggest idols. And while in previous times she might have cited Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston, this year she shone the spotlight instead on Sacha Baron Cohen, or more specifically his Kazakhstani alter ego Borat.
Introducing her performance with the perverted greeting ‘Jagshemash’ – which in fact resembles the Polish for a familiar form of ‘Hello’ or ‘How are you?’ – Britney launched into a rendition of her latest song, ‘Make Me…’ featuring the vocal stylings of G-Eazy. But the intro only explicated what was already implicit in her curious choice of outfit. For as Britney emerged slinkily from behind a screen, then gyrated on her knees after sliding between G-Eazy’s legs, it was clear that she was modelling her own brand of the Borat mankini.
This isn’t the first time Britney’s enviable figure has flattered the mankini. Back at the beginning of May she informed the world via Instagram of her new purchase of three swimsuits, one of which, according to discerning fashionistas, resembled Borat’s slender sling. His lime-green offering clearly lends itself to other tones and hues.
While the neon green spring version looked more like a traditional sling bikini or slingshot, at the VMAs a dearth of fabric around the waist and groin made the sequinned yellow-gold-silver number look if anything even more like Borat’s tall thong. Britney finished her set with a humble ‘chenquieh’. After this appearance, nobody might plead ‘Leave Britney alone!’, but she’ll sure be fighting them off, and by ‘them’ we mean more than the odd Kazakhstani.
