Britney Spears gives 55,000 fans a ‘crazy’ show in Israel

US pop princess Britney Spears on Monday night gave her first-ever concert in Israel, performing in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park at the end of a sweltering day.

Spears, 35, and her team of dancers put on their show in front of some 55,000 people as part of her world tour.

At the open-air venue, Spears ran through a list of her hits while gyrating to the beat in temperatures of around 28° Celsius (82.4°F)

The music star arrived in Israel on Sunday, heading straight for the Western Wall in Jerusalem where she was mobbed by fans, leading her to reportedly skip a planned dinner with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli child cancer patients.

On Saturday, she tweeted her excitement at her upcoming concert in Israel

I’ve had such an amazing time performing in Asia over these last few weeks!! One final stop in Tel Aviv on Monday!! pic.twitter.com/vd5QfjipMC

— Britney Spears (@britneyspears) July 1, 2017

Last week, Spears rejected a suggestion that her long-awaited performance in Tel Aviv would not include live singing and would rely on playbacks.

In a phone conversation with Channel 2 following a show in Bangkok, Thailand, Spears was asked directly if she would sing her hits live and shot back with “I’m glad you’re addressing this question,” before complaining that claims she lip syncs were “really pissing me off, because I’m busting my ass out there and singing at the same time.”

She did concede that “because I’m dancing so much,” there was “a little bit of playback; there’s a mixture of my voice and the playback.”

Spears’ show made headlines in April when the Labor Party announced that it would be postponing its leadership primaries, which had originally coincided with the performance.

Local music producers have been working to bring Spears to Israel since last year, and the performance was set to cost more than $2 million.

Spears shot to international fame in the late 1990s with hits such as “…Baby One More Time” and “Oops!…I Did It Again.” She has sold more than 100 million albums and 100 million singles throughout her career.

The pop star joins a star-studded lineup of musical artists and groups performing in Israel over the summer, including Justin Bieber, Aerosmith, Radiohead, Tears for Fears, Rod Stewart, Nick Cave and Guns N’ Roses.