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By CURTIS ROSS

cross@tampatrib.com

Published: March 12, 2009

Updated:

One of the greatest ideas to come out of punk rock was the notion that a performer was no better than the audience. Performers shouldn't be placed on a pedestal. Hero worship was inherently unhealthy.

You can see how well that caught on.

The biggest commercial force in popular music right now is a TV show called, yep, "American Idol," in which the viewer is invited to pay to vote for a singer whom, presumably, can then be worshipped.

Sunday night at the Britney Spears show, after paying upwards of $127.50 to attend a concert that started an hour and 15 minutes after the original show time, the faithful declared their devotion via text messages.

Prior to opening act The Pussycat Dolls and during the intermission before Spears finally took the stage, fans sent text messages that were displayed on a screen at the center of the arena.

The majority of them expressed love, adoration and something like worshipful devotion to Spears.

"We love you Britney!" "U R the best!" "I <3 Britney more than anyone else here!" "Britney r queen!"

Huh? How about "Get out here and rock!" "Start the show already!" "Kick out the jams or get off the stage!"

It's bad enough when fans prostrate themselves in front of performers who actually do something. Spears lip-synced songs someone else wrote, hit her marks, and let the dancers and special effects do the rest.

But Spears is a star, and in 2009 that means someone whose face is on TV and in magazines a lot. Or someone whose fragile emotional state gets exploited for publicity. Or anyone who's chased around by camera-wielding leeches.

In the church of the celebrity, People magazine is the bible, "Entertainment Tonight" is the pulpit, Perez Hilton is the prophet and Spears is the savior. And 20,000 people paid for the privilege of worshipping. Heaven help us.

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