Britney Spears kicked off her Circus tour last night in New Orleans – but how are the Britney Spears’ concert reviews? Did Brit live up to the hype?

This is Britney Spears’ first tour in five years, so we’ll cut her some slack – fans, at least, were thrilled with her concert debut performance. Critics reviews ranged from applauding Spears for rising above her 2007 MTV Video Music Awards appearance, to blasting her lip synching and dance moves.

Britney’s three-ring circus apparently had a large intro before Spears was lowered from above onto the stage.

People.com commented that “there was a decided lack of joy in her performance, which felt labored at times,” while USA Today said the show was filled with “sex, fire and stomp-and-slither choreography.”

The Los Angeles Times’ Ann Powers said the show was solid, commenting that that despite “several numbers in which her dancing was no more than adequate, Spears can safely call this performance a success.”