Britney Spears and her bodyguard arriving to her hotel in New Orleans (3/1)

Britney Spears' much-hyped concert tour kicks off tonight in New Orleans. You'd think it would be a sellout, right? You'd think wrong. According to MSNBC, there are still "plenty" of tickets available. Note to Britney's dad: cancel the order you put in two months ago for the gold-plated refrigerator. A source close to the production told MSNBC:

"Group sales are down considerably. and then you’ve got individual tickets that cost as much as $500 apiece. That’s a lot of money to spend on an artist who isn’t a sure bet right now . . . She’s worked really, really hard to make this good. Granted, there’ve been some hiccups along the way, but she’s going to put on a good show. I just hope there are people there to see it. This is really her last chance." (Source)

Let's see. Unemployment is at almost 10%, huge multinational corporations are filing for bankruptcy every week, and banks are going down faster than Andy Dick in a bathroom stall at a gay bar. Is it any wonder why people aren't willing to shell out $500 these days for a Britney Spears concert ticket? If Britney wants people to pay big bucks for something of hers, she's only got one asset that still produces: her uterus.

[Pacific Coast News]