Main Pop Girl

Watch the video version of this article here! With a voice like Mariah Carey's, one might wonder why she or her label bothers with any kind of imagery at all. It would have been easy to go down the Susan Boyle route and focus exclusively on Mariah's famously breathtaking vocals, to the exclusion of how she looks; and indeed, it may be that very line of reasoning that accounts for the live performances that double as official music videos for tracks like 'I'll Be There', 'Open Eyes' and 'If It's Over'. Luckily for us, Mariah for the most part has gone a different route, appearing to spend as much time on her film clips as she has on the songs themselves. More than showing off her acting chops or developing complex storylines within her music videos, Mariah's clips instead tend to act as a showcase for her image, visually communicating the things that she may have been unable to open up about in interviews. Through her music videos, Mariah has transitioned from an innocent girl next door with wild curly hair in 'Vision of Love' to a chic city girl in 'Anytime You Need A Friend' to a sun-kissed Malibu goddess in 'Honey' and then to an opulent Vegas showgirl in 'Infinity'; and each of these image makeovers has coalesced with pivotal moments in Mariah's life, from her difficult childhood to her abusive marriage to Tommy Mottola to her ultimate escape into adult independence to her childbirth and beyond. With such an emphasis on her image, it's understandable why Mariah and her various labels have displayed a level of perfectionism when it comes to her music video output. From video treatments that got to the final stages of planning before being called off to music videos that were completely filmed and edited before being unceremoniously scrapped, Mariah has had at least thirteen different film clips over the years that have been scrapped. In this list, we'll look at all we know about these videos so far, and just what our chances are of seeing them in the future. 1. Vision of Love Mariah's first music video is ingrained in the minds of many who grew up during her prime - which is why it may be shocking to find out that it wasn't in fact her first. According to Rolling Stone, 'Vision of Love' was first filmed in early 1990 on a budget of $200 000, but after the first take failed to impress record label executives it was scrapped. Columbia Records then spent a further $250 000 on a second music video for the song directed by Bojan Bazelli with a brand new plot and imagery, which was released to huge success and became the classic we all know today. This major amount of overspending on a totally unknown artist didn't go over well internally, however. One Columbia employee called favouritism, stating that, "The special treatment really upset me" - probably not an unjustified claim given the burgeoning relationship between Mariah and Columbia top dog Tommy Mottola. To this day, no information about the original music video has leaked to the public. 2. I Don't Wanna Cry 'I Don't Wanna Cry' was directed by Larry Jordan in 1991 and features Mariah living out her full Tennessee Williams fantasy, exploring a midwestern ranch and running through fields of maize while she broods over her partner. Initially, the video featured several takes in which Mariah's dress creeps dangerously up her thigh, as well as multiple shots of a shirtless male posing seductively in a bed. However, following feedback from the label - who wished to continue to market Mariah as family friendly and innocent - a majority of these scenes were cut, only to be replaced with a sepia-toned setup of Mariah singing in a white dress. Record label interference such as this would later be an instrumental part of Mariah's ultimate divorce from Tommy Mottola and departure from Columbia. The original video went unreleased until eight years later with the release of Mariah's DVD #1's, where it was labelled as the 'Director's Cut'. Mariah herself has expressed her preference for this version, stating in 2015 that the original "really wasn't good" but that "the director's cut is actually a really good video". On the home video release The First Vision, which was released just a day after the single's official release, a shorter alternate video was featured. Despite having a similiar sepia tone to the reshot scenes, this video features all new footage of Mariah singing the song while wearing a black top in a recording studio, and features only a 1:40 portion of the full song. 3. Anytime You Need A Friend Like 'Vision of Love' before it, 'Anytime You Need A Friend' is notable for having two completely different music videos: one which was shot and then scrapped, and another which was reshot and released due to Mariah's teams displeasure with the original. The first music video for 'Anytime You Need A Friend' was directed by Diane Martel, who had previously directed the music video for 'Dreamlover' the year before. Like the released music video, it featured Mariah singing in solo scenes and with a choir; but unlike the finished product, this version features a strong medieval theme, with Mariah wearing a long flowing dress while she sings in front of something she debates is a "castle or a fortress". It is unknown why the original music video was scrapped, but fans have speculated that it may be due to Mariah or Columbia Records displeasure with her image in the clip. On the one hand, Mariah's dress in the original music video is quite revealing, with a low bust and a large slit, something that surely would have piqued Tommy Mottola's interest; but on the other hand, the released version is famous for being the first music video in which Mariah appears with straightened hair, in a subtle step away from her "girl next door" persona (and a behind the scenes look at the original video did feature Mariah joking about her "hideous" curly hair). With this video yet to see the light of day twenty-six years later, we wouldn't be surprised if we never got to see it at all. 4. Underneath the Stars 'Underneath the Stars' was released as the sixth and final single from the Daydream album in 1996, but it's lack of a music video remained a mystery until 2012. In February of that year, Mariah revealed that she had shot an official video for the track in Europe that went unreleased, with no mention of the video's concept or why it had been scrapped. The reasoning behind why Columbia chose not to release the 'Underneath the Stars' music video is unknown, but it's possibly related to a disagreement between the label and Mariah over the single's release at all. This would also explain why the single only received a limited amount of pressings compared to the album's previous five releases. Daydream was Mariah's first album on which she had a modicum of creative control, but the label was still famously reluctant to let her choose her single releases. Controversy over the song would reignite two years later regarding the song's inclusion on Mariah's first greatest hits album - Mariah wanted all of her favourite songs to make an appearance including 'Underneath the Stars', but Columbia only wanted to include the hits, hence their settling on the #1's concept. Mariah would even allude to a disagreement several years later when 'Underneath the Stars' appeared on her second compilation Greatest Hits, with Mariah stating that she "always kind of fought for" the song. 5. Heartbreaker (Feat. Jay-Z) 'Heartbreaker' is one of Mariah's most iconic songs, with many fans remembering it's Brett Ratner-directed music video fondly for it's introduction of her raven-haired alter-ego Bianca. With a complete plot, dance choreography and even fight choreography, the video seems to have everything fans could want from a Mariah clip - everything, that is, except for featured rapper Jay-Z, whose verse on the song is instead accompanied by an animated sequence of Mariah acting out his lyrics. Bizarrely, Jay did actually film a relatively elaborate scene for the music video which featured him bathing in a hot tub inside a luxury mansion while Mariah strutted around behind him. However, it was soon discovered that his part in the video would have to be cut due to a contractual agreement with Epic Records, who stipulated that he would not be allowed to appear in a music video for two weeks after shooting the clip for his track 'Girl's Best Friend'. This led Mariah and and Ratner to scramble to create the animated sequence for the video, which alluded to the drama through Mariah's animated persona holding a sign saying "Jay-Z coming in 2 weeks". This version of the video would later premiere during MTV's Making the Video, and can be found online. 6. Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) 'Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)' was released as the third single from Rainbow in June of 2000, with a video directed by Sanaa Hamri, who had previously worked on music videos for 'Thank God I Found You' and 'CryBaby'. In an early example of the crowdsourced music video, Mariah asked fans to send in clips of themselves discussing their hardships via her website, a handful of which were implemented into the finished product. The first half of the clip began with Carey lounging in front of her television watching her fan's videos, while the second half featured her throwing open the doors in her apartment to sing on her balcony while the rain poured down around her. When the music video was first released, it received immediate criticism from the press. A major complaint was that the captions detailing some of her fans struggles were difficult to read due to their dark colouring against dark backgrounds. Others pointed at the continuity errors in the video's second half, which alternated back and forward between showing Mariah with dry hair and a dry top and showing Mariah with wet hair and a drenched top. As a result of the criticism, Mariah rushed back to New York to reshoot portions of the music video with Hamri. While the majority of the footage in the first half remains the same, changes were made in editing to make the captioned text lighter and easier to read. All of the scenes involving Mariah in the rain were also completely scrapped, to be replaced by scenes in which Mariah dances in front of a closed window while the rain pours down outside. Ironically, this would lead to it's own continuity issues, as while her outfit remains the same the apartment in which Mariah dances in is completely different from the one she watched the TV in. Both versions of the video can be found online. 7. Never Too Far 'Never Too Far' was released as the second single from Mariah's ill-fated Glitter soundtrack, and continued the downward trend of disappointing releases for Mariah after it's parent album suffered from a release date of September 11, 2001. In large part due to the exhausting workload and disappointing response to the Glitter project as a whole, Mariah suffered a "physical and emotional breakdown" in August of 2001, leaving her in a rehabilitation centre for two weeks and unable to film a music video for the track or promote the project in any way. "When I was asked about the video I said, 'I can't do it today'," she would later tell Matt Lauer. "And nobody could accept that answer. And that's when I started to get mad. I was, like, look, I am too fatigued. I'm overly-tired, I can't do it as a human being. And nobody was hearing those last two words — human being. They were used to the Mariah that always says, 'Come on, let's fight, let's go'. They just weren't used to me ever saying no. I never said no before." While no video was filmed for 'Never Too Far' - or for the 'Never Too Far/Hero Medley' which was released as a single the month afterwards - a collection of clips from the film was compiled together to form a makeshift music video for the track. While the original treatment for the 'Never Too Far' music video is unknown, the fact that Mariah said "I can't do it today" possibly suggests that the video had a fully-fledged concept and was ready to be filmed when Mariah pulled the cord. 8. Through The Rain 'Through The Rain' was directed by Dave Meyers and filmed in New York in September and October of 2002. One of Mariah's most personal music videos, the clip is loosely based on Mariah's own parents experiences with racism at the time of her conception. Originally, however, the music video was to have a totally different plot, which according to an interview Mariah gave to MTV was changed just days before the music video was shot. The change to the plot was so last minute that the actress playing Mariah's mother in the video, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, was only asked to appear in the video several days before shooting. "We just got a call a few days ago and they said, 'You know Mariah would like you to play her mom in her video,'" she told MTV. "I was like, 'What? Okay!' Not a phone call you expect to get." It's currently unknown what the original music video was intended to look like, although given how late the change was made it's likely that development for the video was in close to final stages. 9. It's Like That (Feat. Fatman Scoop & Jermaine Dupri) 'It's Like That' was the fourth choice of lead single from 2005's The Emancipation of Mimi. 'Stay the Night' was Mariah's first choice, but that song was shunned in favour of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell collaboration 'Say Somethin'', which in turn was leaked online and briefly replaced by the newly-recorded 'Shake It Off'. Mariah then reverted back to her original decision of Fatman Scoop and Jermaine Dupri collab 'It's Like That', a "special" song that she had a "great feeling" about. By January of 2005 Mariah confirmed to MTV that she hadn't settled on a video treatment for the song yet, but that Paul Hunter - who had previously directed music videos for 'Honey' and 'Honey (Bad Boy Remix)' - was her first choice of director. Ultimately, the music video that was filmed the next month was directed by 'I Still Believe', 'Heartbreaker' and 'Thank God I Found You' director Brett Ratner, who would later go on to direct X-Men: The Last Stand, where he would be accused of sexual harassment. Mariah didn't have to wait long to work with Hunter, however - he would later direct the music videos for 'Don't Forget About Us' and 'Say Somethin'' just months later. 10. Shake It Off After being scrapped as a lead single, 'Shake It Off' was later chosen as the third single from Emancipation, to be followed by 'Say Somethin'' as the fourth. Prior to these releases, 'It's Like That' and 'We Belong Together' had been released as the first two singles from the project, notable for two interconnected music videos directed by Brett Ratner which featured a story involving Mariah's ex-lover played by Wentworth Miller. Both 'Shake It Off' and 'Say Somethin'' were originally meant to be directed by Ratner as well, suggesting that they could have originally been intended as extensions of the 'It's Like That' plot. However, Carey later chose director Jake Nava for 'Shake It Off', coming up with a new plot for 'Shake It Off' disconnected from the Wentworth Miller saga which focused on her calling out a cheating lover. It's unknown how similiar this was to the treatment that Carey had planned to develop with Ratner, who she did not work with again until three years later on 'Touch My Body'. 11. Fly Like A Bird 'Fly Like A Bird' was released as the sixth single from The Emancipation of Mimi in February of 2006, but it was only sent to radio in March of that year, less than twenty days before seventh single 'Say Somethin''. While 'Say Somethin'' was serviced to mainstream pop radio stations, 'Fly Like A Bird' received a more limited release and was only sent to adult contemporary and gospel stations, even with critics like Billboard's Tom Ferguson stating that the song was a "classic" and the superior track. Despite being released as a single before it, the music video for 'Fly Like A Bird' had still not been shot by the time Mariah was in Paris to work on the clip for 'Say Somethin'' in March of 2006, although MTV confirmed that it would be shot later that month in New York. By early April, however, the video had still not been filmed, with Mariah still actively working on a concept which she was "hoping to keep basic with the main guest stars being her pastor and church choir". "We don't have a lot of time to do it," she said at the time. "It's not a big-budget thing. But it doesn't need to be. It just needs to be about the song, capturing the song and the emotion of it." Ultimately, a music video for 'Fly Like A Bird' was never released, and there's no evidence to suggest that any footage for the clip was ever actually filmed. That didn't stop the track from becoming a fan favourite, with Mariah performing it on every concert tour up until 2019's Caution World Tour. 12. Say Somethin' (Feat. Snoop Dogg & Pharrell) 'Say Somethin'' had several false starts as a single before it was ultimately released as the album's seventh in April of 2006. At one point, the track was planned to be released in November of 2004 as the lead single from Emancipation, with planning already having begun on a music video. However, after being postponed to January of 2005, the song leaked around it's original release date of November, and ultimately the entire release was cancelled. Later, 'Say Somethin'' was scheduled to be released as the fourth single from the album. Like 'It's Like That' and 'We Belong Together', it was meant to be shot alongside third single 'Shake It Off' as a double video directed by Brett Ratner. However, Mariah replaced Ratner with Jake Nava for 'Shake It Off' shortly after planning begun, coming up with a concept for the track which involved her leaving Voicemail messages to a cheating lover in front of futuristic, stylised visuals. A treatment for 'Say Somethin'' was also developed, with Mariah saying that the two videos included some "really technical" but "cool concepts". Before shooting began, Mariah also confirmed that like the album's first two singles, these music videos would be linked in some way; and that while she was hoping for a "cohesive narrative storyline", she predicted that the videos might end up "having a 'slight' link that only comes across on a subliminal level". Ultimately, however, the release of 'Say Somethin'' as the fourth single was scrapped. When it was later released as the album's seventh single a year later, the music video was directed by Paul Hunter, and predominantly featured Mariah seducing duet partner Pharrell in different locations throughout Paris, before he ultimately takes her back to his room. While it's possible that this was one of the "double video" treatments Mariah developed alongside 'Shake It Off', the lack of any real "subliminal" connection between these two videos suggests that this was a new concept entirely. It's currently unknown what any of the other three 'Say Somethin'' music videos could have looked like. 13. #Beautiful (Remix) (Feat. Miguel & Young Jeezy) Mariah Carey wearing a cast after her rib and shoulder injury at the premiere of The Butler While it's not uncommon for many of the videos on this list to feature two versions, '#Beautiful' is one of the rare exceptions which has three. The original and most well-known music video for the track was directed by Joseph Kahn on April 21st and 22nd, 2013, and debuted the next month on the Carey-judged American Idol. In June, a totally different music video was filmed for the Spanglish version of the song, which features Mariah and Miguel rollicking around Capri, Italy. The third and most "elusive" of the '#Beautiful' videos was intended to be for the "urban" remix of the track featuring Young Jeezy. Again shot a month later by Carey's husband Nick Cannon, the music video was filmed at Avenue and Artichoke Pizza in Chelsea, New York. Midway through the shoot, Carey suffered an injury which put production of the clip temporarily on hold. "She was in this nice, beautiful gown, heels on and everything, and was kind of on this platform and reached and slipped and fell on her whole side," said Cannon later. "It was pretty serious. Not only did she dislocate her shoulder, she actually cracked a rib, and chipped her shoulder bone". Despite the injury, Mariah continued to shoot the music video.; and even after eventually going to hospital to have her shoulder realigned, she returned to the set early the next morning to complete filming. Despite all the hard work and suffering that went into completing the music video, however, no clip was ever released for the '#Beautiful' remix. Mariah confirmed on the 23rd of July that editing on the video had been completed, so it's likely that a final cut does exist; but there has been no word on the video ever being released, or on why it was scrapped in the first place. Which scrapped music video would you most like to see from Mariah? Let us know in the comments section down below!

In December 2004, a 22 year old Britney Spears walked into the KIIS FM offices in Burbank carrying an unmarked CD to meet radio host Jesse Lozano. The meeting was pre-planned, but only barely; Spears had called about an hour before to ask whether she could play her new song live, a phone call that Lozano had immediately thought was a prank. “Usually, you don’t believe that,” he would later state. In other words: usually, this kind of meeting would have to be cleared by layer upon layer of managers, PR agents and radio executives before it could ever come to fruition. But on that particular day, Britney had gone rogue. Following the worldwide success of her 2003 album In The Zone, Britney had gone on to release Greatest Hits: My Prerogative the month before, and was still promoting the titular Bobby Brown cover as the album’s first single when she showed up at KIIS. But that wasn’t all that had happened in her life recently. In 2004 alone, Britney had joined the religion Kabbalah on recommendation of her friend Madonna; eloped to Vegas with childhood friend Jason Alexander only to annul the marriage 55 hours later; cancelled The Onyx Hotel Tour after breaking her knee and having to go through arthroscopic surgery; married backup dancer Kevin Federline after five months of knowing him; and been writing new material for an album since at least November 2003, when In The Zone was released. Somewhat contradictorily, she had also announced an extremely short-lived career break through her official website in order to start a family. Later, Britney would backtrack from her planned “break” in a letter posted to her official fansite. “I think I should rephrase myself from my previous letters when I was talking about taking a 'break'. What I meant was I am taking a break from being told what to do [...] It's cool when you look at someone and don't know whether they are at work or play since it's all the same to them. The things I've been doing for work lately have been so much fun, because it's not like work to me anymore.” After a year of huge career highs and personal lows, Britney was headed to KIIS to take control of a situation and prove her own independence, despite what her management team may have wanted. The song that Britney played on that day was ‘Mona Lisa’, a strangely introspective and prophetic song which would go on to launch a thousand fan theories. Using da Vinci’s famous artwork as it’s subject, the song discusses a character on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Now see everyone's watching as she starts to fall/They want her to breakdown, be a legend of her fall,” Britney sings, her voice unusually shaky, sharp and unpolished; before launching into an unexpected hymnal during the bridge. "It definitely has the raw thing going on," Brit mentioned during her radio appearance. "My band, we didn't use ProTools or anything with it. It's all live [...] It will get better — this is a really, really rough mix." Britney’s choice to compare herself to ‘Mona Lisa’ is an interesting one, and one that she would maintain when she directed her next music video for ‘Do Somethin’’ under the pseudonym ‘Mona Lisa’ a few months later. "I kinda think she's like my alter ego whenever I feel like being mean or possibly like bustin' people around to get stuff right," she told TRL at the time. "It's kinda easier to be called 'Mona Lisa' instead of Britney." But as much as Britney stated that Mona Lisa was an alter ego, in many ways it seemed as though that was the real her. da Vinci’s artwork is one of the most well-known images in the world, yet with its with it’s enigmatic smile and mysterious backstory it's also one of the most hotly debated. Moreover, it’s one of the most commonly reproduced artworks in history, with innumerable copies being made for placement on office walls, handbags and phone cases. Britney related to ‘Mona Lisa’ as a public figure who was ready to tear down her reproductions and let people finally see the real her. This interest in “originals” and “copies” was one Britney clearly intended to explore more, as she let slip in a short interview prior to the ‘Mona Lisa’ premiere. "[The album is] probably going to be called Original Doll," Britney told Lozano on air. She hoped to release it by summertime, and had clearly been working on it in earnest given that it was "halfway done". The title of the album - as well as the subject matter of 'Mona Lisa' itself - was a sly dig towards Britney’s management, who at the time was in the process of seeking “Britney Spears types” for an up-and-coming girl group, The Pussycat Dolls. Later, it would be used by fans in dark corners of the Internet as evidence that the “original” Britney had been replaced with an emotionless clone around this time to fulfil the rest of her career duties. But despite the excitement Britney expressed during her impromptu announcement of the album, her record label was adamant that there were no concrete plans to release anything officially. At the time, no one involved in the recording of the song had even been paid yet. “No album is scheduled at the moment, but Britney is in the studio working on some material,” Jive Records said in a statement to Billboard. “There are no plans to service ‘Mona Lisa’ to the radio.” Ultimately, ‘Mona Lisa’ was the only song that was ever officially confirmed for Original Doll, and when that album didn’t come to fruition it was reworked for the Chaotic EP, the soundtrack to Britney and Federline’s short-lived reality show. Also on the EP was 'Chaotic', which was recorded with Bloodshy & Avant, Henrik Jonback and Michelle Bell; and ‘Someday (I Will Understand)’, which Britney wrote herself. Of all the songs that have been speculated to appear on Original Doll, these two are the most likely choices: Henrik Jonback confirmed that he had written with Britney on her German Onyx Hotel Tour bus in 2004, which was around the same time that ‘Mona Lisa’ was recorded, and the Guy Sigsworth-produced ‘Someday’ was written in early 2005 before Spears learned of her first pregnancy, just a month or two after the Original Doll announcement. The EP’s bonus track ‘Over To You Now’, shares a producer with 'Someday' and is another possible inclusion for the album, although many fans speculate that the album was instead an In The Zone outtake due to its sound. It’s also possible that the new recordings on Greatest Hits: My Prerogative had at one point been considered for Original Doll. ‘My Prerogative’ and ‘Do Somethin’’ were both recorded on different legs of the Onyx Hotel Tour, around the same time as ‘Mona Lisa’, and feature a similar percussive R&B style. Some fans have speculated that as both of these songs were produced by Bloodshy & Avant (the producers of 'Mona Lisa'), they were at one point intended to have produced the whole album - in interviews in early 2004, Britney stated that she wanted to work with one producer on her next album, and she worked with them in spring of that year. Another Bloodshy & Avant production 'I've Just Begun (Having My Fun)', which was also on the album, had already been released nine months earlier alongside 'Don't Hang Up', 'The Answer' and 'Girls and Boys' as bonus tracks on Britney's DVD for In The Zone; but as these were all recorded pre-Onyx Hotel they are generally considered to be from a different era. On top of this, there’s several songs which have leaked in recent years which fans attribute to Original Doll, even though in reality they were recorded prior to In The Zone. These songs include ‘Look Who’s Talking’, a song about Britney’s ex Justin Timberlake; ‘Like I’m Fallin’', a country inspired song; ‘Take Off’, an anti-war and pro-gay rights anthem; ‘Money, Love, and Happiness’, produced by a young RedOne; ‘Welcome to Me’, a sex kitten anthem which asks Britney’s lover to "take control"; ‘Peep Show’, which we’ve only heard a snippet of; ‘Ouch’, a song about heartbreak; and ‘Conscience’, known alternatively as ‘Conscious’. While all of these songs in their demo form are quite stripped back and could sit nicely alongside ‘Mona Lisa’, there’s no suggestion that they were ever brought out of the vault to be reworked after In The Zone. With fans eagerly awaiting the 2005 release date of Original Doll, the hot dry summer days seemed so stretch on endlessly with only the announcement of B In The Mix: The Remixes Vol. 1 to keep them satiated. Despite this, Britney continued to write and record songs around this time that matched the Original Doll style, including 'Pulse', which was later repurposed for English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark; 'Sippin' On', which was allegedly originally recorded for In The Zone; 'Welcome To Me', written by Britney alongside her tour choreographer Wade Robson and Carole Bayer Sager; 'State Of Grace', a lush mid-tempo written by Steve Anderson, Lisa Greene and Steve Lee; ‘For My Sister’, a soulful guitar track written entirely by Britney; 'Untitled Lullabye', an eerie ballad written and produced by William Anderson; and 'To Love Let Go', written by Britney, Tom Craskey and Devo Springsteen. While all of these songs explored variations on the R&B genre, most are notable for featuring intensely personal lyrics about love, family and fame. Fan-made album artwork for Original Doll Although all of these songs would have made sense on an album alongside 'Mona Lisa', it's impossible to predict where planning for that project truly ended and recording began to morph into what would ultimately become Britney's next official release, Blackout. The only clue we have to Original Doll being totally scrapped is a comment by 'Everybody' producer J.R. Rotem, who met Britney in March of 2006 and stated in April that she had just begun recording a new album and "doesn't have too much" material for it. Similiarly, it's unknown exactly why Original Doll was cancelled, although some fans speculate that the album became the centre of a dispute with Jive Records, who was unhappy about Britney premiering new unreleased music in the middle of the promotional cycle for Greatest Hits: My Prerogative and who recognised the criticism Britney launched their way with 'Mona Lisa'. This was alluded to in a BBC Entertainment UK article which stated that Jive put the album on hold as punishment for Britney playing the song without permission - a viewpoint shared by KIIS host Clarence Barnes, who stated, "In the back of my mind I’m thinking, 'No signed artist would ever do that because [Jive CEO] Barry Weiss would cut them in half with a cleaver'". According to the BBC, Spears allegedly also backtracked on Original Doll during the TRL interview, stating that there was no album in the works; however, video footage of this can not be found.. Even if Britney was persisting with the album, 'Mona Lisa' was already dead in the water by January 2005, when Britney confirmed that the song would no longer appear on any album but would instead be repurposed for Chaotic. Regardless of the reasoning, by 2007 it seemed as though Britney had officially given up the fight for Original Doll. By this point she had instead turned her full attention to recording Blackout, which had a markedly different sound. While ‘Mona Lisa’ focused on the raw vulnerability in Britney’s voice with percussive, funky production, Blackout cuts like ‘Gimme More’ used Spears’ voice as just another processed instrument to layer atop heavy EDM beats, and their lyrics were for the most part a world away from any of Britney’s earlier more personal cuts. Despite being a revolutionary album, Blackout lacked the emotional connection that Spears had teased two years prior with ‘Mona Lisa’. Of course, Blackout wasn’t the only thing to happen to Spears in 2007. Britney’s mental breakdown is at this point stuff of legend, with images of her shaving her head, wielding an umbrella as she smashes car windshields and crying in a British accent all taking a permanent place in pop culture history. A bald Britney Spears wields an umbrella Looking back at Original Doll retroactively, we can’t help but wonder: would Spears’ breakdown have even happened if she’d been able to release the album of her dreams? Celebrities nowadays have unprecedented allowance to express themselves however they want, with social media like Twitter and Instagram allowing them to speak directly to fans without interference from management. But Britney didn’t have that luxury: the only way she could tell the world how she was feeling was through her music, and, if she was up for the risk, through impromptu KIIS FM interviews. With both of those avenues taken away from her, it seems like it was almost inevitable for Britney to crack under pressure the way she did. With the Britney Spears of 2018 more overprotected and inaccessible than ever, it seems likely that fans yearning for information on Original Doll will only intensify. But it’s not just the music that has them hungry for more; it’s the promise of a Spears who was breaking out of her shell to be exactly who she wanted to be for the first time in her life. In October of 2004, around the time she became engaged to Federline and two months before she premiered ‘Mona Lisa’, Britney wrote a letter to her fansite alluding to the release of Greatest Hits: My Prerogative. It’s charming in a “little girl writes in her diary” kind of way, but it’s also an incredible insight into Britney’s mindset at the time. Editor's Note: This is an updated version of an article that was originally posted on 22/11/2018.