Britney Spears feels calm on stage

Britney Spears is usually in a "yoga state of mind" when she's performing.

The American singer has been taking to the stage on her Femme Fatale Tour over the last few months.

She loves seeing her fans sing along to her tracks and has revealed how she prepares herself before a show.

"What do I think about? Wow. Usually I'm so in the moment of being there with the audience that I don't really have time to think about anything," she told Stylist magazine. "You're just focused on the tunes and what you're doing and interacting with the audience and making sure you're on cue. It's more like a yoga state of mind, you know?"

Britney does use music to help her get in the mood for singing. She has a lot of favourite artists and enjoys listening to various genres before a big performance.

"Well I usually listen to a lot of hip-hop in my dressing room when I'm getting ready to go on stage, so Jay-Z a lot recently. And a lot of rock stuff like Aerosmith. That really gets me going and pumps me up. And then of course, there's Jessie J and Adele," she explained.

The two British singers are among Britney's favourites. She loves listening to new artists as it inspires her and is pleased to see that female singers are flourishing at the moment.

Britney also admires Gwen Stefani, and would love to collaborate with her in the future.

"In the beginning obviously I was very young and I didn't know the ins and outs of things; I was very instinctive in what I wanted to do, and I was very vocal with my input on things. I think as the years have gone by, and as I've evolved as an artist," she said.

"For me, success is a state of mind. I feel like success isn't about conquering something, it's being happy with who you are."

Britney had a public meltdown in 2008 but is now back on track. She's finding things easier at the moment because there doesn't seem to be as much public interest in her personal life.

The star has two sons and loves spending time with them away from the spotlight.

"Well, in some situations I'd love to be able to, y'know, put a disguise on and go to a restaurant and not be noticed. But actually it's been pretty cool on this tour, there haven't been that many paparazzi and I've been able to get out with my children and go and see a lot of things," she said.

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