LAS VEGAS — Roaring into an opening weekend for Britney: Piece of Me, her new two-year residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, the onetime fixture on the charts and in tabloids romped through a 24-song spectacle that brought out fans such as Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus, both of whom owe Spears a rump-shaking debt.

But backstage prior to Friday’s kickoff, Spears pointed admiring fingers anywhere but at herself, telling USA TODAY that she “looks up to Beyoncé, what she did with her (surprise release) album was genius, really brilliant.“

As for Cyrus, with whom she shares her longtime manager, Larry Rudolph, Spears says: “She’s cool, she’s fun to be around. You know, she’s got really good energy.”

And her admiration for the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, was made evident during her “favorite part of the show, where it’s just me in the spotlight (during Me Against the Music) with a hat on, which is really a tribute to Michael.”

She’s also a fan of New Zealand teen sensation Lorde, “who is really different and cool … This generation is hungry for new sounds. Bruno Mars is so different and fresh, and (ex-boyfriend) Justin Timberlake is, too. It’s inspiring for me, and it makes people eager to listen to music, which helps everyone.”

The only thing that bums Britney out? The demise of the CD and an album-oriented music business.

“We’re too smart for our own good,” she says backstage at the Axis theater, which was redesigned to suit her spectacle-heavy show. “We’re at the point where the simplicity of buying a CD and the specialness has gone. I think it’s a shame. The whole process of buying a record was so special.”

Source: USA Today