Happy 30th Birthday, Britney!

"It's a part of life. It's a beautiful part of life and that's how I accept it. I think the older you get, the wiser you get. I can't wait."

- Britney on getting older in the October 2011 issue of Glamour UK

She's thirty, y'all!

Exactly 30 years ago, on December 2 in 1981, a little baby girl named Britney Jean Spears was born. And that's just the beginning of the extraordinary road of life the now 30-year old has had. Thirteen years of chart hits, two beautiful baby boys, two marriages and a hell of a breakdown and comeback later, she's still at the top of the pack in music.

It still feels like yesterday when I was dancing along to her ...Baby One More Time, Oops!... and Slave videos. Well, for most of her videos it might have been yesterday! I loved Britney since day #1, a became a huuge fan since her third album (which is still my favorite).

The drama of whether she's a good singer and dancer aside (I could discuss those for days - Britneystan4life!), no one will ever be able to deny how big Britney's influence was (and still is) on today's music. Without her, stars like Rihanna, Selena Gomez and Lady GaGa would probably have never been. The legendary school girl look, the red catsuit, the yellow phyton, the kiss with Madonna, the nude-with-diamonds look - all of these should recall an image to everyone!

In the current music industry, where Britney is "old news", she still manages to constantly be compared to singers that are so much younger than her. If that isn't called "being relevant", I don't know what could be. By the way, did y'all know Femme Fatale is her first album with three top 10 singles? Maybe one day, it will be "okay" to like her again and some of you can freely come out of your Britney-closet.

This year has been a great year for Britney; a critically aclaimed album, four great singles with amazing videos, a succesful tour, a remix album and most recently a live dvd. I can't wait to see what's up next!

Here's to your 30th birthday, Britney! I hope you have an amazing one!

xo, Jelle

ps: y'all may have noticed that we've changed our domain name to EffAyTee.blogspot.com - so update your bookmarks! ;-)