Magician Criss Angel is coming forward with what might have been — had Britney Spears' wanted to put the time in for rehearsal for MTV's Video Music Awards in September .

"With Britney, I presented concepts to create within her performance, illusions that would happen in the open. You would see Britney and then she would be split into two Britneys and then four Britneys with no boxes or covers," explains Criss. "Other things I wanted to do… was literally transform her into birds and then for her to reappear in the audience. I also thought of having her levitate over the audience." So why did Brit choose to go with a choreographed dance number that she fairly slept through? "Britney is really strong with her own ideas and what I had planned wasn't an easy thing to do and would have required a lot of rehearsals," says the magician. "Ultimately, I told her I needed 100 percent commitment or I wasn't going to be able to do this. So, we explored it and she decided it wasn't for her, and I completely understand."