Britney Spears: Coffee Chick

The following italicized article is from www.celebrity-gossip.net:

Showing that she’s a creature of habit, Britney Spears was spotted hitting up her local Starbucks Coffeehouse last night (February 23).

The “Gimme More” babe grabbed a piping hot libation as well as an ice water as she strolled out the door with the help of her bodyguard.

On the career front, it seems Brit Brit is planning to release her new album this June, just in time for the summer road trip season.

On the album (her 7th) she’ll collaborate with K. Briscoe (Womanizer) as well as DJ David Guetta.

See more pics here!

Source: Celebrity Gossip

New Britney Music in June?

If Brit-Brit's too-brief appearance at the Grammys wasn't enough to whet your "Toxic" appetite, then get ready to chow down on some new music from Spears this June.

For all those Circus freaks out there, you'll be stoked to hear that Britney is re-teaming with K. Briscoe, part of The Outsyders production team, who penned Spears' comeback hit "Womanizer." Plus, our pop princess is also hooking back up with Corte Ellis from Soul Diggaz, who previously worked with Britney on the songs "Naked" and "Get Back" off Blackout.

Finally, color us flattered that Spears took our advice and decided to collaborate with our fave new French hitmaker DJ David Guetta on new tunes. Ooh, la la!

Briscoe, Ellis and Guetta join a heap of producers who have already been tapped for the project—like Danja, Max Martin, Darkchild, Sean Garrett. Guess it's just a matter of time until we hear whose tracks make the final album cut. Hope we don't blackout from anticipation! (Get it? Blackout? Blackout? I'll be here all night, folks.)

Source: MTV

Top Ten Celebrity Comebacks of the Decade

The decade started so well for Britney Spears. She was at the top of her game at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards when she strutted across the stage crooning "I'm a Slave 4 U," a larger-than-life snake slithering above her taut abs.

Even Madonna wanted a piece of her. Their kiss at the 2003 VMAs made headlines around the world and is still one of MTV's most-talked-about moments.

By 2006, it appeared the pop princess was ready to abdicate her throne, her marriage to Kevin Federline and custody of their two boys, Sean Preston and Jayden James. A months-long saga of bad behavior that included multiple flashes of her private parts, countless nights on the town and allegations of drug and alcohol abuse culminated in February 2007 with Spears buzzing off her famous locks at a Tarzana, Calif., hair salon while photographers snapped away outside. Later that year, she gave what has become a widely ridiculed performance at the VMAs.

It took nearly two years and her father taking charge of her life before Spears regained her footing. Musically, she ends the decade on an up note. Her 2008 song "Womanizer" put her back at the top of the singles charts for the first time since the 1990s. And her album "Circus" is approaching double-platinum status, while her 2009 concert tour was the year's highest-grossing in the United States .

Source: ABC News

Artists of the Year 2009

#7 Britney Spears

After a few tumultuous years that found Spears in the tabloids more often than the charts, Britney redeemed herself with a pair of mega-hit singles -- "Womanizer" and "Circus" -- from her 2008 comeback album. A successful world tour brought her back to center stage, but the real proof of her rejuvenation was the one-off single "3," which debuted atop the Hot 100 chart in October. Spears was the first artist to enter the chart at No. 1 in more than three years.

Source: Billboard

Britney Spears Earns Grammy Nomination for Best Dance Recording with 'Womanizer'

Britney Spears has scored a Grammy nomination for her No. 1 hit single "Womanizer" in the Best Dance Recording category. Spears previously earned a Grammy win in the same category with her mesmerizing hit "Toxic" in 2004.

"Womanizer" was the lead single from her sixth studio album Circus and climbed to the coveted No. 1 position on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. The song rocketed to No. 1 in over 10 countries outside of the U.S. In addition to setting new records with the song last December, the global icon earned critical-accolades: Rolling Stone praised "Womanizer" as an "electro-glam stomp" and went on to describe the song as "head-boppingly hypnotic." Overall, The New York Times praised Circus, noting that "most of her new songs are crisp, cunning dance pop..." Upon the release of the album, Spears became the first female ever to have five No. 1 album debuts, and both the single and album resonated with her fans as evident by the sales. "Womanizer" sold close to 3.5 million combined digital/mobile units domestically while the album has sold 3.4 million units worldwide to date.

Spears, who has just wrapped up her international tour, recently set another record when she became the first artist in over three years to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart with her new song, "3." The catchy song is from Britney Spears' new album The Singles Collection which hit stores last month. "3" has already sold over one million tracks and is presently the No. 2 pop song in the country (Source: Mediabase) and ranks No. 10 (with a bullet) on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart.

Source: Jive Records

Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' Clip Proved She Still Had It

The following italicized article is from www.mtv.com:

By the time 2008 rolled around, Britney Spears had once again taken her rightful place as the pre-eminent princess of pop. There was no question about it: Britney was back and "Womanizer" confirmed it. After all, what better way to show everyone you're back than to appear naked in a sauna?

"It was an actual sauna and we built a big tent around it ... and Britney, naked again. I guess I have one of the best jobs in the world," Joseph Kahn, who also shot Britney in the nude for her "Toxic" clip, told MTV News. "I was like, 'You know, if we do this video, and she went through all this work to get a new paint job, I was gonna show off the paint job — she's gonna be naked in this video.' "

The idea, however, like so many videos before, was all Britney's suggestion. "She pitched to me a very detailed idea of what she wanted to do," Kahn explained. "She wanted to dress up in costume, she wanted to follow her man to work, and she eventually wanted to show at the end that she is all three of those women."

He went on to say that this video was the one where he and Britney would prove that she was still at the top of her game. "It was, like, her first video that no one really knew if she could even come on set, you know? It was just a big question as to you know, like, what would that video look like?" he said. "What shape would she be in? Can she really dance? Can she perform? Who is she at this point?

" 'Womanizer,' for me, was a great experience on a personal level, because it completely verified that she was coming back," he continued. "By the time I worked with her on 'Womanizer,' you know, that was the Britney that I knew and it was a fun experience for me."

Kahn had to basically turn the video around overnight, and it was worth all the hard work — the video quickly became a fan favorite. "By the time it got out — and the beautiful thing about the Internet is that you get instant reaction — the reaction seemed to be very positive. I'm going to sound like such a wuss, but I think I cried," he said. "That sounds super lame, but come on, man — that's five days of some serious stress. And I had to end the video on her smiling, for sure. Like, we just need to tell everybody that she's OK."

Source: MTV

'3' To 1: Britney Beats Odds To Debut Atop Hot 100

The following italicized article is from www.billboard.com:

Britney Spears becomes the first artist in over three years to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, to be released tomorrow (Oct. 15), as "3" opens at the pinnacle of the chart. Her new track, a racy paean to the joys of three-way sex from the upcoming hits set "The Singles Collection," due Nov. 24, shifts 255,000 downloads in its first week of release, also propelling it to No. 1 on Digital Songs. The title also jumps 38-25 on the Pop Songs chart and debuts at No. 49 on Radio Songs/Hot 100 Airplay, which ranks songs based on airplay audience on all radio formats.

"3" is the first title to debut at No. 1 since Taylor Hicks' "American Idol" victory song "Do I Make You Proud" did so on the chart dated July 1, 2006. In fact, the last four songs to open at No. 1 were all "American Idol"-related. Prior to Hicks, Carrie Underwood's "Inside Your Heaven" (July 2, 2005), "I Believe" by Fantasia (July 10, 2004) and Clay Aiken's "This Is The Night" each debuted at No. 1. The last non-"Idol" song to open at No. 1 was Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" on Nov. 14, 1998. "3" is Spears' third Hot 100 No. 1. Her debut single "...Baby One More Time" spent two weeks at No. 1 in 1999 and "Womanizer" spent a sole frame at the top, exactly one year ago this week, on the chart dated Oct. 25, 2008.

Source: Billboard

Britney Wins Best Pop Video @ VMA's

Britney Spears Gets Naked (Again) In VMA-Nominated 'Womanizer' Clip

The following italicized article is from www.mtv.com:

Picture it: you, Britney Spears, a sweaty sauna, and nothing else between you. Like the body-hugging sparkly catsuit in "Toxic" that got tongues wagging, veteran video director Joseph Kahn knew the sight of Britney lounging in a sauna in the "Womanizer" clip would set off a buzz bomb.

Mission accomplished. Like his work on Eminem's "We Made You," which is also nominated for Video of the Year at Sunday's 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, "Womanizer" was the first clip from a crucial comeback album for Britney and Kahn was behind the camera to make sure it went smoothly.

As Kahn has said, he approached "Womanizer" not so much as a sequel to "Toxic," but as an answer to that clip. "I had no idea what the song was going to be, so I had no ideas when I met her about what we would do," said Kahn. "She had a basis of an idea to make a 'Toxic 2.' There are things she's really good at, like having a really natural knack for knowing what girls want."

While his previous collaborations with Spears on "Toxic" had a revenge-on-a-boy scenario, and "Stronger" bore an empowerment message, in "Womanizer" Britney was interested in exploring what her man was doing when he was cheating on her by showing up in different tempting outfits. "It's just a great girl fantasy," Kahn said of the concept for the video, in which Spears portrays a handful of forceful, hyperstylized characters. "The problem was we only had two days to shoot it and it involved multiple costume changes, multiple locations and Britney could only work 12 hours a day."

That meant Kahn had to hustle even more than usual, so he said he was, literally, running around the Los Angeles sets like a maniac, plotting out every second of the shoot like an Army lieutenant.

Although the hectic schedule was a white-knuckle grind, Kahn admitted that one aspect of the shoot was no hassle at all. "That was definitely an interesting thing to bring up," he said of his suggestion to Spears that they film a scenario in which she (barely) covers her naked, sweaty body with just her hands while lounging in a sauna. "I knew that the whole world would be watching, so I wanted something in there that stated, 'This is Britney, this is why you should respect her.' "

Despite the idea of seeking respect through nudity seeming counterintuitive, Kahn explained that he was so angry about how Spears had been attacked over the previous years for her yo-yo-ing weight that he wanted to quash all that talk by ... well, in his own words, "If she was a car with a paint job, I was going to show off the paint job. It was a way for her to gain back her body and smash all those shallow jokes."

As with "Toxic," Kahn had to clear everyone off the set when the time came to shoot the scene, leaving just him and Britney alone for two hours. "We worked together on each costume in the video and we went into a costuming session where she played dress-up for a while," he said, explaining the different sexy looks Britney shows off in the video. "She walks out in different outfits and I'm like, 'Let's try the striped shirt.' I'm sitting there thinking, 'I can't believe they pay me for this. I probably have the best job in the world!' Even Obama would want my job."

Source: MTV

Biggest Selling Singles Since The Year 2000

Guess who's on the list?

Guess which artist has 3 singles that have all sold more than 5 million copies...

- If you've just answered Sl*tstina you may click here for punishment -

It's Shakira! Well, her and some other dumb chick named Brittanay or something who appears on the list with 'Womanizer' (7 million), 'Toxic' (438375395 million - not really but it's gotta be something like that) and 'Baby One More Time' (only 1 or 2 gazillion - talk about a flop).

You may carry on now...

Updated Sales Figure for 'Womanizer'

After it's release on October 7th, 2008 'Womanizer' has sold 2,777,614 copies and thereby stands at #39 of the best selling downloads single of all time.

Another interesting fact is that 'Womanizer' is officially now Britney's best selling single in the US having sold more than 'Baby One More Time' (1 million) and 'Toxic' (500k).

Also, after 10 months of release 'Womanizer' is still charting and currently at #279 on iTunes while 'Circus' sits at #121.

Source: Break The Ice*

*Thanx to Roberto for giving this information to me.

Jive Records is Pushing for Multiple Grammy Nominations

The following italicized article is from www.examiner.com:

Submissions for the 2010 Grammy Awards won’t take place until September of 2009, but we are told that Jive Records will push for the final nail in Britney’s comeback: several Grammy nominations. Her album, Circus, was released in November of 2008 and has been one of the biggest selling albums of the past year. All her singles, “Womanizer,” “Circus,” and “If U Seek Amy,” have been major hits as well.

Some may laugh at the prospect of Britney Spears winning several Grammies. However, Grammy voters not only love comebacks, but have also been more keen to dance music lately. The only categories that Britney doesn’t have a chance in are Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for obvious reasons) and Song of the Year. She is definitely ripe for an Album of the Year nomination as well as one for Record of the Year. She’s also ripe for Best Pop Album.

One year ago, everybody was saying that Britney Spears was over with. Now, Britney is filling up arenas at top ticket prices during one of the worst recessions ever. One has to not only credit Ms. Spears for curbing her destructive behavior, but her management, father, and Jive Records deserve thumbs up as well.

Source: Examiner

Britney 'Demands Private Jet For UK Tour'

The following italicized article is from www.digitalspy.co.uk:

Britney Spears has reportedly demanded that she be flown to Manchester in a private jet when she performs in Britain next month.

The 'Womanizer' singer, who plays a mini-residency at London's O2 arena before doing a single night in Manchester, has refused to stay overnight in the northern city and will leave directly after the show.

"She has decided she will travel by private plane to Manchester - then fly straight back to London," a source told the Daily Star.

Spears has reportedly detailed an extensive rider for her short stay in the country.

"Britney may only be staying in the city for two weeks but she knows exactly what she wants," the source added.

Among the singer's demands are a room that has never been smoked in, fresh flowers that she will arrange herself, a variety of the latest magazines, DVDs featuring Marilyn Monroe and a selection of topical, chick-lit books.

She has also requested horse riding and running sessions in Hyde Park and a different route to her venue each night to deter paparazzi from following her.

Source: Digital Spy

Crazy Fan Arrested at Britney Spears Concert

The following italicized article is from www.tmz.com:

Cops tell TMZ a man was arrested last night after jumping on stage during Britney Spears' concert at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.

Connecticut State Police say they arrested 20-year-old Kyle King -- who they say had definitely been drinking -- after he charged on stage during Britney's encore performance of "Womanizer."

Security and Brit's backup dancers were able to stop King before he could come in contact with Spears -- and he was arrested for breach of peace.

The CSP says after King was taken into custody, he was being highly uncooperative -- so they also booked him for interfering with police.

He was released this morning after paying a $250 bond and is due in Norwich Superior Court on June 18.

Source: TMZ

Franz Ferdinand Covers 'Womanizer'

Source: BritneySpears.com

Most Expensive Music Videos Of 2008

01. “Womanizer” - Britney Spears ($236.000,00)

02. “4 Minutes” - Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland ($197.000,00)

03. “Feedback” - Janet Jackson ($186.000,00)

04. “When I Grow Up” - The Pussycat Dolls ($167.000,00)

05. “WOW” - Kylie Minogue ($152.000,00)

06. “Poker Face” - Lady GaGa ($149.000,00)

07. “Human” - The Killers ($124.000,00)

08. “Damaged” - Danity Kane ($119.000,00)

09. “Lollipop” - Lil Wayne ($117.000,00)

10. “The Fear” - Lily Allen ($108.000,00)

Source: U Britney

.

'Poker Face' costed that much? How the hell...what did they spend it on? Retouching to make GaGa look like a woman?

Lily Allen and Lindsay Lohan Do Something To ‘Womanizer’

I was gonna say 'cover Womanizer' but anyone who listens to the audio knows I would be lying if I said that...

Britney Spears' Comeback -- It's The Real Deal

The following italicized article is from www.insidebayarea.com:

There have been points over the last five years when the chances of Britney Spears mounting a successful comeback seemed about as likely as George W. Bush being elected mayor of Berkeley.

At other moments, the odds looked even worse.

The former teen dream had spent the last five years becoming the ultimate tabloid queen. Her sad tale unfolded before us at the supermarket checkout lanes, as headlines screamed out the latest misadventures of the former "Mickey Mouse Club" sweetheart; with each paparazzi payday it seemed like Spears was taking another step toward the point of no return.

Connecting with the public

Yet a funny thing happened on the way to the land of pop culture has-beens: Spears somehow managed to turn things around, at least professionally. Her new album, "Circus" debuted at No. 1. Her concert tour is doing strong business. She's turning out to be one of 2009's most convincing comebacks.

How did this happen when things, not so long ago, seemed so bleak? Some point to the surprisingly good quality of her 2007 album "Blackout," which, ironically, was a commercial failure. But an even larger element seems to be that she was able to turn all her messy trials and tribulations into a legitimate connection with the public. We really wanted her to turn things around

As fans prepare for Spears' three Northern California concerts — Saturday at Arco Arena in Sacramento, April 12 at HP Pavilion in San Jose and April 22 at Oracle Arena in Oakland — it seems apropos to look back at Spears' recent rollercoaster ride of a career and hopefully shed some light on why Britney has succeeded in an area where so many others have failed.

'Til death do us part'

During the first half of her career, Spears seemingly could do no wrong. She rose to stardom with the 1998 single —...Baby One more Time" and released hit album after hit album, becoming the first female performer to have four consecutive discs debut atop the charts. She did all this while managing to maintain a highly marketable public image that, for the most part, successfully married teen idol and sex kitten. She also had a storybook romance with another emerging Mouse Club alum, Justin Timberlake. It seemed the young princess of pop would someday marry her equally attractive prince in a wedding that would be the grandest since Prince Charles wed Diana.

Instead, they broke up. And if one had to nail down a date for when it all began to unravel for Spears, one might point to Jan. 3, 2004, the day she surprised the world by marrying childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander at a Las Vegas chapel. The fact that the marriage only lasted 55 hours before being annulled gave the impression that the starlet didn't have a firm grasp on her personal life.

From there, things began to snowball. She married a second time, to little-known dancer Kevin Federline, who abandoned his girlfriend and their two out-of-wedlock children to take up with Britney. Spears had two children with K-Fed, did things that made mothers-at-large cringe, then divorced her second husband and fought for custody of their children.

Living la vida loco

Spears become a constant fixture on the celeb night life scene, and revealing photos of her (such as that infamous panty-less shot), once considered the Holy Grail for Web-browsing peeping Toms, became as ubiquitous on the Internet as ads to refinance your home.

She shaved her head, for no apparent reason, and was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation, for very apparent reasons. There was talk of drug use, and her career was stalling: Her fifth disc, 2007's "Blackout," became her first not to top the Billboard album charts.

As late as February 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ran a cover story titled "The Tragedy of Britney Spears," which summed up the public perception of the fallen star. The whole thing was like some grandiose Greek tragedy, starring a former Mouseketeer from Mississippi, and oddly enough people couldn't get enough of it. Or, perhaps, the appeal wasn't so weird after all.

What Spears had succeeded in doing, with all her personal failures, was to create a celebrity image that felt far more "real" than nearly anything the public had ever seen (with a downfall that rivaled Lindsay Lohan's for media access). It's hard for regular folks to truly identify with a megastar who's on top of the world and selling millions of albums, but it's not hard to connect with one going through breakups, child custody battles and financial woes. Spears was unable to do something that she was never able to do before 2004: She made us feel like she was one of us.

Now, seemingly every celebrity is attempting to accomplish something similar. Countless pop culture icons, who once nurtured the image of being different from the public at-large, are going out of their way to come across like Average Joes and Janes. They use their blogs and Twitter to keep fans up to date on everything from what they had for breakfast to how their relationships are going. Think John Mayer and Pete Wentz. None of them, however, have consistently given us more of interest, without seemingly trying, than Britney.

The public might be fascinated with a "crash and burn." But people love a comeback. Spears certainly qualified for the former, and she showed enough resilience to give watchers hope that she might also make it to the latter.

'Circus' comes to town

By Britney standards, "Blackout" was a commercial disappointment, though many critics (including this one) thought it was her best record to date. And it plays a big role in Britney's comeback. It propelled Spears to a big night at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7, 2008. The CD's key single, "Piece of Me," would garner trophies for Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video of the Year. Suddenly, Britney was getting good press.

Spears' record label, Jive, capitalized by quickly releasing the first single from her forthcoming sixth CD to radio. The track, a contagious dance ditty called "Womanizer," shot to the top of the charts by mid-October and — surprise, surprise — Britney found herself with one of the biggest hits of her career.

When the album "Circus" was released at the end of November, it debuted at No. 1. It's one thing to persuade a fan to drop $15 on a CD (or download), but it's quite another to get people to spend hundreds of dollars on concert tickets. Spears proved up to that challenge as well.

The singer's road show is turning out to be one of the year's top tickets. That's definitely the story in Northern California, where the tour — the singer's first major outing in five years —is expected to see nothing but full houses during its three stops.

"Anytime an artist is away from the scene for awhile, you have to wonder if their audience will still be around," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of the concert industry trade publication Pollstar. "Obviously, Britney has a legitimate fan base that still wants to see her perform live."

That fan base is also willing to pay top dollar for the opportunity. Tickets for her local concerts run as high as $750. That's a lot of dough to drop in these tough economic times, especially for an artist who has seemingly given her fans every reason in the world to stop caring.

Yet, if anything, they seem to care even more than ever.

"I want my kids to see her succeed," says Castro Valley resident Arlene Chaves, who is spending some $2,000 to take her family to the Oakland concert. "I'm excited, personally, to see the show, because I really feel bad for her. I feel bad for what she's been through, and it makes me feel good to see her come back."

Source: Inside Bay Erea

Hilarious

New Dancebreak Added To 'Womanizer'