Simpson Tries To Woo Spears To Join TV Sitcom

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

Pop star Britney Spears is being persuaded by singer Jessica Simpson to join her for a new TV sitcom.'The Dukes of Hazzard' star has approached Spears with the idea of teaming up for a buddy comedy like beloved series 'Laverne and Shirley,' the female first website quoted the Globe."

Britney seems genuinely interested in working with her. She's said they'll talk further when she finishes her Circus tour," a source said.

"And Jessica wants to prove to the world that she's a talented, funny actress, not just some silly airhead," source added.

Both singers have toyed with comedy roles in the past. While Simpson starred in the films 'Major Movie Star', 'Blonde Ambition' and 'Employee of the Month', Spears won over critics when she played a confused secretary in US sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother last year'.

Source: PTI News

Keep Voting For Britney To Win People's Choice Award

Hey all, just a quick reminder to keep on voting for Britney to win a People's Choice Award. Our girl is nominated for Favorite Scene Stealing Guest Star for her role in How I Met Your Mother. Voting closes soon so make sure you get your votes in now!

Click here to vote!

Britney Spears Gets a People's Choice Nod

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

Britney Spears' career is officially in comeback mode.

It was announced Monday that the 26-year-old was nominated for a People's Choice Award for her role on How I Met Your Mother.

The category? Favorite scene-stealing star.

She's up against Luke Perry and Robin Williams, both for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

The singer starred as a dorky receptionist named Abby in two episodes of the CBS show earlier this year. On her first appearance in March, she helped the show win its highest ratings ever.

Spears has been on a role professionally.

She received thunderous applause when she performed during Madonna's Sticky & Sweet concert show in L.A. Nov. 6.

Her new single, "Womanizer," was No. 1 on the Hot 100 Billboard chart in October - her first tune to top the list since 1999's "...Baby One More Time."

Her next album, Circus, drops on her 27th birthday, Dec. 2.

The 35th Annual People's Choice Awards airs on Jan. 7 on CBS.

Source: US Weekly

Britney For Broadway

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

BRITNEY SPEARS is reportedly considering a spell on Broadway to help kick start her pop comeback.

The star checked out a performance of musical In The Heights during her trip to New York last week, to promote her new single Womanizer.

And sources tell the New York Daily News she is looking for the right part to make her stage debut.

Spears has previously acted in movie Crossroads, and several episodes of sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Source: Contact Music

'How I Met Your Mother' Can't Get Enough of Britney Spears

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

The third season of CBS’ How I Met Your Mother was spiced up by none other than pop princes Britney Spears, who is slowly but surely getting her groove back by recently landing three awards including Video of the Year in the recently concluded MTV Video Music Awards. The 26-year-old performer previously guest starred on How I Met Your Mother as receptionist Abby, in one of the show’s highest rated episodes of the season. Late last month, E! Online reported that the pop singer will be back for another round of guest stints on the show, which kicks off with season four on September 22, Monday at 8:30pm.

"We're all so thrilled to have Britney joining us once again," HIMYM creator Craig Thomas told E! Online. "And just to head it off at the pass this time around: Yes, Mom, Britney's very nice and no, I can't get her autograph for you."

Meanwhile, we also previously reported quite a number of juicy tidbits for the show’s fourth season. TV Squad recently spoke to co-creator Carter Bays, who also shared his insights on the new season.

Bays reveals, “the first scene takes place immediately after where we left off and then we move ahead a few months and Barney is out of the hospital because Neil (Patrick Harris) is too good a physical comedian to keep in a body cast.”

Bays adds that for this season, "We sort of knew the story we wanted to tell. We kind of had to adjust the timeline of it dependent on Sarah Chalke's schedule. That was a big factor in how we tell the stories this season but we got it all worked out so it's pretty much going according to plan...we love having Sarah around so we're always trying to make it work."

Also, he promises that this season of How I Met Your Mother will be filled with intriguing surprises.

"We've got some secrets coming up. They're some big events, and it's hard to know how much of it to reveal because we want it to be a surprise," he says. "We said we want to do more stand alone episodes and not make it so serialized this year and I think we've kept that promise although as we started writing, story lines unfold and it's kind of hard not to pick up; if something big happens one week it's hard to not pick up from that the next week and go on with the story."

Catch season 4 of How I Met Your Mother as it debuts on Monday, September 22 at 8:30pm.

Source: Buddy TV

Meet The Man Who Transformed Britney From A Shaven-Headed Monster To The Star Of The MTV Awards

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

What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, Britney Spears was a lost cause - a tragic figure of fun who lost custody of her two young sons in a blaze of flashbulbs and disastrous publicity.

Her shambolic appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards last September - described as a 'car crash' by critics - was widely regarded as the death knell of a once unstoppable career.

As the great and the good of the music industry watched agog, a paunchy, glassy-eyed Britney stumbled blindly through a rendition of her latest record, having lost the ability even to mime convincingly.

Coming after months of erratic, often drug-fuelled madness - including a lengthy stint in a rehab clinic - it marked the moment when the public perception-of Britney Spears shifted from hilarity to tragedy.

Not any more. This week the MTV awards returned, and stealing the show was a bronzed vision of health and vitality who was utterly unrecognisable from the shambling figure of 2007.

Britney, 26, launched the event with a short comedy sketch alongside Hollywood actor Jonah Hill, before taking the stage to a standing ovation.

Looking every inch the toned, polished megastar, she swept the board. She had previously been nominated 16 times without winning a thing, but this week her dazzling smile said it all as she picked up the best video, best pop video and best female video awards.

The song, Piece Of Me, was released at the height of her troubles, and the furore surrounding her public meltdown ensured respectable sales, with top ten chart positions all around the world.
(It was not, however, vintage Britney and many have seen the recognition given to the song as evidence of a poor year for pop music.)

Before taking to the stage to collect her awards, Britney stopped to hug a slim, crop-haired man with a neatly-trimmed goatee beard. To the millions of fans watching on television he was just another meaningless backroom boy. To those in the know, however, he was the person who should have been receiving the plaudits.

Larry Rudolph, the pop guru who made Britney a global star, is back in her life - and he might just have saved her life, too.

Russell Brand, the controversial host of MTV Video Music Awards, demonstrated a typically tasteless turn of phrase in describing Britney as a 'female Christ' - but as showbusiness resurrections go, it was certainly impressive.

This, remember, is a woman who just over six months ago was forcibly strapped to an ambulance trolley and dragged off to the psychiatric ward of a hospital.

She was sectioned twice in a month after doctors diagnosed her as being manic depressive with a borderline personality disorder, concluding that she was 'a danger to herself and to others.'

So what is behind this extraordinary change in her fortunes? Could this really be the same young woman who used to drive around Los Angeles in a shocking pink wig, popping prescription pills like they were going out of fashion while an army of paparazzi recorded her every move?

She may not have done a great deal more than smile and thank God 'for blessing me like this,' but as far as her fans and the American media are concerned, the transformation is complete.

In gratingly over-the-top terms, the LA Times hailed her return as a 'triumph of the Olympian kind,' while the Washington Post headline declared: 'Spears is MTV's Comeback Kid.'

But perhaps it is Perez Hilton, the leading gossip columnist whose online blog is read by tens of millions every day, who sums it up best. 'That's what people want - they want to see her smiling,' he says. 'Even if all she does is smile and wave, I say that's mission accomplished.'

Even that simple achievement, however, has not been achieved without a rehabilitation campaign of military intensity.

Britney has been under virtual house arrest ever since emerging from a mental health unit in the spring. It is thought to have been a voluntary arrangement, but the star has become painfully aware that her life had to change.

She was, after all, mentally ill, and there were people all around her taking advantage of that fact.

After her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, won custody of their two young children in February, she didn't sleep for four days and finally ended up in hospital getting the help she so desperately needed.

Having been virtually estranged from her parents, Britney is now described as being 'incredibly close' to them again, so much so that her father, Jamie, now has official control of her assets.

This represents a major turnaround, since at the height of her troubles Britney publicly blamed her woes on her father and Larry Rudolph.

Now, Jamie says of the reconciliation: 'We've grown a lot. I've been able to come back into my daughter's life, and that was an adjustment anyway, because I'm an alcoholic and it's the first time we've really been able to share.

'It's wonderful. It's new for both of us. She sometimes calls me 50 times a day and asks me things that light my life up. But, like all daughters, she is very cunning. So she gets what she wants a lot.'

At the beginning of his stewardship of Britney's assets - shared with her lawyer Andrew Wallet - Jamie gave up his career as a chef to care for his daughter around the clock at her home in California's San Fernando Valley.

Along with her trusted advisers, however, he remains uncertain of her ability to cope on her own, and her affairs are likely to remain in the hands of others at least until the end of the year.

'I would hope that it stands until the end of the year, and then we'll sit back and evaluate where we are at the time, where Britney is at that time,' says her father.

'I do understand that my baby made this monster [a reference to the dire situation she found herself in] but when she was down, people took advantage.'

Her mother, Lynne, has also been ushered back into the fold, despite spending their year of estrangement penning a warts-and-all book titled Through The Storm: A Real Story Of Fame And Family In A Tabloid World.

Most important of all, however, has been the rapprochement between Britney and Larry Rudolph, the manager who oversaw her rise from sickly sweet pre-teen performing pastiches of modern hits on American kids television show, The Mickey Mouse Club, to global star with a £60million fortune to her name.

It is thought the star's parents both contacted Rudolph after Britney hit rock bottom and begged him to come back into their daughter's life. For a long time, he was seen as a Svengali figure for her, and without him in her life she had no confidence in anything she did professionally.

Those who have observed the singer for years were aware that for some time she was obliged to adopt a sweet and innocent facade which was patently false.

First there was unrestrained hype about her being a virgin in a blatant bid to appeal to Middle America's puritan masses - when nothing could have been further from the truth - and then she started experimenting with drink and drugs.

In short, she started to believe her own publicity and to think she could get away with anything.

Not any longer, it would seem. I understand that Mr Rudolph agreed to take Britney on as a client again on the strict understanding that she would not take drugs or drink heavily, and that he would have the final say on all career decisions.

This was a deal her parents were only too pleased to accept, and since Rudolph has returned to the fold the singer's circumstances have changed beyond recognition.

Now, all the hangers-on are gone, Britney has been instructed to go to bed by 11pm at the latest, unless she's working, and people aren't even allowed to smoke around her. But Britney is said to thrive on such strict parameters.

She has also overhauled her diet. Having lived on burgers, pizzas and sugary drinks for over a year she is limited to 1,200 calories a day. 'It may not sound much, but it's a lot of food if you eat the right things,' she says. 'And no sugar. I don't eat fruit or even drink fruit juice because of the sugar.'

The results are there for all to see, with Britney dropping two dress sizes and almost two stones in weight. But just how realistic is this regime over the long term?

Such concerns pale into insignificance when one considers how far Britney has come, and her family are delighted that Rudolph agreed to return. Negotiations to win him back were not easy. He is understood to have been wounded by the barbs aimed at him by a woman he had supported for so long.

Goaded on by her new management, Britney had told the world that Rudolph colluded with her father to 'force' her into rehab against her will. The implied subtext being that they were both motivated by greed and a desire to get their hands on her money.

It is worthy of note, however, that in years gone by he also represented Britney's teenage sweetheart, Justin Timberlake - himself a huge star earning many millions of dollars every year.

When the couple split up he could have jumped either way, but remained loyal to Britney.

Industry insiders believe this principled decision has personally cost Rudolph five million dollars as Timberlake's career has soared.

And he remains reluctant to discuss his return to the fold. Earlier this summer, he went on record to admit: 'I have spent time with her, and she is on the right path because she has people around her who care about her well-being. But this isn't the time to talk business. This is a time for healing.'

The Rudolph connection led to one slightly awkward moment behind the scenes at the MTV awards this week, when the heiress Paris Hilton invited Britney to 'hang out and party' with her. (The pair know each other of old, and last year spent many a night together drinking into the small hours.)

An embarrassed Britney is understood to have made her excuses and left, for fear of invoking the wrath of her manager.

The next day, Britney and Rudolph were spotted leaving the Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills. Britney was dressed in a modest black outfit and resolutely refused to smile for the paparazzi who had been alerted to her presence.

And, with the old team back in harness, Britney had successfully hidden from photographers for months, working quietly on her health and fitness in preparation for a renewed assault on the charts.

There is even talk of bringing Britney's trusted PA of a decade's standing, Felicia Culotta, back into her inner circle after the pair fell out at the height of Britney's mental health problems - whereupon Felicia resigned her position to become a teacher.

Not all associates are so welcome, however. A restraining order has been taken out on Sam Lutfi, the manager who dominated her life last year (Britney's mother, Lynne, claims that Lutfi would grind up prescription pills and put them in Britney's food, hoping to put her in a coma that would allow doctors to cure her of all addictions).

Meanwhile, Britney has made a well-received cameo appearance on the hit television show How I Met Your Mother, and has been back in the studio recording material for a new album. She has even been granted access to her sons, Sean, three, and Jayden, two.

For all her rediscovered self confidence, however, it has been noted by music critics in the U.S. that Britney's MTV awards comeback consisted of little more than smiling, being polite and walking in a straight line.

Just a few months ago she was barely capable of performing any one of these feats, let alone all three at the same time, but the jury is still out on whether she can ever recapture past form.

The latest speculation surrounds a mooted appearance on stage with Madonna for the Los Angeles leg of the latter's current world tour, though doubts persist as to whether she will be up to it.

Whether Britney will be able to maintain her delicate equilibrium at all over the long term, only time will tell. But if Larry Rudolph has anything to do with it, the girl America is falling in love with all over again might just succeed.

Source: Daily Mail

Britney Spears' VMA Appearance A Solid First Step, Experts Say

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

Nearly a year to the day after her performing career went awry at the 2007 VMAs, Britney Spears emerged a new, confident woman on Sunday.

Looking bright-eyed, healthy and bearing the girlish charm that helped the world fall in love with her a decade ago, Spears bantered playfully with actor Jonah Hill and was gracious and humble in accepting her first-ever VMA trophies.

Before Britney's appearance on the show, Jordan Miller, webmaster for the Britney fan site BreatheHeavy.com said his only advice to the singer would be, " 'Get dolled up, look amazing, and just enjoy the show,' " which is exactly what Spears appeared to do. As celebrity blogger Perez Hilton said, "That's what people want. They want to see her smiling. Even if all she does is smile and wave, I say that's mission accomplished."

Since her new album is a work in progress, Spears chose not to perform on the show — which may have been a wise move, according to People magazine Senior Editor Julie Dam.

"She looked fantastic ... really great and together and happy," Dam said. "Physically, she looked amazing, which is already such a dramatic change from how she looked last year. I think people are rooting for her and I'm not surprised she won [three awards]."

Like Spears' first appearance on the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," the singer's skit with Hill was funny and served to remind the public of her comedic timing, Dam said, which could prove useful in the future should Spears decide to give acting on the big screen another shot.

"Last night was really good in that she looked amazing but didn't perform, because she didn't need to perform last night," Dam said. "It would have been asking too much. She showed up, looked good, accepted her awards, gave brief speeches, thanked God and her kids and, at the end, [manager] Larry Rudolph and her label, which is definitely setting the table for the future."

It was as if she'd said, " 'I'm back and I've won these awards,' " Dam continued. "Let's see what the music says now. Her next big step is to deliver an album that's really good and promote it in a different way than she did the last one [Blackout]," which Spears barely promoted at all.

While fans were undoubtedly excited to see Britney back, the way she presents herself on her next album will be critical, according to Ken Baker, E! executive news editor. Speaking before the VMAs, Baker said that even though she's a mother of two, Britney's fans don't necessarily want her to evolve too much.

"That would be a round peg in a square hole," he said. "Her voice has a certain range. Her style has a certain range. But lyrically, she should have more depth. And her album is going to have a lot of personal experiences on it, some intense things that reflect her life. But a lot of it will be the traditional Britney escapist-bubblegum-dance-pop that she's known for. She shouldn't venture too far out of that. She can't run around in a schoolgirl outfit, that page has turned, but her art doesn't have to be a mirror. That would be depressing. You don't want songs about Britney being in a mental ward."

The fact that Spears was able to bounce back and win three top awards didn't escape the notice of TV Guide Executive Editor Craig Tomashoff, who was hoping for a bit more from the former Mouseketeer. "I'm surprised the opening sketch didn't make any reference to last year," he said. "She seemed kind of nervous and ... I was expecting a little sense of humor about last year, or that there would be some little funny nod to it, something playful that referred to what made it a big deal for her to show up this year."

And, after all the rumors of a possible surprise Britney performance, Tomashoff said he was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more from the singer, adding that she might think about pursuing a parallel or primary career in sitcoms. "She did very well with 'How I Met Your Mother' and I think if she were to try and go in a comedic direction ... she has pretty good skills at that," he said. "She seems to have a knack for TV comedy and doing a couple more shows as much as anything could rehabilitate her image."

Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Vanessa Grigoriadis, who wrote a cover story on Spears' downward spiral for the magazine earlier this year, said she felt the singer did the one thing she most needed to do Sunday night to prove that she's ready for her close-up again: cooperate.

"That is a big deal, because she was so completely, utterly, totally out of control a year ago at this time," Grigoriadis said. "Obviously, she has it in her DNA to learn a song and choreography and do that as well as anybody — as long as she's willing to."

Source: MTV

It's Britney Spears' Night At The VMAs

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

Britney won her first (and second, and third) Moonman, the Jonas Brothers flooded the fake streets of New York with screaming fans, Pink tossed a dude down a flight of steps, Weezy nearly lost his pants and host Russell Brand told a bunch of jokes you're probably still trying to untangle, which, we can assure you, were very, very, very dirty. It was a historic night for rehabbing pop star Britney Spears, who not only picked up the first VMA of her career, but capped her hat trick with the ultimate prize: Video of the Year.

The 25th annual MTV Video Music Awards were full of those kinds of firsts, but perhaps the one people were looking forward to the most was the first VMA appearance by Spears since last year's notorious onstage debacle. And, to the delight of her fans, Spears knocked it out of the park, opening the show by repeatedly turning down some not-so-slick advances from "Superbad" funnyman Jonah Hill. Showing off some of her "How I Met Your Mother" comedy chops, Spears then shimmied to the stage, looking amazing in a silver, shimmering flapper dress, and welcomed the crowd to the show.

Wearing his signature skintight trousers, black jacket, assorted shiny baubles and a bemused look, Brand introduced the show by ticking off a list of the night's guests, which he said included some of the "world's most famous stars ... and me." Assuring the audience that he's famous in his native England, Brand gave proof by saying that without that fame, his electric-shock haircut "could be mistaken for mental illness."

A quick rundown of the not-even-close-to-appropriate-for-prime-time references Brand made over the course of the night: something about Madonna, Alex Rodriguez and baseball equipment; a bit about how his nether regions are well-lubricated by cherry ChapStick; a pledge to masturbate more that was inspired by Lil Wayne, who he appeared to invite to join him in the bathroom, or not; a cringe-worthy R. Kelly reference; and a string of jokes at the expense of the chaste Jonas Brothers, including some very unclean references to their purity rings.

It wasn't all randy English jokes, though. There were plenty of musical highlights as well.

Rihanna opened the show with a spooky take on "Disturbia," preceded by a procession of zombies as she was rolled onto the stage in what looked like a giant metallic wedding cake, wearing a black bustier and looking like a robot from the postapocalyptic future. A short time later, T.I. returned to the VMA stage to perform "Whatever You Like." Escorting a fine young lady in a hot-pink dress, the dapper rapper walked his friend across the Paramount backlot, taking her to a fur shop, a club and in a ride in his Phantom, all the while explaining the lengths of his largesse, which included, in order, stacks of cash, Patrón on ice, popped bottles and a private jet.

There were also some awards handed out. Picking up her first Moonman, for Best Female Video — which she won over another VMA lady-in-waiting, Mariah Carey — Britney called the moment "an honor" and thanked God, her fans, her family and her "beautiful boys." She repeated those thanks later in the show, when she took the Best Pop Video, also for "Piece of Me," professing to be "speechless" but saying, "This means a lot. Thank you."

But by the end of the night, when a truly surprised-looking Brit picked up Video of the Year, also for "Piece of Me," she professed to be "in shock right now." Saying she wasn't expecting the award, Spears again thanked her family, adding, "I just want to dedicate this to all my amazing fans out there for all of your support."

Source: MTV

Should Britney Spears Get A VMA Do-Over? Perez Hilton, Carson Daly, Others Weigh In

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

[Editor's note: Even though we work for the same company, at press time we honestly do not know whether Britney will be appearing at the VMAs this weekend.]

Should Britney get a do-over?

Last year at this time, people were primed for Britney Spears to make a comeback, which was to be heralded by a Video Music Awards performance to top all others. We all know how that turned out.

All that comeback talk was a bit premature when Britney was still on the edge as far as her mental health was concerned. But now that she appears to be on the mend and is recording a new album, how can she rebuild her career? And should appearing or performing at this year's VMAs play a part in that? Can this year's VMAs signify a true comeback, the one she was meant to have last year? And what does she need to do beyond that to remain on track? We asked a few key Britney-watchers what the pop princess should do to reclaim her throne.

"If you want to make a big splash," Carson Daly said, "what better platform than the VMAs?"

"I think she should definitely show up," Perez Hilton said. "She's been nominated for several awards, and that's what entertainers do. Just her being there is an indication that she's getting back to normalcy."

"I would tell her, 'Get dolled up, look amazing, and just enjoy the show,' " said Jordan Miller, webmaster for Britney fan site BreatheHeavy.com.

"That's what people want," Hilton said. "They want to see her smiling. Even if all she does is smile and wave, I say that's mission accomplished."

Only if Spears is ready to pull off a truly memorable performance should she even think about getting back on the stage. "I don't think it's an option," said Ken Baker, E! executive news editor. "For her to perform doesn't make any sense right now. She doesn't have anything to sell."

Unless the product is herself — but Baker thinks she's doing a better job simply by getting her personal life back in order. "She doesn't need image rehab," he said. "And she's not ready to do a performance. She should wait. No offense to MTV, but she'll have other opportunities. It might be better timing to wait until her album is out, perhaps early next year."

"Don't perform unless you can be as good or better than you were back in the day," Hilton cautioned. "If it's not 110 percent ready and rehearsed, don't do it. You don't want a repeat of mediocrity."

Hilton suggested that once Britney is ready to perform, at the VMAs or otherwise, she ought to redo "Gimme More" with an entirely different routine. "This time, do it right," he said. "Have the hair looking good, wear something that fits, don't be allegedly drunk before you're onstage, know your choreography, don't be lethargic and take it seriously." He doesn't expect her to sing live, but if she can manage an effective lip synch, that would be just enough, he said, to make people think, "This is how it should have been done."

"It doesn't matter what song she does, as long as it's memorable," said TMZ Managing Editor Harvey Levin. "If she does 'Gimme More' and does a good job, that could work. If she does a cameo in someone else's performance, that could work too. Whatever she chooses has to be something she can pull off."

In order to pull it off, however, she needs to figure out something that might take more than a week's worth of rehearsals. "Forget about what dress to wear or her weight, because those things come later," Daly said. "This is more than a makeover."

What if Britney nailed a VMA performance? The whole debate over whether she should appear, not appear, perform, not perform, open the show, not open the show is beside the point. "What does all that really buy her?" he asked. "How long does that last?"

While our memories of VMA performances often outlast our memories of the actual winners, ultimately Britney needs to figure out if she's running a sprint or a marathon.

"Remember the 'Rocky' where Sylvester Stallone had to go to a log cabin in Siberia to find himself again?" Daly asked. "He was chopping down trees and running in the snow to rediscover why he was a fighter. Someone needs to take Britney to a studio in Siberia and ask her, 'What are you doing? What kind of story do you want to tell in song?' And what if she wrote a song that was actually moving?

"She really needs to figure out if she's passionate about music," he continued. " 'Gimme and 'Piece of Me' are club records that are here today, gone tomorrow. People love those beats, but she's got to start again. She needs to work on her voice and do some serious self-examination. I'd love to see her do away with the choreography, stand up there in an elegant gown, with light accompaniment from a band or strings, and sing from the heart."

"I don't want a lot of ballads, OK?" Hilton countered. "I don't want it to be too deep. I don't want Britney writing her own songs. I think that's a bad idea."

"You don't want her to evolve too much," Baker said. "That would be a round peg in a square hole. Her voice has a certain range. Her style has a certain range. But lyrically, she should have more depth. And her album is going to have a lot of personal experiences on it, some intense things that reflect her life. But a lot of it will be the traditional Britney escapist bubblegum dance pop that she's known for. She shouldn't venture too far out of that. She can't run around in a schoolgirl outfit, that page has turned, but her art doesn't have to be a mirror. That would be depressing. You don't want songs about Britney being in a mental ward."

Levin thinks Britney's career as an entertainer won't be in music as much as it used to be — she'll still record and put out albums, he predicted, but she'll be more focused on television. "She was pretty funny on 'How I Met Your Mother,' " he said. "If she finds the right vehicle to be funny and charming, the endearing qualities that we're looking for, that could really change her career."

The pop-music scene doesn't hold much of a future for the singer as she gets older and her competitors keep getting younger. "She's not 17 anymore," Levin said. "And there's more longevity in something like television."

"She should branch out with something new," Miller said. "Definitely not a movie. Maybe a clothing line, where it's not so super-huge that it would monopolize her time."

Whichever part of her career she focuses on, she better get ready to promote it, since the marketing plan for Blackout suffered from her lack of involvement. "It's insane for an artist of her caliber to release an album and only grant one interview," Hilton said. "And an interview where she barely speaks at that. She needs to do what's involved — do interviews, do a tour — unless she's not ready to be away from the kids, and then don't do it. Don't release it until you're ready to promote it."

"She needs to take every interview, come with half the people she normally does, show up on time — no, show up early — and start having candid conversations," Daly said. "She doesn't have to answer every question, but she can own what happened to her and shift it to be about where she is now."

"If she does just one big, splashy interview with Oprah or Diane Sawyer or Barbara Walters, it feels calculated, like too much in too little time," Levin said. "People could write books on what she went through. So to just do one interview almost trivializes it. And to do all of them is almost a bloodletting. So maybe don't do the interviews. Keep the mystery. Speak when you want to. Why does she have to say she's back? It would be better if other people are saying it, not her."

Several suggested that she do it symbolically, by using a phoenix motif to signify where she is — she burned out, but she's rising from the ashes. It could be used as an album title or cover art or her eventual Web site redesign.

But whatever she chooses, the important thing is that it will be her choice. With the conservatorship slated to end by the end of the year, Spears is about to get back her own decision-making powers. Unless she has another turn for the worse, she'll get "the keys to the car," as Levin put it. Though her problem before was that she refused to listen to advice, she appears to be listening now, and that's what's getting her back on track.

"This woman had a hugely serious problem, a life-threatening problem," Levin said. "And they've been keeping her busy as a short-term strategy. They're not thinking way into the future. They just want to keep her productive and relevant."

Beyond career goals, everyone agreed that Britney has to put her personal life first — because without improvement on that front, all the plans for her future and possible VMA appearances mean nothing.

"Everything she did before tells me she was looking externally for love, acceptance and approval," Hilton said. "It tells me she was feeling empty. So hopefully she feels now like she has self-worth and life has meaning. But she needs to stay under the guidance of a doctor and have therapy several times a week. Because more important than anything, she really needs to determine for herself who Britney Spears is."

Source: MTV

Life Looking Up for Britney

The following italicized article is from www.ok-magazine.com:

Only six months ago, it looked like the bright and bubbly Britney Spears that had become a teen superstar was possibly gone forever, replaced by a semi-coherent, erratic mess that spent her sleepless nights driving aimlessly around southern California. Oh how things have changed for the pop superstar!

Now that her custody battle with ex Kevin Federline is over, Brit is truly enjoying the time she spends with her two boys, Sean Preston and Jayden James. During their weekly overnight visit last weekend, the singer played host to a playdate with the boys and little girl friend around two years old. "They were all having fun on the street in front of Brit's house," a witness tells OK!. "The kids were wheeling around in mini plastic cars and enjoying themselves."

On the career front, as Britney told OK! in her recent exclusive interview — she's back to work on her upcoming album. And this weekend saw the 26-year-old heading to two different recording studios, in Hollywood and Silver Lake, to lay down some tracks.

Then it was off to a party in the Hollywood Hills for her hairstylist and good friend Kim Vo, who has been credited with getting Brit to ditch the pink wigs and horrific weaves that marked her dark period in late 2007 and early 2008. Kim is also responsible for Britney's locks on her two appearances on How I Met Your Mother.

Source: OK Magazine

Britney Spears Speaks: Pop Star Talks Sister's Pregnancy, New Music & More

Britney Spears has opened up about the shock of her teenage sister's pregnancy, her new album, and future acting plans, in a new interview with OK! magazine.

Plus, the pop star's father, Jamie Spears, offers an update on the conservatorship over Britney's estate and what he really thinks of her ex, Kevin Federline.

In excerpts from the article, Britney, in her first sit down interview in almost two years, spoke about her reaction to Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy at 16. Britney traveled to her hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana, for the birth of her niece by the now 17-year-old Jamie Lynn, and while she was thrilled with little baby Maddie, she was taken aback.

"That was special, but it was also strange because she's always been the baby, and now the baby was having a baby. It was mind-boggling. I was shocked a little bit," Britney told OK! "But it was really cool, and she was happy. When she got to the hospital, we all thought it was going to be an all-day thing, and instead, the baby just sort of popped out. OK, we're happy now!"

Britney said Jamie Lynn will be bringing baby Maddie to Los Angeles soon, allowing the newborn to finally meet her cousins - Sean Preston, and Jayden James.

"She's going to come out here for the kids' birthdays. It will be the first time the cousins meet. I'm sure the boys will be like big brothers to Maddie," Britney told the mag.

Britney also provided an update on her new album, the follow up to last year's "Blackout," which will be out in "the next six to nine months," the pop star said.

"I'm writing every day, right here at the piano in this living room," Brit told OK! "This is my best work ever."

Britney said she is working with talented people who are helping her take her songs up a level.
"I think it is more urban. I'm working with producers who are just amazing. It's Harvey Mason of The Underdogs," she noted. "There is this fresh new energy. "

And it's not just music Britney is working on. She confirmed she is interested in doing more acting, following her successful appearance on "How I Met Your Mother," which helped the show achieve its best ever ratings.

"I'd love to, if I can find the right movie," Brit said when asked about continuing her thespian streak. "Actually, I have a part that just came up. We're just trying to work it out with my schedule, with the children."

Though it was unclear from the excerpts released at press time by OK! whether Britney addressed her hospitalizations of early 2008, her run ins with the paparazzi or the conservatorship protection she is under until the end of October, her father and co-conservator, Jamie Spears, provided some answers to OK!

Jamie said the conservatorship of his daughter will come to a close, though he hopes it will last just a bit longer, for Britney's sake.

"I would hope it stands until the end of the year, and then we'll sit back and evaluate where we are at that time, where Britney is at that time," he said.

The conservatorship reunited father and daughter, who in the past had moments where they were estranged from one another.

"It's wonderful," he said of their relationship. "It is new for both of us. She sometimes calls me 50 times a day and asks me things that light my life up. But like all daughters, she is very manipulative and cunning. So she gets what she wants a lot."

Jamie also said that despite the troubles that previously affected the pop star, there was a silver lining - their new relationship and his relationship with his grandsons.

"God has a way of taking something bad and turning it into something good," Jamie told OK! "If this hadn't happened, I would never have been able to get back with my daughter and have this relationship I have with these two little boys."

In related news, Jamie also explained why Britney and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, settled their custody dispute over their two children, without going to trial.

"Britney and Kevin wanted to settle The trial that was coming up was for permanent custody. It made no sense for that trial to proceed so we worked out an agreement. The agreement says that on Oct. 1 we'll probably get another overnight, and that will stay in place until the end of the year or the end of the conservatorship," he said.

As for how Jamie feels about Kevin, he offered a mixed answer.

"Kevin has a wonderful heart. I don't agree with giving him more money," Jamie said.

Source: Yahoo

First Interview: Britney Spears on Her Boys

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

Britney Spears opened up to the media for the first time in two years in a candid interview in which she talks about her road to recovery and life today with her sons. On tonight's ET, we have a sneak peek of the OK! magazine cover story that is on newsstands this week.

"When I have my children, I'll get up and make them pancakes," she tells OK!, which has photographs of Britney's refrigerator covered with artwork done by her sons. But it wasn't always happy times.

Britney's fall from grace was a big one: Her divorce from Kevin Federline, her custody battles over sons Sean Preston and Jayden James, as well as the many painful events -- such as shaving her head and being rushed to the hospital -- caught by the glaring lights of the paparazzi.

The road back for the pop star began when her father was named co-conservator of his daughter's estate, and things have been looking up ever since. Britney has her sons on Mondays, Wednesdays and overnight on Fridays -- and her father Jamie Spears is with her at all times when she has the boys. Otherwise, he has his own home in Santa Monica.

"Right now, everything is okay," Jamie says. "I just don't know what six months from now will bring, or three months. But as it is right now, the conservatorship is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. This is the way I live, one day at a time."

Today, Britney is healthy and has returned to work. Her appearances on "How I Met Your Mother" were ratings bonanzas for the CBS series, she is back in the recording studio working on her next album, and she took time out to visit her family -- and meet her niece -- in Louisiana.

"That was special, but it was also strange because she's always been the baby, and now the baby was having a baby. It was mind-boggling. I was shocked a little bit. But it was really cool, and she was happy. When she got to the hospital, we all thought it was going to be an all-day thing, and instead, the baby just sort of popped out. Okay, we're happy now!"

Source: ET Online

Rep: Britney In Negotiations To Appear For VMAs

Britney Spears may get a shot at redemption during this year's MTV Video Music Awards.

Widely panned for her glazed-over performance at last year's show, Spears is now in negotiations with MTV to make an appearance at the Sept. 7 ceremony, a spokesperson for MTV said Tuesday. While the network said nothing has been finalized — only Lil Wayne and the Jonas Brothers are confirmed so far — Spears is already appearing in promotional ads for the telecast.

"This is for real," Spears tells VMA host Russell Brand in one of two spots for the VMAs, which were taped last week, according to MTV. In the ads, Spears, dressed in black with blonde hair cascading down her shoulders, giggles as she and Brand banter flirtatiously. She looks sexy, confident and fit — the antithesis of her appearance at last year's ceremony.

Spears' 2007 performance was heavily hyped to be her comeback after months of negative publicity and erratic behavior. Though her disheveled look and bleary routine during "Gimme More" only became the new benchmark for Spears' decline, it was also the most talked about performance not only of the show, but perhaps the year.

Since then, Spears, 26, has appeared to have cleaned up her act. Her father James has been in control of her personal and professional matters as her legal conservator, and she drew high ratings and reviews when she made guest appearances on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" earlier this year.

Spears is working on a new album. If she were to perform, it would surely be a ratings bonanza; last year's VMA's was up 23 percent over the 2006 show.

Van Toffler, head of MTV Networks Music Groups, admitted as much in June when he said there was a possibility that Spears could appear at this year's event, to be held in Los Angeles.

"I'm not sure how we top Britney opening the show," said Toffler.

A Britney sequel just might work.

Source: Yahoo!

Britney Spears Lands Her Own TV Show

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

Britney Spears is to return to TV screens in a new fly-on-the-wall documentary.

The singer is said to have ordered her team to film her every move for the show.

‘Britney’s bodyguards and staff have been told not to miss a thing,’ a source tells the News Of The World.

‘Whether Britney is high or low, feeling happy or sad, the cameras are there catching it all.’

Britney, 26, recently wowed US audiences on sitcom How I Met Your Mother.

Source: Now Magazine

Britney Spears Tapes Commercial -- With LL Cool J, Pete Wentz, Russell Brand -- For MTV Video Music Awards

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

Britney Spears' performance at last year's MTV Video Music Awards was memorable in ways the singer would probably not prefer.

But Brit's joined forces with this year's VMA host, Russell Brand, along with LL Cool J and FNMTV host/ Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz for a comical improvised promo for this year's show.

In the promo, which was filmed this week, Spears riffs with Brand in an improvisational Q&A session, during which Brand suggests there's some sexual tension between them — "I didn't feel any tension," Brit quips. She also shows some of the comedic chops she employed during her two-episode stint this spring on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother,", joking that she has no idea who Brand is, at one point calling him, "Russell Brown"; LL Cool J calls him "Russell Bland."

While it remains unconfirmed whether Spears will appear at this year's show — which will be broadcast live from the legendary Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood on September 7 — the singer is nominated for two Moonmen: in the Best Female and Best Pop Video categories, for her track "Piece of Me."

Incredibly, despite 16 nominations in previous years, Spears has never won a Moonman, but is hoping to break that dry spell next month.

This year, she'll face off against Katy Perry, Rihanna, Jordin Sparks, and Mariah Carey — another artist with several VMAs nods under her belt but no statuette — for Best Female Video, and will contend with Danity Kane, the Jonas Brothers, Panic at the Disco and Tokio Hotel for the Best Pop Video prize.

The 25th VMAs will take place at the legendary Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood on September 7. The Jonas Brothers and Lil Wayne are confirmed to perform.

Source: MTV

Britney Wins TV.com's "Recent Achievement Award"

Teen Choice Awards who? Britney has just won TV.com's "Recent Achievement Award" for her stint on "How I Met Your Mother" with over 312,000 votes, coming in at 79% - crushing her competition.

Source: Breathe Heavy

Britney's Dad to Rule the Roost Through '08?

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

Britney Spears' days under her father's thumb are numbered. But it's still a pretty big number.

Sources tell E! News that the popster's conservatorship likely won't be dissolved until the end of this year, despite rumors that the 26-year-old could regain control over her estate as soon as tomorrow, following a hearing on various issues pertaining to the arrangement.

Instead, attorneys for Jamie Spears are planning to ask Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz, who's been presiding over the matter since the conservatorship was instated Feb. 1, to extend the order until the fall, according to a source familiar with the situation.

But while that sounds as if it could be grounds for more legal wrangling on Britney's part, it's unlikely that the recuperating songstress is going to fight what appears to be working—at least in terms of Britney being more of a virulent attention-getter as opposed to a prayer-inspiring basket case.

Following Britney's second forced hospitalization in January, Jamie and attorney Andrew Wallet were appointed temporary coconservators of the singer's estate. Her dad also got a say as to who she came into contact with and when, as well as a $2,500 weekly allowance so that he could focus full-time on his oldest little girl.

Since Jamie took the reins of his daughter's finances, medical care and overall welfare, she's slowly rebuilt her relationship with her toddler sons, received sage wisdom from Mel Gibson, guest-starred twice on How I Met Your Mother, shot a video for Madonna's upcoming concert tour and, ahem, gotten the closest she's been to her prebaby bod since…well, since before she had her babies.

Britney's legal camp says that she's waiting until the conservatorship has ended to petition for joint custody of Sean Preston and Jayden James, who will be 3 and 2 in September, respectively. But last week, in handing sole custody over to ex-hubby Kevin Federline, a court granted her more time with the boys each week, as well as an extra overnight visit.

And, with no help from her dad, the "Toxic" blonde's "Piece of Me" scored a nomination for Best Female Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, which takes place Sept. 7 in Hollywood.

Also to be dealt with Thursday—the Spears' family's temporary restraining order against former Britney bud Sam Lutfi, who Jamie and Lynne Spears accused of making a variety of manipulative moves while their daughter was emotionally and mentally vulnerable.

We hear that Jamie's camp won't move to make the order permanent—a motion Lutfi had been geared up to fight—and will just let the bad blood evaporate. Britney would still theoretically be barred from seeing Lutfi anyway because of Jamie's continued oversight of who she spends her time with.

Source: E! Online

Brave New Girl, or Same Old Spears?

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

She wants a good time

No need to rewind

She needs to really really find what she wants

She lands on both feet

Won't take a back seat

There's a brave new girl

And she's comin' out tonight

It's no Fiona Apple or Emily Bronte. But the lyrics to Britney Spears' "Brave New Girl," a song she put out in 2003, years before her life spiraled out of control, may finally be coming true now.

Sure, the headlines have been splashed across the Internet and tabloid magazines before ("Britney's New Act!" "Spears Insider: Brit Back on Track!"), only to be replaced the following week by photos of her crying into a cup of Starbucks and flipping off the paparazzi.

And Spears most recently made the papers by getting snapped last Sunday while smoking cigarettes in front of her two-year-old son, who was trying to play with her pack of Marlboros. But that lapse in parental judgement aside, Spears' behavior in the past few months suggests that, finally, she may really be poised to return to her pop star status of yore.

In March, she made her first high-profile, sans-paparazzi appearance in months, guest starring as a dermatologist's receptionist on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother." While her acting abilities, like her lyrics, aren't going to make it into the annals of cultural history, she proved she could show up to a set and get a job done without incident: A far cry from her disastrous 2007 MTV Video Music Awards performance. She followed it up with a second guest stint on the sitcom in May.

Also in May, Spears was granted more time with Sean Preston and Jayden James, her sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline, and praised by the judge hearing her child custody case for trying to get her personal life back under control. On Friday, she gave up her custody fight, but gained more visiting time with the boys, quite possibly the best play she could've made, according to lawyers.

"This is probably the best solution for the kids," Paul Talbert, family law attorney at Chemtob Moss Forman & Talbert, a Manhattan matrimonial law firm, told ABCNews.com last week. "For Britney, it allows her to shrink from the spotlight a little bit -- she doesn't have to go to court every month and endure that circus. That circus can't make it easier for her to stay on the straight and narrow."

Instead of the courthouse, Spears is spending her summer in the recording studio.

"She's working with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters and we're very excited about what she's accomplished so far," her manager, Larry Rudolph, and Jive records said in a statement. "No album release date has been confirmed yet."

And instead of club-hopping, she's hitting the charity circuit. Saturday, Spears attended Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey's fundraiser for Generation Rescue, an organization dedicated to researching autism.

So, is this really a brave new girl in the making? Maybe, if she can manage to leave behind the mess of the past year and a half.

"For her to have a true comeback, it means stripping herself of everything that has come before," said E! online gossip columnist Ted Casablanca. "Take a break from the Britney that we know her as, and try something different. If she did a different kind of a tour, put out a different kind of music, that would be great. But if she comes back from the recording studio with the soft porn 'Gimme More' stuff, I don't see it helping her ultimately in the end. It's diving into the quasi whore-saint stuff that she's done for years."

"Look at someone like Madonna, someone who Britney is chasing after," he added. "Look how chameleonic that woman is. I mean, we hated half of her stuff -- the sex book, the bullet proof bras -- but at least she's gutsy and ties things differently."

Indeed, music industry insiders say the measure of Spears' success hinges on what comes out of all those steamy summer days in the recording studio. Her last album, "Blackout," wasn't a bomb: It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart and, as of last week, sold 879,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But it came out in October 2007, shortly after a judge suspended Spears' child visitation rights and just before two stints in the hospital for psychological evaluations.

"It'll be helpful if she can avoid some of the headlines that we associated with her when the last album came out, the non-album headlines," said Geoff Mayfield, director of charts and senior analyst for Billboard magazine. "The last album didn't sell all that poorly. It was smaller than her biggest albums, but she'd already had a downward cycle from her biggest streak, and that tends to happen when you have a million-selling week on your second album."

Before she was a tabloid fixture and a late-night punch line, Spears was a pop superstar, and she needs to reinvigorate her audience to bounce back. Mayfield agreed that the frothy, bubblegum hits that made her huge in the 90s won't play well now, but she shouldn't reinvent herself into a figure her fans won't recognize, i.e., a bullet-proof bra-wearing diva, or a guitar-strumming ballad-belter.

"Everything depends on whether or not the consumer connects with what she's doing now," he said. "She has to be careful about doing music about her personal life: first off, it's not a personal life most people can relate to, and you run the risk of getting labeled as the 'poor little rich girl.' She should try to continue to evolve, but she can't reinvent herself to be a singer-songwriter type -- that's not her strength."

So, If she keeps her act clean and her music fresh (but not too fresh), maybe Spears can turn this streak of good behavior into a bona fide comeback. Or, she could just take Casablanca's advice:

"I think she should get together with Justin Timberlake and have a kid with him," he said. "That would be the greatest comeback of all."

Source: ABC News

Britney 'Didn't Save' CBS Sitcom

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

CBS has denied claims that Britney Spears' appearance on How I Met Your Mother "saved" the show.

Ratings for the sitcom were given a boost when Spears starred as ditzy receptionist Abby in two episodes. It was only after Britney's episodes had aired that CBS announced the programme's renewal for a fourth season.

However, the network's entertainment president Nina Tassler has now insisted: "It was never in danger; we just took a while to make the announcement [of its renewal]."

The show's co-creator Craig Thomas has confirmed that "the door is open" for further appearances from Spears. Her role has also been praised by the sitcom's stars Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris.

Source: Digital Spy

Britney 'Forced' Into New Album

The following italicized article is from www.news24.com:

Britney Spears's record label is trying to force her into recording a new album.

The troubled 26-year-old singer - who was recently photographed emerging from a recording studio with her manager Larry Rudolph - wants to concentrate on her acting career, but is reportedly being pushed to make a new record.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: "Britney wants to focus on her TV and movie career right now. Jive Records and Larry are having trouble getting her to record, so they forced her hand by releasing the photo of her and Larry and a statement saying she is working on a new album this summer."

Earlier this week, Larry revealed Britney was busy recording her new album.

He said in a statement: "She is spending her summer in the recording studio, working on a brand new album. She's working with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters, and we're very excited about what she's accomplished so far. No album release date has been confirmed yet."

Earlier this year, Britney received rave reviews for her two cameo appearances in US TV show How I Met Your Mother, prompting speculation she may return to the role in future episodes.

The mother-of-two also enjoyed success with her 2002 movie Crossroads and was in
negotiations to star as Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard. The role was eventually filled by Britney's pop rival Jessica Simpson.

Britney's last album Blackout was released in October 2007 and proved a hit with both critics and fans.

Source: News 24