news archives

October 31, 2001 - Allpop's Stephanie McGrath reviewed the new Britney Spears album and gave it somewhat mixed reviews. McGrath says "With the exception of the first single, the changes from the old Britney to the new Britney aren't shockingly different, which is why original fans shouldn't be turned off by the album." She warns though this formula makes it unlikely she'll attract a new set of fans. Read more.

October 31, 2001 - CDNow.com has a transcript of the much talked about chat Britney Spears had as well as audio portions. Check out the transcript and listen to about 3 minutes of the call here.

October 31, 2001 - On the heels of many R&B radio stations playing Britney Spears' new single 'Slave 4 U', urban gossip column Jawn's Juice column this week includes the following random thought: "Why are two of the hottest songs at radio from two of pops biggest acts. Aren't N'Sync's 'Gone' and Britney Spears’ 'Slave' so hot?"

October 31, 2001 - Britney Spears has postponed her opening night concert performance in Washington DC that was set for Wednesday citing production delays. The tour will instead kick off in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday.

October 31, 2001 - The Sun reports veteran rocker Alice Cooper beheads a Britney Spears lookalike when she bursts on stage singing Hit Me One More Time during his current US tour. Hopefully this isn't a human lookalike. Strange behavior from a rocker that told Metal-Sludge.com he admits to singing along to Britney tunes insisting, "Who doesn't?" 

October 31, 2001 - Teen People reports Britney Spears is giving high praise to her Crossroads co-star Taryn Manning saying of the actress, "Taryn is one of the most talented up-and-coming stars and a delight to work with. Whatever great [things] come her way are well deserved! And have you heard her sing?"

October 31, 2001 - More details on the Britney Spears press conference as ABC News is reporting the singer told reporters, "When I go on stage, I do my thing and I perform and that's my time to express myself, but when I come off, I trip and I burp and I fart just like everybody else!" Read more.

October 30, 2001 - The Scottish Daily Record reports Charlotte Church has come down on the dress habits of Britney Spears when she was 16. Church says, "I think Britney was a bad role model for 12-year-olds and under. When she was 16 she seemed to behave much older." As for now, she's OK with Britney's wardrobe saying, "Now that she's nearly 20, it's cool to dress the way she does. But at 16, I don't think she was the best role model."

October 30, 2001 - Getmusic.com talked to Michael Jackson wanting to know his impressions of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and he said he was so impressed by the fact the two are 'so determined.' He said 'I've met Britney several times and she's sweet and humble' and compared her to a Barbie doll.

October 29, 2001 - Britney Spears insists she has artistic license to use 'naughty' words in her new album 'Britney' saying, "When I say 'hell' and 'damn,' I say it out of frustration in my songs. It's not, like, a normal term of endearment that I use all the time."

October 28, 2001 - US Weekly reports Britney Spears was spotted bumming 5 dollars from one of her three bodyguards after she and *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake finished dining at P.F. Chang's in Los Angeles.

October 28, 2001 - Eurweb.com's Streetwatch takes a funny look at the decision AOL made to sign up Britney Spears as their 'You've Got Mail" voice. They joke Christina Aguilera would have been a better choice saying, "At least she would've made it fun, shoving all kinds of ill-placed, soulful runs into it, turning the three syllables into 37." Or perhaps Mariah Carey, who's fans "can hear her sing 'You've Got Mail' in a tone only dogs can hear." Read more.

October 26, 2001 - CDNow is reporting additional comments from Britney Spears' press conference Wednesday that took direct aim at BT when asked why his tracks didn't end up on 'Britney'. Spears said, "Actually I was really disappointed that we weren't able to [use] the tracks that BT had done. We had recorded so many songs and he was one of the last people I had recorded with. It might wind up on some of the tracks overseas." Read more.

October 26, 2001 - The Associated Press talked to Ballantine's vice president and director of publicity, Kim Hovey, who denied earlier reports that the disappointing sales of the Britney and Lynne Spears book A Mother's Gift was a factor in pulling out of the Justin Timberlake book deal. Read more.

October 26, 2001 - If you shell out $14.99 for the new Britney CD you can listen to the tracks online ahead of the November 6 release. Of course most people are aware now that the tracks have already made their way onto file swappers and a few MP3 sites as well, but if you are wanting to do it the legal way, go here. Better yet, mymusic.com will have the same album for $9.90.

October 26, 2001 - WENN.com has photos not only of a patriotic Britney Spears cover on Vogue's latest issue, but also a photo of a Britney Spears blow-up doll completely accessorized, though no manufacturer name is given. Check the photos out here. 

October 26, 2001 - Britney Spears will be on the Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday, November 6, the same day her new album drops.

October 26, 2001 - Britney Spears told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday that the new album admittedly is targeting an older audience, but she hasn't forgotten her younger fans. "It's not my intention to leave my young fans," she said. "I couldn't do '... Baby One More Time' number three. I had to change it up and pray people think that's cool." Read more.

October 25, 2001 - IMDB reports Justin Long is being asked by everyone his experience kissing Britney Spears in the pair's upcoming film Crossroads. Long says, "Everyone wants to know what it was like kissing Britney. Even my grandmother wanted to know all about it. Guys I haven't seen for years started calling me up about it. You can imagine what they wanted to know - was Britney a good kisser?" Read more.

October 24, 2001 - Joey Fatone came in to the Howard Stern show this morning to talk about rumored romances, On The Line, Justin and Britney, and *NSYNC, in a short but somewhat revealing interview. Read more.

October 24, 2001 - The New York Daily News reports the seven figure deal *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake scored with Ballantine Books has been nixed by the publisher as they were spooked by poor sales of Britney Spears' booke written with her mother entitled, "A Mother's Gift." Timberlake had been signed on to write "Inside Drive: A Novel of Basketball, Life and Love." As of yet, it's unknown if Justin will seek another publisher to publish the novel.

October 24, 2001 - Carlos Santana, *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion are participating in an all-star, Spanish-language recording of Michael Jackson's "What More Can I Give" ("Todo Para Ti" in Spanish), with proceeds to benefit the survivors and families of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Read more.

October 24, 2001 - Britney Spears tells Star: The Celebrity Magazine that Madonna's daughter Lourdes was starstruck and shy by her presence, a reaction similar to Spears' when she'd met Madonna moments earlier. Britney admitted, "I'm usually so cool when I meet people, but once I was walking into the room I just felt something come over me and I was so nervous." As for Lourdes, Spears says, "Her nanny said that she normally talks a lot, but she was being really quiet and shy." Read more.

October 24, 2001 - According to MSNBC's Jeannette Walls, Britney's grown up image is the reason Lynne's corner on Britney's revamped website was cut out. A source tells her, "There was a conscious decision to leave it off. It’s no longer fitting with Britney’s somewhat slightly naughtier image." Also in Tuesday's column, info on the Mariah Carey trio in 'Don't Stop', which some wonder is in response to the Destiny's Child trio. Walls also has dirt on Michael Jackson using son Prince in his new album, causing some to call him a hypocrite. Read more.

October 24, 2001 - The Daily Record reports German farmers have tried music from Madonna and Robbie Williams to scare off wild boars but it was Britney Spears' music that worked. Read more.

October 23, 2001 - Peoplenews reports Britney Spears and *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake attended a stripshow at the Granville nightclub in Los Angeles with a dozen bodyguards in tow. Witnesses say Spears was wearing a cowboy hat with a bare midriff top and watched open-mouthed at some of the dancer's gyrations. Afterwards, Britney reportedly took in what she saw to give Justin his own strip show.

October 23, 2001 - The Las Vegas Review Journal reports Britney Spears was approached to do an ad spot for the next Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority television commercial, but a rep for the organization said Spears' wanted to do it but had to turn it down for contractual reasons. Had she been able to do the spot, it would have involved her lip-syncing the unreleased Frank Sinatra song "It's Time for You."

October 21, 2001 - The 1 minute plus clips of all the songs off of Britney Spears' new album 'Britney' have reemerged perhaps mistakenly from the servers of Getmusic.com. The Britney page on Getmusic doesn't include these links but they are on a fansite. Check them out here. We'll see how long they last.

October 20, 2001 - Jay Leno again joked about Britney's flu saying in his Friday night monologue, "Finally, Britney Spears has had to postpone the start of her U.S. Tour for five days because she had a small case of the flu. [ Audience aws ] Well, the doctors told Britney to get plenty of rest, lie in bed and do nothing. And today her boyfriend Justin said, 'Hey, she's a virgin. She does that every night.'"

October 20, 2001 - MTV reports Britney Spears will not only have her CD out in November, but a DVD/VHS video called Britney: The Videos. Included on the video are the videos to "I'm a Slave 4 U", "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," and "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know." In addition, there's behind the scene footage and her python performance on the Video Music Awards, not to mention a clip of her upcoming movie "Crossroads", due out February 15, 2002. 

October 20, 2001 - I put together a list of the top female pop stars to try and get a grasp on what people are really looking for during their searches using Overture.com. The best ratio perhaps for a female musician is the nude searches versus lyrics. By far, Britney Spears' ratio of only about 12 searches for lyrics for 100 searches for nude demonstrate the true interest behind the singer. On the opposite end are the likes of Whitney Houston, Dido, and Michelle Branch, where nude searches didn't even make 10% of searches for lyrics. For the full list (including Jessica, Christina, and Mandy) and ratios, read more.

October 20, 2001 - Findwhat.com has the top Britney Spears related searches for the month of September up, and I listed the top 13 misspellings of her name and number of searches as well. The smaller site compared to Overture.com (formerly Goto.com) had 158,679 searches for the term 'Britney Spears' and as with Overture.com, 'Britney Spears nude' got the #2 position with 26,040 searches. Read on for the top misspellings (Brittany Spears is #1) and related searches.

October 20, 2001 - Univision has a story on how Britney and Justin dined in West Hollywood but because of the potential of mentally ill fans, their big bodyguard always accompanies them. Check out the story (in Spanish) and photos of the two kissing here. 

October 20, 2001 - Jay Leno joked about Britney Spears' news of tour date cancellations saying in his monologue on Thursday, "Finally, in other music news, Britney Spears has delayed the start of her U.S. Tour due to a chest cold. [ Laughter ] How frustrating is that, huh? You spend all that money on a new chest, and it gets a cold. Boy, that's a sad thing."

October 19, 2001 - Britney Spears and America Online have formed a strategic alliance where fans who subscribe to the service will be able to get exclusive access to her music and videos, online chats, contests, ticket specials, and more. Read more.

October 19, 2001 - This Star blind item sounds like either Britney or Christina... maybe we'll get the video evidence on the net soon for proof; "This va-va-voom female pop-music star, who already has quite a few body piercings in her visible boy parts, recently had her least visible and most sensitive flesh pierced in a Sunset Boulevard parlor. Seems that the 'operation' and subsequent placing of a one-carat diamond on the unkind cut was caught on the parlor's security cameras - and is shown to parlor patrons who get to see it - if they ask nicely."

October 19, 2001 - Apparently Britney Spears has been spotted again drinking a non Pepsi product, this time she was spotted holding a bottle of Sunkist. A spokesperson for Pepsi admitted, "You don't expect to sign someone to a deal that big and then see them drinking a competitor's brand twice in a month. Words were said to her in the strongest possible terms last month - and I am sure more will be said now. It will be made clear to her she should drink only Pepsi." Note: In Britney's defense, Pepsi just introduced a orange drink called Sierra Mist and it isn't widely available. Coke's orange cola is called Fanta.

October 19, 2001 - E! Online's Ted Cassablanca reports Britney Spears attended a Friday night showing of Serendipity with her bodyguard in Beverly Hills. Britney wore an old sweatshirt and glasses, going practically unnoticed by others at the show. 

October 17, 2001 - Papa Roach's Coby Dick talked to Getmusic.com yesterday in an audio chat and when asked what he thought of Britney Spears he said, "I mean she's good lookin man," adding that he liked the new video since she's all sticky and sweatin', but added "that's about as far as it goes." Coby says he wouldn't mind if Britney got, "A little dirty, nasty, dirty." 

October 17, 2001 - Britney Spears has pushed back the opening to her tour due to suffering the flu. Britney will rest for a week thus pushing the schedule back. Her tour will now begin October 31 in Washington, D.C. For all the changes and additions, read on.

October 17, 2001 - Howard Stern told radio listeners this morning that after watching Britney Spears' new video for 'I'm A Slave 4 U', he now thinks Britney is better looking than rival Christina Aguilera. Stern says it appears Brit's lost most of her baby fat, is in incredible shape, and he sounded pretty impressed with the video, though at no point did he mention either singer's vocal abilities.

October 17, 2001 - Worldpop interviewed Britney Spears and has a video stream for the clip on it's website. Britney talks about her new album, reveals the comments about her and Justin not liking each other's sensual videos, and her new film. Check out the clips here.

October 17, 2001 - Absolute Zero's latest episode features Britney Spears. Hvita and Ozzy advise Britney to drop the 'y' from her name and to have sex with Justin, as well as to redefine her Madonna clone wardrobe. Check out the clip here.

October 16, 2001 - E! fashion host Leon Hall of "Fashion Emergency" with Joan Rivers gave the New York Post his "Leon Hall of Shame," where one of his victims was Britney Spears. Hall said Britney dressed like a "whore, a tart and a tramp."

October 16, 2001 - World Online reports Britney Spears sounding off on *NSYNC's new video for 'Gone' which features Justin Timberlake singing seductively to a beautiful girl. Spears says, "I personally don't like it, seeing him do things like that. I prefer not to watch. He doesn't like seeing me do it either but it's part of what we do. Artistically it brings the video to life." Read more.

October 16, 2001 - Dido held a press conference in New Zealand Monday where she'd performed the night before in Auckland. Dido was asked what was the best and worst rumors about her and she responded, "The best was that I used to be a porn star. It was fantastic, and sadly not true. The worst one is that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are coming to my wedding."

October 16, 2001 - Worldpop interviewed Britney Spears and has a video stream for the clip on it's website. Britney talks about her new album, reveals the comments about her and Justin not liking each other's sensual videos, and her new film. Check out the clips here.

October 16, 2001 - WireImage.com has 129 photos of Britney Spears, all the members of Backstreet Boys (including a blond A.J.), and Sean P. Diddy Combs taking promo photos for Marvin Gaye's What's Going On recording studio session in Culver City, California on Saturday. Check them out here.

October 16, 2001 - News on many of the British gossip sites suggest Britney Spears pulled out of her scheduled performance on the Tonight Show last week not because of the type of music she was performing, but rather because she feared an anthrax attack. The problem with this report is that Britney cancelled well before the reported case at NBC News in NEW YORK, not Los Angeles were the show is taped... The British press only would have had to checked Britney.com [label site] to verify this.

October 15, 2001 - Last night's Weekend Update included the following report from Tina Fey, "Cher announced this week that she would not be performing with Britney Spears on the young pop star's November HBO special, because sadly, Cher has to go back to the shop for repairs. The two stars actually have a special bond, as Britney's breasts are made out of Cher's old nose."

October 14, 2001 - News of The World's Rav Singh has a photo he says is the cover of Britney's new album, and he's also saying Britney is a great actress in her new move. Read more.

October 12, 2001 - WENN is reporting Britney Spears has been offered a part in a sexuel to 'The Lost Boys'. An industry insider revealed, "Bosses want her to star in 'The Lost Girls' -- and she's real keen." Britney would be cast as a vampire in the flick.

October 12, 2001 - Britney.com reports that Britney Spears' planned appearance on the Tonight Show Thursday has been postponed. Rumor has it her management thought that it was not the best time for her to be performing I'm a Slave 4 U, and they're just using her image to promote it. Blink-182 performed last night instead.

October 11, 2001 - Cher won't be appearing on Britney Spears' HBO special on November 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Cher revealed to the New York Post's Liz Smith, "I've told Britney how disappointed I am because I am really looking forward to performing with her. We have been talking about this for over a year." Read more.

October 11, 2001 - The Onion has a look at how entertainment media has changed since September 11 as the U.S. now could give a sh** about Britney Spears' skimpy outfit at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards and the latest Jennifer Lopez news. Read more.

October 11, 2001 - Teenmag.com interviewed Justin Long who stars with Britney Spears new movie, Not a Girl. Justin says of Spears, "Everyone there was so cool, including Britney. It was just like a joy to work on that movie." Justin also hope "people don't have a hard time believing [Britney] as [a dork]." Read more.

October 11, 2001 - Several pop related stories in today's Fox411 with Roger Friedman today. Topping the list is plans for a What More Can I Give?" charity single that appears to be headed to McDonalds, who will sell the single for $2.99 while pledging $30 million to the relief effort for World Trade Center victims and families. Interestingly, Lance Bass said that while Britney Spears will participate, as far as the rest of *NSYNC, he said, "I don't think so. I think Michael was only interested in having Justin to do it with him." Read more.

October 11, 2001 - It appears thievery can get you fame as Sal Martinez, one of the men caught stealing Britney Spears' camcorder, videotape, booze, and cellphone is admitting to the Star after watching the video, "We were bummed out, I won't lie to you." Why, because it wasn't a Tommy Lee/Pam Anderson style sex tape, just video of them pointing at the house they're renting and having dinner with their families. ZZzzzz.... 

October 11, 2001 - Scotty F Word from the dwarf band The Little Kingz, featured in the new Ben Stiller movie Zoolander, tells Metal-Sludge.com he rates Britney Spears a 10 (10 being a hottie).

October 10, 2001 - Worldpop reports Britney Spears is continuing her gushy talk about her boyfriend and *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake, no doubt giving her haters more fuel for criticism. Britney admitted in a recent interview how she envisioned her wedding saying, "I guess I would like an outdoor wedding. Something on the beach, really beautiful, barefoot, y'know. Really simple but perfect." Read more.

October 7, 2001 - THIS RELEASE IS NOT TRUE. Again there are phony claims of Britney Spears dying in a car accident with Justin Timberlake in critical condition. You can see the same method as previously used using the '@' followed by the IP redirects from an non-CNN site. You can check out this hoax here. You'll notice at the bottom, "Copyright 2001 The Disassociated Press." Clicking the link brings you to the message stating, "This page is by the Disassociated Press It it a work of social parody for research purposes. CNN is a copyright of AOL Time Warner. Britney Spears is probably a copyright of the RIAA and is not dead.For comments and research results, email britney_page@hotmail.com."

October 7, 2001 - News of the Worlds' Rav Singh reports Eminem and Britney Spears have been meeting in LA bars several times in the past few months and have become friends.

October 7, 2001 - Univision reports Britney Spears has admitted to a Columbian television station a desire to work with Colombian singer Shakira. Britney admits, "I would like to work with Shakira, I know that we would be understood and we danced very well, in addition we would conquer all the public because she would sing in Spanish and I in English." Read more.

October 6, 2001 - Britney Spears' official website reports that her new enhanced CD, 'Britney' will include an "exclusive performance" of Spears' new tune 'Overprotected', along with a sneak preview of her debut film scheduled for release in 2002. 'Britney' is scheduled for a November 6 release.

October 5, 2001 - Confidential reports PepsiCo's marketing director Darren Borg was concerned over the photo of Britney Spears holding an empty Coke bottle during an outing on Sydney Harbour. Borg revealed, "We understand there's a photo which has a competitor's product in the vicinity of Britney. We are not comfortable about the fact that that photo is out there." 

October 5, 2001 - The latest Popbitch.com reports a problem in translation with Britney's upcoming hit, "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," as in Chinese, it translates to, "I have bled, but have not yet been penetrated."

October 4, 2001 - Peoplenews is reporting that Britney Spears has revealed new thoughts about her boyfriend Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC as she admits, "Nothing can describe our relationship. 'Words can't express how we are. What I have with him is so secret and special." Read more.

October 4, 2001 - The Associated Press talked to Okaloosa County sheriff's spokesman Rick Hord concerning the contents of the stolen videotape from the Destin vacation home of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake where he revealed, "The tapes were very boring." Read more.

October 4, 2001 - Univision talked to an executive at Pepsi, Bart Casabona, who told them the company is declaring in regards to a photograph in Australia showing Britney Spears holding an empty bottle of Coke, "Our official declaration is that we do not have knowledge of that." Read more.

October 4, 2001 - Sky News reports Britney Spears has admitted she doesn't want to end up like Mariah Carey, who she calls a pop diva "who believed her own hype." Britney said of Mariah's breakdown, "I think that sometimes stars start believing they are a goddess or that they are this god-like figure." Read more.

October 3, 2001 - Universal Music Group, The EMI Group, Sony Music and Zomba Music are jointly releasing "NOW That's What I Call Christmas!" which will feature several artists from past and present, including Britney and *NSYNC on a 2 disc album. Read more.

October 3, 2001 - The Federal Trade Commission is tracking down a suburban Philadelphia businessman it says has scammed tens of thousands of consumers by trapping them on Web sites and bombarding them with advertisements for everything from gambling to pornography. John Zuccarini has registered 41 Web addresses with variations in the spelling of Britney Spears in order to lure visitors to a barrage of pop-up advertisements. Read more.

October 3, 2001 -  According to the Las Vegas Review Journal's Norm Clarke, Britney Spears is considering shooting her 3rd video from the 'Britney' album at the Bellagio fountains in Vegas. The video could be shot in conjunction with her HBO special performance in November when she plays there at the MGM Grand. 

October 3, 2001 - WorldofBritney.com has 100 photos of Britney Spears performing 'The Way You Make Me Feel' at the Michael Jackson anniversary concert in New York. As we reported earlier, Britney's performance cannot be broadcast because of contractual agreements with HBO, though there's little doubt in my mind that CBS/MTV will release it as a video of some sort after the 30 day contractual period expires. Check out the photos here.

October 1, 2001 - Digital Island has two unreleased tracks by Britney Spears on its website including Heart and You Got It. The two songs were released on the Oops... Japanese bonus track CD. Check them out here. Also, check out an interview with Britney here. Basically, the site has every song and several of Britney's videos you can sift through here.

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