Britney Spears has been wisely testing the waters all weekend by performing overseas before bringing her lip-syncing show back to America. On Thursday she performed at a German awards show before hitting up a French talent competition on Friday and the UK's X Factor on Saturday (clip above). When asked to give advice to the X Factor contestants, Brit wisely suggested, "Just keep doing it." Here's an idea: Let's not ask Britney Spears for advice. She still has a long way to go. Her "Womanizer" performance is leaps and bounds better than the VMA disaster of '07, but it's nothing to write home about.
Just when you start to feel sorry for motherless Kanye West, he has to go off on another one of his deranged tangents about things of no importance whatsoever. This time around, his anger is directed at the MTV Video Music Awards — one of the most legitimate and respected musical events of the year. Except, you know, not.
You see, Kanye thinks these awards shows — both in America and Europe — are "fixed," and he's not OK with the winners of this year's crop:
Britney Spears over Rihanna? Are you serious? I mean f—ing Jared Leto? He's my boy but he shouldn't have won over some of those other artists. I won nothing last year and I'd brought out 'Stronger.' Then this year, just because I was there, I won best urban act. This was Lil Wayne's year.
Yeah, imbeciles! You don't have any respect for the sacred MTV VMAs. Lil Wayne should have won, after all those times he walked through the airport with ice on his knees and his pants around his ankles. That takes dedication! Sheesh, effing squid brains.
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Last night the stars and publicists aligned to bring the world what it has so desperately needed for five years: a Britney Spears-Madonna reunion. The last time the two appeared together onstage was during the 2003 MTV VMAs, where they kissed. Maybe you heard about it?
Anyhoo, this performance of "Human Nature" was incredibly lame — all Brit did was awkwardly bounce around while lip-syncing a couple lines here and there. And then it was over. Brilliant, ladies. Brilliant.
You have to hand it to Lindsay Lohan: The girl is persistent. After sending a text to Debbie Phelps in which she claimed Michael was "f–king amazing," LiLo attempted to appear with him onstage at the MTV VMAs. (Um, hello? Samantha Ronson?) There was one small problem: Disney brat Miley Cyrus also wanted in on the Phelps love, according to a source who introduced a new vocabulary word.
It was nightmate. Both Lindsay and Miley were wildly excited at the prospect of waltzing on-stage with Michael, so producers proposed draping one on each arm — but the girls did not want to be with each other and neither would back down!
It was nightmate?! Wow, this is worse than we thought. Of course, as we all saw, Michael did his bit alone, sans any annoying starlets. Nightmate averted.
Lil' Wayne, who gave one of the more memorable VMA performances this weekend thanks to his inability to keep his pants on, seems to be quite the diva: The troubled rapper, who has a history of run-ins with the law that doesn't quite rival that of DMX, reportedly refused to take the stage at Friday night's "Fashion Rocks" event because he didn't want his bag checked by security. So he bailed, which then led to him changing his mind and being a pain in the ass for the rest of the night.
Click through for the full entertaining story, as told by a senior production staffer.
Despite the fact that most Americans have no idea who he is, Russell Brand was a great host for the MTV VMAs because he got people talking. True, it was at the expense of the Jonas Brothers, but that's OK because Brand kinda sorta apologized but not really:
I feel a bit bad that I kept talking about their vows to chastity, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say: No one ever have sex again. It’s a mad idea. What a crazy way to spend an evening.
Other post-show gems include his theory that Lil Wayne is from another world and "he has a message for us all." Perhaps that message has something to do with pants.
[Source]
This pains us. Really, it does. The video that we are bringing to you (after the jump) contains disturbing images of a disgusting sloth making out with his dog and farting on camera. Seems Perez Hilton had a little too much champagne at last night's VMAs and felt the urge to ramble about his thoughts, which included "YOU ARE PEREZ-CIOUS" and other inane phrases. Also, he got a little too excited about Jordin Sparks being "punk rock" and let out a gas explosion.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why you shouldn't drink and vlog. CONTINUED »
• Can you sense the Fashion Week excitement? [ICYDK]
• Ruh roh: Alec Baldwin takes on the Scientologists. This is not going to end well. [INO]
• There's a reason Hef's bunnies are blonde. [HT]
• Things went horribly wrong at an Oasis concert, of all places. [DListed]
• Doing the impossible: Finding the 10 best moments of last night's VMAs. [Yeeeah]
• Both Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt showed up for the Toronto Film Festival. Everyone survived. [PS]
We can only hope that after this photo was taken Britney Spears told the Jonas Brothers to run for their lives. If there's anything interesting about the VMAs, it's the interactions behind the scenes between stars who would normally never speak to each other. For more audience and backstage photos, click through. CONTINUED »
The MTV VMAs are finally upon us, and I don't mind being the only one to admit that I'll be watching them from home tonight with my cat and perhaps a cupcake or two. This is good news for you, dear readers, because you can have a life and skip the circus while I liveblog the entire fiasco for your enjoyment. And if you do end up watching, you can suffer right along with me. CONTINUED »
It's about time a Britney stalker captured footage of the singer rehearsing for either her VMA non-performance or an upcoming tour. We're hoping it's the former, because she looks surprisingly awesome and it would be great progress to triumphantly return to the same stage where just one year ago she publicly humiliated herself. The dancing is great, the song sounds acceptable and her body looks as good as it did pre-babies. Her hair, of course, could use the magic of Ken Paves, but there's still time.
Kanye West decided to lay off the MacBook Air just in time for the MTV VMAs, despite the fact that he promised last year he would never be returning to the show. If you forgot his glorious meltdown, we brought back the YouTube video, at left. Anyway, after screaming "F–k MTV!" and vowing never to return, Kanye announced that he would be performing at the end of Sunday night's show. Wow, Kanye. You really showed them.
We thought Larry Rudolph put an end to the rumors about Britney Spears performing at this weekend's VMAs, but MTV won't shut up about it. According to the network, Brit will be opening the show, but "it is not a performance."
OK, so what does that even mean? Will she be paraded out with Russell Brand at the beginning of the show and then immediately escorted off the stage? Will she be allowed to speak? We don't quite understand how one can "open" a show without a performance, but that's where you come in: What do you think Britney's VMA opener will entail?
[Source]
• A video of a video of Amy Winehouse doing drugs. Someone put too much effort into something everyone's seen before. [Yeeeah]
• Christopher Nolan hopes Cher can ruin the Batman franchise. [ICYDK]
• Some people still find Paris Hilton attractive. Why? [HT]
• This is actually quite frightening: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes stand next to each other in identical jeans. [DListed]
• Ryan Seacrest shatters America's dreams of a Britney Spears VMA comeback. [PS]
• The paparazzi are no longer interested in John Mayer. Poor thing — it must be devastating to lose all of your friends. [INO]
An online ticketing venue is recruiting Jonas Brothers fans (that's going to be a difficult task) to be a part of the band's outdoor VMA performance — and to sweeten the deal, fans are promised "the Top-Secret Finale Performance" (in all caps, of course). Except we have a feeling what this big secret is, and everybody knows about it. Thanks, Kim Vo.
[Source]
BECAUSE NOTHING SAYS 'CHIC' LIKE A SIDE PONY "Kim Vo … told E! News exclusively that he just may be creating three VMA looks for [Britney Spears]. … The first look would obviously be for the red carpet. Vo says he and Brit are still 'feeling out' ideas about how that will look. The second style would be for the show itself, probably something 'more chic, like a side ponytail.' And look No. 3 would be for her PERFORMANCE! That’s right, we said performance. For such an event, Vo and Brit want something 'more quintessential Britney.'"
After much speculation, inside sources are confirming that Britney Spears will once again grace the stage of the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 7. According to friends, Brit is extremely focused this time around and wants to be taken seriously:
She is as nervous as hell but at the same time itching to get back in front of the same audience where she screwed up so badly last time. It is the perfect platform for her to announce to her fans and the world that the dark days are behind her and she’s back on track with her life and her career. She really wants to do this, despite the jitters.
We're not quite on board with this idea — she should really be taking baby steps — but MTV would be insane to not jump on this publicity opportunity. Americans love seeing comebacks, but even more than that they love seeing someone fail miserably. Win-win.
[Source]
Britney Spears' VMA promos, featuring host Russell Brand and the elephant in the room, have hit the Web. The scenes were reportedly improvised, which means Brit actually formed words on her own. Small victories.
Click through for the second clip. CONTINUED »
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