Britney Spears? Lip-synching? “Whateverrrr” as the pop princess might put it herself.

Britney has been lip-synching her way through her “comeback” world tour for the past six months, so it’s a bit of a mystery why it’s caused such a fuss in Australia.

As singer John Mayer , who has been in Australia promoting his own album, put it in a wry weekend tweet,  “If you’re shocked that Britney was lip-synching at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you.”

Britney’s not the first performer to lip-synch during fast-paced, live song-and-dance performances, and she’s certainly not the last — even classical musicians Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman played to a recording at President Barack Obama’s outdoor inauguration in the bitter January weather.

But the practice seems to be news to some Australian politicians, who are suggesting that tickets should carry a disclaimer about whether parts of concerts are pre-recorded or mimed.

Britney’s fans — in Australia and elsewhere — are coming out in support of their idol, whose slick “Circus” tour went around the United States before going Down Under.

“oh my god Britney i’m so embarrassed by how Australia has treated you since you arrived in our country. You have been nothing but slammed and put down since arriving and it’s pathetic. I’m from Australia and my entire family is beyond inspired by yourself, your music, your life and your morals,” wrote one fan, Katie D, on the official Britney Spears website.

So if most fans seem happy, does it matter anymore whether Britney, or anyone else, lip-synchs at “live” concerts? After all, as Britney sings on the title track of her latest album “I’m runnin’ this like-like-like a circus.”

Or are audiences at pop concerts getting short-changed after sometimes handing over more than $100 for a ticket?

Break out the flashing devil horns and industrial-strength earplugs. AC/DC will return to North America in the summer for the second leg of their “Black Ice” world tour.

The Anglo-Australian hard rockers on Monday announced the first nine dates of the trek, which begins July 28 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., about 22 miles southwest of Boston.
    Other dates include:
    July 31 - East Rutherford, NJ (Giants Stadium);
    Aug. 16 - Detroit (Palace of Auburn Hills)
    Aug. 18 - Grand Rapids, Mich. (Van Andel Arena)
    Aug. 30 - Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Wash. (Tacoma Dome)
    Sept. 2 - San Jose, Calif. (HP Pavilion)
    Sept. 4 - Los Angeles (Staples Center)
    Sept. 6 - San Diego (Sports Arena)
    Sept. 8 - Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)

The world tour began on Oct. 28 in Wilkes Barre, Pa., and AC/DC played 43 mostly sold-out shows through the end of the first leg in Nashville on Jan. 31. The band’s European swing kicked off in Oslo on Feb. 18, with dates on tap through June 30 in Glasgow.

AC/DC is touring to promote its first album in eight years, “Black Ice,” which debuted at No. 1 in 29 countries last October. It has sold 2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Australian director Baz Luhrmann may not have his own Academy Award, but he joked on Friday that he secretly pretends using two Oscars won by his wife, set and costume designer Catherine Martin.

“Just for the record I do sneak in and grab the Oscars … run around with them … but she never knows I touch them,” he joked at the “G’Day USA” dinner in New York City on Friday where the director was being honoured by his homeland.

“I like to think of my incredible creative partner as a nominating machine,” said Luhrmann – who was nominated for an Oscar for “Moulin Rouge” in 2002 — after Martin received her fourth Oscar nomination this week for her work on “Australia.” Luhrmann, who directed “Australia,” was left out.

Luhrmann was honored at the dinner at the Waldorf Astoria by actress Nicole Kidman, who recalled her own memories of meeting her husband, country star Keith Urban, at a “G’day USA” event in Los Angeles.

“Four years ago I was honored at a similar event in Los Angeles and a young musician, very talented musician was being honored that night too, and I had never heard of him,” Kidman said. “Now I have heard of him and I have to say I owe a lot to this event.”

“G’day USA” is an annual week long celebration to promote Australia in the United States.

This past week, veteran Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein has kicked up a fuss in Hollywood by saying that Oscar winner Nicole Kidman is not a true Hollywood star. By Goldstein’s reckoning — and he wrote about it extensively in this past Saturday’s newspaper — Kidman’s box office appeal is not strong enough to label her a true star.

In fact, while Kidman is hounded by paparazzi around the world and regularly graces the cover of many a celebrity magazine, her movies have stumbled at box offices in recent years. The most recent example is epic “Australia,” which has taken in only $31 million in about two weeks in U.S. movie theaters.

But is being a “star” only about box office? What about style? What about glamour? What about the ability to command a presence when walking into a room? It can’t only be about money. Or, can it?