(Reporting and writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

As she works on her comeback, singer Britney Spears awaits the release of her album “Circus” on Dec. 2. But fans can start delving into the album now with the release of extended segments from six “Circus” songs that were posted on Thursday at the Web site of New York radio station 103.5 KTU.

One of the songs, “Womanizer,” was already released in September, and another song “Kill The Lights” turned up on the Web site YouTube this week, then was taken down within hours and later reposted. With lyrics that include the words “Mr. Photographer, I think I’m ready for my close up tonight,” the song is a clear reference to her paparazzi-filled life. The video posted online for the song features images of Spears pole-dancing, demonstrating that Spears shows no signs of changing gears from the sex-fueled persona that helped shoot her to pop stardom.
    
Other songs included in the nearly 8-minute segment posted on Thursday at KTU’s Web site were: “Circus,” “Out from Under,” “If U Seek Amy” and “Unusual You.”
    
It remains to be seen how far the album “Circus” will propel Spears as she seeks to make a career comeback from the public meltdown she suffered in 2007 and early 2008. Since the album will be released on her birthday, the singer stands a chance to give herself an outsized present if “Circus” is a hit.

 So the rumors of a Madonna-orchestrated Britney and Justin reunion were true… kinda.  The former teen sweethearts both performed with the Material Girl during her Thursday night concert in L.A.’s Dodger Stadium, but not together.

In fact, there was at least an hour between their respective appearances, so it’s anybody’s guess whether they even ran into each other backstage.

Brit was first to emerge, joining Madonna early in the night to sing the the last few bars of “Human Nature.” The two women embraced at the end of the performance to wild screams from the crowd, at which point Britney promptly marched offstage. Truth be told, Britney’s performance was so short that if you had blinked you might have missed it.

JT, on the other hand, at least hung out for an entire song. He joined Madonna for “4 Minutes,” a song from her latest album that he co-wrote and produced.

Both Britney and Justin elicited big roars from the audience, but the biggest screams of the night came when the massive screens at the back of the stage flashed images of President-elect Barack Obama. Madonna told the audience that Obama’s victory was a big reason to celebrate, but she also expressed her disappointment that California voters, at the same time, had approved a ban on same-sex marriages.

“If we got an African American in the White House, then we can have gay marriages,” Madonna told the crowd.

Britney Spears and former teen sweetheart Justin Timberlake are apparently headed for a very public reunion — at the Madonna concert in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Los Angeles radio DJ Ryan Seacrest, who seems to know everyone in Hollywood, told listeners on his show that Britney and Justin are “going to be onstage performing with Madonna at some point”.

“At Dodger Stadium Madonna - and if Justin and Britney end up onstage with her - I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like that before,” Seacrest said.

Madonna, who is in Southern California on her “Sticky and Sweet” world tour, has close relationships with both Britney and Justin, who were one of Hollywood’s hottest young teen couples until a bitter breakup  in 2002

Madonna enjoyed a steamy kiss with Spears in a controversial live performance in 2003 on the MTV Video Music Awards, and she sang with Timberlake on her “4 Minutes” single and video earlier this year.

The trial of Britney Spears for driving without a license has ended, and even though the singer failed to win a not guilty verdict, she nearly got its legal equivalent with a hung jury, the prosecutors’ decision not to seek a retrial and the judge’s dismissal of the charge. 
    
But it didn’t come easy – or cheap — as most misdemeanor cases do. And it begs the question of why so much money was spent to try Britney for driving without a license.

Prosecutors have said the case only came to trial because Spears and her legal team refused a plea bargain – unlike the overwhelming majority of defendants in her situation. Prosecutor Michael Amerian had said the city offered Spears a year of probation and a $150 fine, or no probation and a $1,000 fine.

But if convicted Spears would have had a misdemeanor on her record, and the pop star did not want that, said her defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan. 

So, the case went to trial.

How much money was spent to try the once-troubled singer who got popped by the cops for driving without a license?

Allan Parachini, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Superior Court, said it’s impossible to put a price tag on one day of court work. But he said the cost includes the salary for a judge, a court reporter, a bailiff and a clerk.

From jury selection through hung jury, the trial of Britney took roughly four days.

Attorney Flanagan said he racked up so much time on the case he stopped billing Spears by the hour.  After the trial, he joked that his fees to Spears are “probably a world record” for a driver’s license case. He told Reuters the amount ended up being the same as what he would charge on a vehicular manslaughter case, even though no one died. He did not give an exact price. 
    
Flanagan also claimed Amerian pursued the case for political reasons. ”The prosecutor wanted a little attention, he’s running for city attorney,” Flanagan said. 

But last week Amerian said he filed his papers to run for public office in March, well after Spears was charged. “We have never at any time treated this case differently because the defendant is Britney Spears,” he said. 

One thing we do know for certain — other than Spears was cleared – is that she now has a California license, her attorney said. So, she should be able to avoid a repeat this past week’s events! Still, one wonders, was it all worth it?

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

 The trial of Britney Spears on a relatively minor charge of driving without a California license finally got under way on Thursday.

 But finding an unbiased jury in a case in which virtually everyone in Los Angeles knows, or knows of, the  26 year-old pop star took almost as long as the trial itself is expected to last.

 The process began on Wednesday and Spears’  lawyer J. Michael Flanagan said some jurors probably had confused ideas about the case against Spears.
    
“Half the people think she’s been charged with driving under the influence or drunk driving, drugs, and all this kind of stuff,” Flanagan told reporters. “People think they know about this case but they don’t, really.”
    
One teacher in the pool of potential panelists said in court that she disliked “rich, spoiled girls,” and would have a hard time being unbiased toward Spears.
    
 Asked if any of them knew Spears personally, another woman said she knew the singer’s  manager, and was quickly  dismissed from the jury.
    
Flanagan said the trial itself was expected to take only a few hours.  Spears herself has stayed away from the trial, exercising her right not to appear, because the case against her is a misdemeanor instead of a more serious felony case.
    
(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Britney Spears is making her comeback — again. First step: release a catchy single. And so, on Friday Britney’s song “Womanizer” finally hit airwaves, four days after its scheduled release and a week after a snippet was leaked.
    
The song is an upbeat if slightly repetitive electropop number lasting about 3:40. It comes off Spears’ album “Circus,” which is set to be released on her 27th birthday on Dec. 2. The song was produced by The Outsyders, a group based in Atlanta.
    
It has lyrics that include: “You say I’m crazy/ I got your crazy/You’re nothing but a womanizer” In the song’s chorus, Britney sings, “Boy, don’t try to front/I-I know just-just what you are/Womanizer, you’re a womanizer, baby.”
    
It remains to be seen what Britney’s fans think of the song, but it’s definitely catchy. In a snap judgment, the Los Angeles Times music blog Soundboard reached the conclusion that “Britney is back. She actually seems to be awake this time.”

Last year in late August, Britney released a song, “Gimme More,” which was also billed as a “comeback” tunes after months of Britney finding herself making headlines for erratic behavior. At that time, she was embroiled in a bitter custody battle over her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

She sang “Gimme More” at the MTV Video Music Awards in September ‘07, but was  panned by fans and critics. By January of this year, she found herself in a Los Angeles-area hospital under psychiatric evaluation.

But since February, after her father and lawyers took control of her affairs, Britney has seemed to be on the mend. In fact, at this year’s MTV VMAs, Britney won three awards for her song, “Piece of Me.”

So one wonders: could this “comeback” be the real deal.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Radio stations were supposed to start playing Britney Spears’ new single “Womanizer” on Monday. But instead the pop star’s record label pushed back the release by a week. 
    
The last minute delay comes after a 37-second segment of “Womanizer” was leaked and played on the Web site of a Nashville, Tennessee, radio station on Friday. The leak had a short life that day, as Spears’ record label, Zomba Label Group/Jive Records, told the station to take the song off its site.
    
Wendy Washington, a spokeswoman for the record company, said on Monday that the single’s release was pushed back.
    
“Yes, the mix is being finalized and is expected to be done within a week,” Washington said.
    
The leaked segment of “Womanizer” was not an immediate hit with commentators on the Web. The site Hollyscoop.com said the fake song “Candy From Strangers,” posted online last week by a Spears impostor, was more catchy than the leaked song from Spears herself.
    
The single is off Spears’ album “Circus,” which is scheduled to be released on the pop star’s 27th birthday on Dec. 2.
    
Spears has a lot riding on the album, because after a turbulent public meltdown last year she appears to have gotten her life back on track, giving her the chance to make what could be the biggest comeback in years in the rollercoaster music business. 
 (Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)    
     
    

 Was it Britney, or wasn’t it?
    
Two songs that sounded like new work from the revitalized pop princess circulated briefly on the Internet this week, but only one of them was real.

Less than 40 seconds of a song called “Womanizer” made its way to the Web site for Nashville, Tennessee, radio station 107.5 The River on Friday  – but it was soon taken down.

 It appeared a couple of days after ”Candy From Strangers” circulated online, with a vocal track that some commentators said sounded deceptively like Spears.

Wendy Washington, a spokeswoman for Zomba Label Group/Jive Records, said the leaked preview of “Womanizer” was a Spears song and not a fake.  It is the first single off her upcoming new album  “Circus” and is expected to be released to radio stations on Monday.

“A radio rep played a rough mix of ‘Womanizer’ over the phone for a Nashville radio station, 37 seconds of this rough mix was recorded by someone at the radio station and that is what this leak contains,” Washington said in a statement. 
     
Spears, 26, is climbing back after a public meltdown that dominated show business headlines for much of the past 18 months, but last week she won three trophies at the MTV Video Music Awards.  
    
(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

 The drama is not over yet for Britney Spears.

 More than a year after being charged for driving without a California license, authorities have set an Oct. 15 trial date for the pop singer on the relatively minor offence.

 It’s always possible that case could be settled before then, but so far that has not happened — prompting speculation on the Internet that Spears is being treated harsher than most in her situation.
    
 Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the L.A. City Attorney’s Office,  said those facing the same charge as Spears typically settle the case by agreeing to probation and a fine.
    
 ”We’re just looking for a fair outcome to this case. If they want to take it to trial then that’s where we’ll go,” Mateljan said, referring to Spears’ legal team. “We’re treating it like any other case.”
    
 The case stems from an Aug. 6, 2007, incident in which Spears scuffed another car in a parking lot as she was being trailed by dozens of paparazzi at a time when she was going through a very public meltdown. 

 She had a driver’s license from her home state of Louisiana and obtained one in October 2007 for California, as well as reaching an out of court settlement with the person whose car she hit.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Lynne Spears has taken much of the blame for the recent woes of daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn, both in her memoir “Through the Storm” and in a television interview.

“As a mother, don’t we always blame ourselves?” she said. “I took a lot of the blame. I took all the blame. The personality I have, it’s always my fault.”

Lynne has been heavily criticized lately for everything from being a pushy stage mom, profiting from her daughters’ fame, bad parenting when Jamie Lynn got pregnant at 16, and appearing to sit on the sidelines while Britney was shaving her head, attacking paparazzi with umbrellas and making a hash of raising her two young boys.

But is she being too hard on herself?  It wasn’t Lynne who had unprotected sex with her teen boyfriend. Nor did Lynne decide to have two babies within 12 months and then find she had taken on more than she could cope with.

When should kids start taking responsibility for themselves? And what about their fathers? Little has been said about recovering alcoholic Jamie Spears and his role in the phenomenal rise and fall of two daughters.  Jamie Spears, now divorced from Lynne, has stepped up his role this year, taking control of Britney’s business affairs and winning much of the credit for her stunning return to something more like the pop star she was five years ago.

But why do moms always get the blame?