Britney Spears
Author: Sarah Pearce Britney Spears
"Oops, I did it again/I played with your heart…," smirks the cheeky, sexy Spears. But is it really an innocent faux pas? With the debut and platinum catapult to success of her first album, Baby One More Time, Spears was the school girl with sex appeal…and the singing/dancing star at the top of the pop charts. Innocent, cute, but Lolita-esque at best. So the information begins…or, that is, the rumors take up housing in her high-profile life: she's only seventeen (read: still a minor), and she has had breast implants. The publicity has begun!
Next, with only three years (and many best-sellers and awards) to her credit, Britney drops the maulable baby doll persona, drops a few more yards of material, and picks up a giant albino snake to writhe about with for her performance at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, and picks up slack from PETA.
Next, a Razzie Award for worst actress ever later, Britney's painful separation from Justin Timberlake exposes the possibility of infidelity on her part. Britney opens a restaurant; it closes a year later. Britney goes into hiding for a bit—fueling fires of chat about her loss of pop princess status…. Britney tongues Madonna, and sparks of media coverage resuscitate….
Britney then marries a boy from her childhood years, the marriage getting annulled three days later. Two months beyond this, she gets engaged to Kevin Federline, divorced father of two at 26 years old. Within six months, Spears is married; three smash (and a few not so) hits, a moderately successful fragrance, and a crashing five-episode reality show failure later, Britney gives birth to baby Sean Preston Federline.
And though Britney has purportedly an "Original Doll" album in the making, clearly suggesting her awareness that her Lolita image is what works (or worked best), it is that image that has incurred the disdain of many: Governor Robert Ehrlich's wife, First Lady Kendel, would "like to shoot Britney Spears;" is questioned as a fit role model; and is, of course, likened to Madonna—though she is far less the savvy and knowledgeable one, and cannot claim anywhere near the struggles and creative challenges Madonna has earned the right to.
So, consider the latest kinds of coverage on Britney Spears: first, while a star-search online usually yields a Wikipedia entry on page one of Google, for example, when you search for Britney Spears, the wiki entry shows up half way down page two. Hmmm. Next, in the latest edition of Us Weekly (which is generous with Jessica Simpson shots or plastered with Angelina Jolie articles and features), the items that appear on Brit involve
1) a photo of her in a food-stained dress, which she wore, Us said, on March 14; 2) a photo of her coming out of a gas station bathroom sans shoes, August 04 [also shown in earlier grocery store rags, btw];
3) a photo of her standing on July 04 on a Ritz-Carlton balcony fondling her mate Kevin Federline's crotch; and a one-paragraph dossier of sorts, with a three quarter page photo of Spears walking with Federline—the paragraph a discussion of her wanting Kevin back if he would only quit smoking cigarettes AND pot…for the sake of the baby.
But where are the shots of the baby? In that same issue, motherhood (and father hood) is a predominant theme—a three-paged bit is done on Angelina Jolie, featuring a full-paged and an additional inset photo of Jolie with newly adopted Zahara; centerfold "Mommy & Me" photographs appear with Liv Tyler, Kate Moss, and Denise Richards hanging out with their kids; and in "The Stars are Just Like Us!" we even see monumental stars like the great Dustin Hoffman taking his son to a NY Nicks game.
So is lack of baby evidence to protect the baby as well? Is it to protect and endure Britney's teeny-bopper image? Is it to protect the hearts of the wishful thinking fans who fantasize being with Britney without baby or happily married mate in tow? It may be we will never know, as the line between popularity (candid, serendipitous coverage) and publicity (intentional stagings) is paper thin.
Unlike, say, pop diva Janet Jackson, whose publicity stunts are either passed off as bloopers or feigned "secret", Britney Spears seems to be a relatively innocuous target who doesn't use much more than a mock marriage or a crotch-grab to sell covers. But then, maybe she has us all fooled.
Britney Spears is a famous American pop performer best known for her singing, songwriting and dancing. She is the only woman to have ever released four albums that debuted at number one on the charts. She has also starred in a number of reality television shows, has written two books, and has starred in a feature length movie.
Britney Jean Spears was born on December 2nd, 1981 in McComb, Mississippi to parents Jamie Spears, a building contractor, and Lynne Bridges, a grade school teacher. She spent most of her childhood growing up in Kentwood, Louisiana.
Even as a young girl, Britney seemed destined for life as a performer. She sang in church choirs and danced in local shows, and at age of 8 had an audition for Disney's New Mickey Mouse Club, but was too young to be accepted at that time.
Over the next several years she spent her summers attending the Professional Performing Arts School Center in New York, and performed in a series of off-Broadway productions. In 1992 she appeared on the show 'Star Search', but did not win. After this, she made another audition for the Disney show and this time was accepted. She appeared on the show in 1993 and 1994, along with Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.
Britney's musical career began when she recorded a demo album and was signed on with label Jive Records. She toured the United States and performed in concerts sponsored by U.S. teen magazines, and eventually joined the group NSYNC by becoming their opening act. During her time with NSYNC, she began dating Justin Timberlake.
Her first single of her own, 'Baby One More Time', toped charts and stormed across radio stations around the country toward the end of 1998. The resulting music video that aired on MTV displayed her dressed in the revealing and seductive clothes she would become known for. Though many people were upset with her new racy style, the video and her music career were off to an enormous success.
Britney Spears' first full-length album, named after her single, debuted at number one in North America, and with over 14 million copies shipped to date, is the best selling album ever made by a teenager. In the next five years, Britney released three more albums all of which would also debut at number one, and would spawn several songs that would top charts around the world.
In 2002 she starred in the movie 'Crossroads', which was only moderately successful, and also made an appearance in the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Around this time her relationship with Timberlake came to an end. In 2004, she married her childhood friend Jason Allen Alexander in Las Vegas, and the marriage was annulled fifty-five hours later. She remarried in 2004 to the dancer Kevin Federline, to whom she is still married today. The couple had there first son, Sean Preston Federline, born in the latter half of 2005.
Though starting a family has slowed her career down slightly, her music is still popular and widely sold around the world.
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