Britney Spears shaves her head

[Nev]

I'm probably late on this, but...I'm finally giving in to the urge to follow celebrity news. This is particularly an unexpected piece of it...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/feat ... pears.html

Teh WTF!!!!

[Eric]

Is that true? Has it been confirmed it was her? O_o

That's...nuts...she's goin through that "star with massive issues phase" heh.

[Lox]

Yeah, she did it. I saw a photo on TV. That girl is certifiable now, I think.

[Ishamael]

It's her, but I'm gonna go the other way on this one...I think people are making too big a deal about it.

[Julius Seeker]

The media seems to be making a big deal about it, but regular people are just kind of like "really? oh, ok...."

[Nev]

I sort of like it, actually. Britney the punker!

But she's going to catch hell over it, probably...

[Lox]

I rather wish people would just ignore all of her little media-grabbing stunts altogether and let her fade away.

[Nev]

Not going to happen. She's still hot, and still talented, and if her next album is any good you're going to be condemned to at least two or three more years of her.

I really need to get up on that backup dancer/marrying Britney thing, though. K-Fed is going to get an awful lot of money that was supposed to have my name on it!

[Lox]

Hot??? Have you seen her in the last 2 years? I thought she was hot before the whole K-Fed marriage/having babies thing. Not anymore though.

[Nev]

Says she got her head shaved in Sherman Oaks...I used to live there.

Time for me to swoop her up on the rebound!

[Julius Seeker]

K-Fed didn't get a whole lot out of her multi-million dollar fortune. They had a pre-nup which limits him to gifts under $5,000 dollars, and $300,000 for every two years they were together (their marriage was two years long). I guess he also got a portion of their house sale and custody of the kids as well unless I am mistaken.

[Nev]

Er, I'll take it.

[Tessian]

Nev you've got issues worse than Brittany if you still think she's hot.

Once she married K-fed she reverted back into the dirty ugly slob white trash that she used to be.

Oh and in case no one heard-- she's in rehab now over this. They won't say for what, just that she's "in rehab." Family had some intervention or something.

[Nev]

Britney's sold millions of records and made a lot of people throughout the world very happy through her music. She has a lot of fans, and now she's going through a hard time.

I shaved my head around her age, in a really rough psychological period of my life. I don't hold her problems against her.

I would hazard a guess that drug use makes someone less of a person in your eyes, Tessian. Is that true?

[bovine]

I shave my head because I get bored of having hair. Sometimes I'll do it once a year or maybe less, but hair is just so trivial. Maybe Ms.Spears just got bored of her hair.... and maybe I feel like I'm wasting my time by talking about this, but I do have an essay to write and in reverting to my true form I must procrastinate in any way possible including writing and talking about the lives of celebrities.

[Tessian]

I didn't know we were even discussing drug use...while I'll never touch the stuff or understand why someone would, I can sympathize. I am actually a week into trying to quit some major medication I've been on for years and the withdrawal has been pretty fucking brutal.

As for Spears, she's a dumb fuck. There are plenty of examples, from her obsessive partying to her marriage to K-fed...but I believe the last one was by far the dumbest. Every person in the world was able to tell right away he was a TOTAL dirt bag and brought nothing to the table.

You can take the white trash out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the white trash.

[Nev]

When you can sell as many records as she has, I'll respect your judgements and criticism. Until you do that, you're kind of going to come off as kind of a hater, at least as far as I'm concerned.


EDIT: Amazingly, I was actually still pissed off enough about your attitude to want to come back and say a few more things on this.

Tell us, Tessian, about your accomplishments in life. Post about them in great detail, so that we may analyze them, and I can see whether or not I should respect you more than Britney.

My gut sense is that, as far as the world scene goes, you have accomplished absolutely nothing. Maybe you've finished college - who knows - but that hardly impresses me in and of itself.

I haven't really accomplished anything grand, either, but at least I don't sit back and make snide comments about people more popular than me, and look like a little, white, nerdy hater.

[Julius Seeker]

She didn't sell any records, her promoters did by exploiting her =P

[Nev]

Does it make a difference?

The point is that I don't think any of us could do what she did - you included, Seek.

Don't judge another human being until you've walked a mile in their shoes...

[Tessian]

Britney was just able to cash in on having a hot body (now gone) and a great singing voice. Plus her image did a LOT for her, which is also now gone.

As for K-fed, he was a horrible failure as a singer. The only reason he was given a chance was because he was Mr Spears. Go read all about how many of his performances were cancelled for lack of interest.

[Julius Seeker]

Does it make a difference?

The point is that I don't think any of us could do what she did - you included, Seek.

Don't judge another human being until you've walked a mile in their shoes...

It makes a huge difference, she's an actor for musical performances with everything else being done for her. All she had was a voice and a body to exploit. Not to mention she has been paid millions of dollars. It is not as though she has had it difficult either, she toured a lot less than a lot of other manufactured acts have.

[Julius Seeker]

Britney was just able to cash in on having a hot body (now gone) and a great singing voice. Plus her image did a LOT for her, which is also now gone.

As for K-fed, he was a horrible failure as a singer. The only reason he was given a chance was because he was Mr Spears. Go read all about how many of his performances were cancelled for lack of interest.

In short, she was white jailbait ass being exploited by a music corporation. That is how she got her popularity. That is what the consumers wanted, usually a person cannot do that sort of stuff naturally on their own. Female singers often take a good decade to make it up on their own.

[Nev]

I'd still hang out with her over either of you in under a second...and so would millions of others.

[Julius Seeker]

If she didn't get famous, almost everyone would rather hang out with someone else

[Nev]

Why did she get famous? What are the things that made her appealing to fans? Isn't being admired for something (in this case, singing, performance, and physical beauty) usually what makes people called "famous" in the first place, as opposed to "notorious" or similar?

That's like saying "if people didn't like her, they'd rather hang out with someone else".

I think that what you really mean is some variant on "she's a made star" or "she's not directly responsible for her rise to fame". In her case, I think that's BS.

As an amateur musician at this point myself, I can state without reservation that, at least as a performer if nothing else, when she started out Britney had an almost *ridiculous* amount of star power. And I mean the genuine kind - it might not have been songwriting talent, but, girl can work a crowd like few people can.

You might not agree with her music, but I have every faith that if you put anyone here on a stage playing to *millions* right now, within a minute that person would be reviled beyond belief (unless one of us is a secret American Idol or something that no one knows about). This faith is beginnning to be backed by actual experience as I try to compose music, and vocalize myself - not because I'm bad at it, but because I do realize the demands of playing to *that many people*.

It's a lot harder than you think, and I think she's to be commended on her accomplishments, instead of getting crapped on because she's cracking under what's probably a tremendous amount of pressure - the same kind of pressure that people like you two are contributing to right now.

[Eric]

If she didn't get famous, almost everyone would rather hang out with someone else

Nobody would have liked those 2 singing lesbians who I completely forget about if they hadn't made out at every performance either. >_>

[Nev]

Are you talking about t.A.T.U. or some other group of singing lesbians?

As an interesting corollary to my point, I'm not sure any of us could have done what they did, either.

[bovine]

famous person =/= interesting person

[Tessian]

Just because she's famous and WAS a talented artist doesn't make her smart or interesting.

Like I said-- she got where she is now with her image. She no longer has that at all. She's a skanky, stupid poor (as in bad) mother of 2 who cares more about having fun than having any kind of responsibility...and when it became apparant that she couldn't hide from that anymore she broke down.

[Nev]

I will bet you a million dollars I'd find her more interesting than you.

She could talk about her experiences on a world tour, for instance. Or what it was like to be a young and popular professional singer, and the kinds of pressures that accrue with a life like that. She could talk about the musicians she's worked with, some of whose music I enjoy tremendously.

From what I've seen on here, your conversational abilities mostly revolve around computer games, and pop culture comments. Which isn't to say that that's not occasionally interesting, but it's not exactly "short supply" conversation...

[bovine]

From what I've seen on here, your conversational abilities mostly revolve around computer games, and pop culture comments. Which isn't to say that that's not occasionally interesting, but it's not exactly "short supply" conversation...

is that for tess or for me? or for both of us?

[Nev]

Just Tessian.

I respect where you're coming from, bovine, though I do disagree slightly...famous people are sort of interesting to me no matter who they are, because no matter who they are, they've managed to attract at least a certain amount of attention and sustain it. It's not an easy trick, I think...

[Julius Seeker]

Heh, according to the latest Guiness Book of World Records, Thriller sold 104 million copies, the next highest selling album is Back in Black by ACDC with 42 million. Wanna talk about someone who was under pressure? =P

Anyways, on Bruteney:

I have watched her interviews from all points in her career, she is more or less a puppet. The two Tatu girls seemed to have a larger vocabulary than Britney, AND THEY'RE RUSSIAN!!! Britney was popular mainly because she was the first innocent jailbait pop singer. There were a lot who came out after. She performed some songs that were fun to listen to, but I would not call her an artist since others worked her like a puppet. She was a performer.

Anyways, as far as music goes, everyone and their brother in my generation plays guitar due to early 90's pop/rock bands.

As far as female singers go, I think Madonna and Deborah Harry absolutely destroy Britney Spears in terms of experience. Deborah Harry is in her 60's and still rocking with her Rock and Roll Hall Fame band Blondie: their latest album has a lot of songs that I like, my favourite probably End to End or Undone. Blondie has hits spanning 30 years including many #1's, the only American act in UK history to have #1 hits in three different decades. Deborah Harry also the oldest female singer in the to have a #1 hit, and I mean it is by quite a bit too (if Cher is still the second oldest).

Deborah Harry had been involved with bands from the 60's, though for the most part she was scraping to get by in Union City, New York. During the 70's she got involved with the proto-punk scene and became front of Blondie, one of the original 6 Punk bands (Coming out with Punk classics such as Detroit 442 and I'm on E), which included the Ramones:
Detroit 442 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PlNmH_-Bo4

Blondie then began to incorporate a disco sound into their music. The first song they did this with was Heart of Glass, the album Parrallel Lines sold on level beyond anything seen before this point by a female fronted group (yes, this even includes Abba). Heart of Glass was based off of a Blues song that they did in 1975 called "Once Had Love" which is a slower paced lighter version with slightly different lyrics. Disco influences in music became a staple of 80's pop music.

Heart of Glass http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZXdlouMEzA

Even though Blondie saw success with this genre, they continued to play different styles of music and saw chart topping success with: the Reggae song The Tide is High, the rock song Call Me (which was the top single of 1980 in the US), and the rap song Rapture (the first song which was labelled as "rap." The name "rap" itself was based off of a hip hop song released a year prior, which was the influence behind Rapture, called Rappers Delight. Rapture was also the first song in the hip hop genre to reach #1, years before the next). Rapture also aired in the first hours of MTV. So they were pioneers in pop music, unlike others.

Rapture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHPikUPlRD8

On top of all of this, Deborah Harry's unique fashion styles would become definitive of the 1980's; during the 1970's, everything was still largely hippie influenced. Her songs in many cases included lyrics in multiple languages (which fit very well).

Britney had a good gimmick, innocent jailbait; her 99 and 2000 albums sold amazingly because of this, but nothing else she did came close because she lost that image. Look at Paris Hilton, she's famous because she was a rich guys daughter who everyone saw get fucked on the Internet; she got famous for that. Look at the Royal Family, they're famous because they are royals, they don't even have to try. Hey, if you like her music performances, I won't argue, they're just not really my style (besides the song Crazy maybe, and Baby One More Time was pretty good too). britney I just don't find as interesting as a lot of other artists because she skipped a lot of steps that a lot of others had to take to reach their fame.

Hey, speaking of Abba, they invented dance-pop as we know it today, they're real artists. Here was the birth of it right here:

Abba - Gimme Gimme Gimme http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMjNNtJczDc


Madonna also was the first shock-pop artist, WELL before Britney Spears failed in comparison to Christina Aguilara =P
Like a Prayer by Madonna succedes on so many levels, definately a contender for the title "The Ultimate Pop Song." SO much in this video that pisses off right winged religious folk. This video is the main reason why Madonna became known as the Queen of Controversy. Not to mention the lyrics of the song have a hidden meaning =P

Like a Prayer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icrUkBaSefs

So yeah, I would find famous people interesting too, even if they are crazy. Though there is a HUGE difference between the pioneers/artists (Like Blondie) and the puppets (Like Britney). The only attractive qualities that Britney really has to me that she is rich and still young enough to have sex with. Though I hope she grows some hair back, shaved heads is not exactly a very feminine thing to do =P

And Michael Jackson had greater powers than Jesus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdYn_mRke-s

[Nev]

Whether Britney was a "puppet" or not, she's been dancing and singing since she was six.

That doesn't just come naturally all the time, you know. It's hard work, and years of it, to practice and hone your skills like that, even if you do it when you're a kid. I bet she worked her ass off. And I would bet that Britney could still out-dance or out-sing any of us - she certaintly could have in her prime.

I think she deserves respect and support, not judgement, myself.

Paris Hilton is a little bit of a different story to me. I'm not quite sure how I feel about so-called "professional celebrities", and she definitely counts as one...Britney is famous because she actually *does* something, at least. Paris seems to get paid to stand around and be famous. *That* has to be some nice work, if you can get it, but I don't understand the phenomenon.

I missed an appointment with a publishing company last year at E3 because I couldn't penetrate the crowd trying to gawk at her when she showed up at their booth...They were publishing a game using her name as a license, called "Paris Hilton's Jewel Jam" - a complete and total ripoff of Bejeweled (I think it was actually the same game), but they wanted a famous license, I guess. She showed up and blathered that she was "so happy about my new game Diamondworld", then, three weeks later, the company quietly changed the name.

Given that I was actually there trying to get some original IP sold, and missed a chance to talk to a major publisher because the conventiongoers were busy TRYING TO CLIMB OVER GAMELOFT'S BOOTH to get a glimpse of her (I shit you not), I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about the whole thing. I mean, I don't feel bad about it - obviously, Paris Hilton outranks me in every single commercial category you'd like to frame - but it still rankled a bit to see just how cravenly commercial the game industry can get.

It's hard to blame her for her personality, I think - she's just a spoiled heiress, and what spoiled heiress wouldn't love the chance to live out her dreams of being a worldwide media princess? - but if someone goes to the trouble to actually make and produce a game with your name on it, you'd think you could spare five minutes to actually memorize a two-word game title. I felt that lacked a certain level of class, myself, and I don't understand the guys who get that nuts about her.

She's certainly physically attractive, but there's very little substance there...I mean, come on. She was born into massive wealth and privilege and can go anywhere she wants in the world, at this point. Go help an orphan, Paris. Air-drop some food over a starving country. Do *anything* but fuck your way through the celebrity A-list and misremember the most basic of game titles that were made in *your fucking honor*...


...anyway, to agree, yes, I think Madonna and Deb Harry are more relevant musically and culturally than Britney, in a big way. Still doesn't mean I think we all need to point and laugh at her hair. The poor girl is having a breakdown in front of the entire fucking world - show some compassion, guys.

[Julius Seeker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNcPbjw6ZhI

While we're on the topic of music videos, Bonnie Tyler's haunting 1983 power ballad Total Eclipse of the Heart has a video equally as haunting, and it has Ninja's in it =P

EDIT:

Bonnie Tyler is like the only person I can think of where cancer on her vocal cords actually worked out great for her singing career. It gave her a very unique sound to her voice which became very popular and she went from a relatively averagely performing singer to a mega-pop star.

[Eric]

While on the subject of videos and Britany, wtf was her ex-boyfriend Justin doing in this video? I like the song, but the video doesn't make any fucking sense. lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMndH4egfSk

[Julius Seeker]

While on the subject of videos and Britany, wtf was her ex-boyfriend Justin doing in this video? I like the song, but the video doesn't make any fucking sense. lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMndH4egfSk

"This video has been removed due to terms of use violation."

What video was it?

[Nev]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNcPbjw6ZhI

While we're on the topic of music videos, Bonnie Tyler's haunting 1983 power ballad Total Eclipse of the Heart has a video equally as haunting, and it has Ninja's in it =P

EDIT:

Bonnie Tyler is like the only person I can think of where cancer on her vocal cords actually worked out great for her singing career. It gave her a very unique sound to her voice which became very popular and she went from a relatively averagely performing singer to a mega-pop star.

Dude, what does "Total Eclipse of the Heart" have to do with the current discussion on celebrity and talent? And why do you do this so frequently (relentlessly trying to threadjack the topic onto something you're more interested in)?

It's one of the reasons I get so frustrated with you up in here. You do know that when you debate or discuss things with people, it's commonly accepted etiquette to not try to change the subject every third sentence to something you like better, right?

[Julius Seeker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNcPbjw6ZhI

While we're on the topic of music videos, Bonnie Tyler's haunting 1983 power ballad Total Eclipse of the Heart has a video equally as haunting, and it has Ninja's in it =P

EDIT:

Bonnie Tyler is like the only person I can think of where cancer on her vocal cords actually worked out great for her singing career. It gave her a very unique sound to her voice which became very popular and she went from a relatively averagely performing singer to a mega-pop star.

Dude, what does "Total Eclipse of the Heart" have to do with the current discussion on celebrity and talent? And why do you do this so frequently (relentlessly trying to threadjack the topic onto something you're more interested in)?

It's one of the reasons I get so frustrated with you up in here. You do know that when you debate or discuss things with people, it's commonly accepted etiquette to not try to change the subject every third sentence to something you like better, right?

Bah! I didn't do any such thing, I posted a video. You're the one who threadjacks, you do it all the time, and to people like Don of everyone! So I don't see what your issue is. If you want me to make this relavent then fine: Bonnie Tyler is also someone who I find interesting due to how she overcame cancer of the vocal cords and went on to have major smash hit success.

Besides, what more does anyone really have to say on the subject of Britney? That she has a lot of trouble sounding inteligent in interviews?

She was HOT back during this time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL7i2sgxE2M (One More Time)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCJxXZngzbk (oops I did it again)

These were good performances. Though her interviews and such don't exactly make her sound interesting or intelligent. If she didn't want this negative press on her, she should have stayed out of the spotlight and not tried to attempt a comeback in 2003 copying Beyonce and Christina Aguilara; it didn't work for her like it worked for them. The reason why she was in the media again and has been since, is just because she has flaunted so much to the media to ridicule her about.

This is how people see her now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LILp1iyKVg

Still think she is interesting?

[Flip]

Still think she is interesting?

Every tabloid on the rack seems to think she is. Celeb gossip is fun, no doubt about it.

[Eric]

While on the subject of videos and Britany, wtf was her ex-boyfriend Justin doing in this video? I like the song, but the video doesn't make any fucking sense. lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMndH4egfSk

"This video has been removed due to terms of use violation."

What video was it?

Justin's "What goes around"

Love the song, just kinda raise and eyebrow and shake my head at the video.

[kali o.]

This is how people see her now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LILp1iyKVg

Still think she is interesting?

What's wrong with that video? If anything, I think it's endearing.

She's a chick, that video is in her personal life, nothing weird about it. I've dated hotter and smarter girls than her (imo), and had way odder conversations. If you can't talk to people close to you about silly crap like ghosts, time travelling, psychically transmitting to yourself future lottery numbers and all that other stuff, who the fuck are you suppose to talk to about it.

Too much judgement in this thread.

[Nev]

Kali, I'm tempted to forgive you all of my resentments based on simply that reply right there. That was pretty awesome of you.

[Julius Seeker]

AWKWARD!!!!!!!!!

[Nev]

Seeker, your lack of social skills around here never fails to amaze me. What assumptions in your head would lead you to believe that was an awkward interaction?

[Eric]

Seeker, your lack of social skills around here never fails to amaze me. What assumptions in your head would lead you to believe that was an awkward interaction?

I'd say it was pretty awkward, considering you 2 were ready to kill each other a few weeks ago.

It's like.

"Well Kali...I'm surprised...but I agree with you." - Nev.
"Hmmm.....quite.." - Kali.
*Silence*

Awkkkkwaaaard. >_>

[Zeus]

Thanks for ruining Naruto with your sig pic, Eric. Not all of us were aware of ANOTHER battle between Naruto and Sasuke :-)

[Nev]

Seeker, your lack of social skills around here never fails to amaze me. What assumptions in your head would lead you to believe that was an awkward interaction?

I'd say it was pretty awkward, considering you 2 were ready to kill each other a few weeks ago.

It's like.

"Well Kali...I'm surprised...but I agree with you." - Nev.
"Hmmm.....quite.." - Kali.
*Silence*

Awkkkkwaaaard. >_>

What that says to me is that the two of you tend to typecast personalities.

"I was mad at kali weeks ago, therefore I should be mad at him still."

As indeed I am, in some ways, but does that mean I can't give him props on something he said that I thought was on the mark?

[Ishamael]

This is how people see her now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LILp1iyKVg

Still think she is interesting?

What's wrong with that video? If anything, I think it's endearing.

She's a chick, that video is in her personal life, nothing weird about it. I've dated hotter and smarter girls than her (imo), and had way odder conversations. If you can't talk to people close to you about silly crap like ghosts, time travelling, psychically transmitting to yourself future lottery numbers and all that other stuff, who the fuck are you suppose to talk to about it.

Too much judgement in this thread.

And of course your girlfriends turn around and shave their heads bald and run after people with umbrellas. I find that endearing too. (Let's not judge!)

[Nev]

I don't care how bald she is, she's still sexy bordering on ridiculous.

As far as I'm concerned, she can stick that umbrella anywhere she wants to.