SNAPSHOT: BRITNEY SPEARS, photographed yesterday looking less than glamorous with her scraped back hair revealing her scraggly hair extensions once again ...
Her new song, which officially dropped yesterday, is called "Hold It Against Me". But judging by the looks of her, "it" is NOT a bar of soap.
It hasn't been officially confirmed, but word all over the 'net is Britney will open next month's Grammy Awards, presumably performing her new song. Her publicist, however, tells "US Weekly" she's NOT scheduled to open nor will she perform later in the show.
Speaking of "Hold It Against Me" ... Many in the blogosphere have been commenting on the song's title being similar to an old-school BELLAMY BROTHERS country song. It's not the SONG that sounds similar, it's the TITLE. The country duo itself has noticed the similarities and are said to be considering legal action.
They had a cross over hit in 1979 with a song titled "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body, Would You Hold It Against Me", which Brit-Brit's songs shares a similar title with. That, plus in the chorus Britney sings, quote, "If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me" is why they're said to be thinking of suing.
Here's what the Bellamy Brothers have conveniently failed to mention: The Britney songwriters may not have invented the phrase, "If I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?", but neither did the Bellamy Brothers.
The line is actually a GROUCHO MARX line. He used to say it to women on his game show, "You Bet Your Life" in the 1950s. If they actually do file a lawsuit over it, I fully expect them to get laughed out of court.
JENNIFER ANISTON GIVES TAYLOR SWIFT ADVICE: It's no secret TAYLOR SWIFT hasn't been very lucky in the romance department. So it isn't surprising that JENNIFER ANISTON - the poster child for failed relationships - approached her at last week's People Choice Awards and offered some advice.
Jen reportedly told T to "hang in there" and "go out there and have fun." Should she, of all people, be giving relationship advice? Isn't that kind of like me giving you dieting tips?
MEG RYAN LOVING THE ATTENTION: They say there's no such thing as publicity. Something MEG RYAN apparently agrees with. Despite being called a 'husband-stealer' by some and accused of breaking up JOHN MELLENCAMP'S marriage, the Popeater website says she's enjoying being back in the public eye.
"Meg couldn't be happier," a "friend" of hers tells the gossip site. "Not only has she got a great new guy, she's back in the headlines. It's not easy going from being one of the highest paid actresses in the world to an anonymous New Yorker. Meg's loving all this attention again."
BABY NEWS: 1.) JEWEL and her husband, rodeo stud TY MURRAY, are expecting their first child together. She says she's in her second trimester, but won't give a due date or reveal the sex of the baby.
2.) It turns out ORLANDO BLOOM'S Supermodel wife, MIRANDA KERR, gave birth to a super-baby. Kerr's grandmother tells the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun that baby Bloom weighed in at 4.5 kilograms. That's almost 10 pounds in American!!!
DR. MURRAY WILL STAND TRIAL IN JACKSON'S DEATH: Dr. Conrad Murray will stand trial for killing MICHAEL JACKSON, a judge ruled yesterday. The six-day preliminary hearing ended with testimony from two doctors who both said that even if Michael gave himself the last dose of Propofol, as Dr. Murray's legal team contends, his death would still be a homicide because of his actions.
Murray is accused of giving Michael a lethal dose of a powerful anesthetic. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison.
QUOTE/UNQUOTE: "I stopped smoking weed for my kids. One day, we were driving and you could smell it from somewhere. My daughter asked what the smell was so I told her it was a skunk. Then she said, 'Sometimes Daddy smells like that!' to my wife. So I knew I had quit."
-- MARK WAHLBERG, after accepting Variety's Indie Impact Award during the Palm Springs Film Festival this Sunday, which he had quipped resembled a bong.
PORTMAN'S BLING: Recently engaged NATALIE PORTMAN, shown here on the red carpet with co-star JAKE GYLLENHAAL, was also at the aforementioned Palm Springs Film Festival ...
And used to opportunity to show off her bling ...
Click the pic for a closer look.