OGDEN -- Britney Spears, known at least as much for her skimpy outfits and suggestive moves as for her singing skills, has been censored at last -- from Ben Lomond High"s yearbook.
The school"s more than 1,000 yearbooks were printed, bound and ready for delivery to students. That"s when a teacher spotted the copyright photograph of pop"s reigning princess, chin in hands, among the class of 2002.
"She was in a collage of students that represents our school," said Assistant Principal Kevin Kuykendall, chuckling. "It"s kind of silly."
It"s also illegal for the school to sell copyright material. Kuykendall said teachers and staff will be pulling a few late nights cutting out the offending page and pasting in a replacement.
"We"re just trying to take care of it so we don"t have a legal obligation on our hands."
But the school staff won"t bear all the pain. The responsible student will be footing the bill -- at least $500 -- for replacing all those pages, Kuykendall said.
He said the photo, which was cut from a magazine, "wasn"t inappropriate."
"Somebody put it in there as a joke or to be cool," Kuykendall said.
Rich Moore, educational coordinator for the Ogden School District, said despite the brouhaha, yearbooks would be delivered next week -- minus Britney.
Karla Ramirez, 14, for one, won"t miss her.
"I don"t like her," Ramirez said. "She shows too much. Then guys expect you to dress like that. Whatever."
Posted by Jen on Thursday, May 30, 2002 @ 10:07 p.m.
A spokeswoman for the Backstreet Boys has denied the band are about to split following a cryptic message on the band's official site which reads: 'The Backstreet Boys website is currently on hiatus, and no more memberships will be accepted.'
A spokeswoman for the band told worldpop: 'The website is on hiatus because the band are working on new material. They're planning to release a new album and are working on individual projects as well.'
The band's new album will be a follow-up to 2000's Black & Blue and as well as writing their own songs for the album the band are working with producers Jermaine Dupri and Glen Ballard.
Meanwhile in other Backstreet news, band member AJ McLean has become engaged to singer Sarah Martin. AJ says he plans to get married next year.
In an interview with VH1 over the weekend in Miami, AJ disclosed that he's engaged to up-and-coming singer Sarah Martin.
Posted by Jen on Thursday, May 30, 2002 @ 03:00 p.m.
It looks like Lance Bass has the right stuff to travel into space. But the big question is, will he actually get to go?
While a Hollywood producer backing the pop star's bid to become the first entertainer in orbit says Bass has qualified for the rigorous trip, a spokesman for Russia's space program says the 23-year-old singer's name isn't even in the running to climb aboard the next mission, according to wire reports.
"The Russian Aerospace Agency has had no contacts whatsoever with Mr. Bass," agency spokesman Konstantin Kreidenko told the Associated Press. "We have received no requests from either him or his representatives about signing any contracts."
On Tuesday, Destiny Productions, the company that's funding the 'N Syncer's space adventure, confirmed it received word that he has passed the battery of medical exams necessary to qualify him for a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, scheduled to blast off in October for a resupply mission to the International Space Station.
"He's in top physical condition, top mental condition," Destiny president David Krieff told Reuters. "He's doing great with everything."
Not bad for a guy who just two weeks earlier underwent a physical procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat that's been plaguing him since childhood.
After wrapping up his latest trek with his fellow band members, the 'N Syncer opted for the operation so he would be able to continue medical and fitness tests at Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems--Russia's top space medicine facility. Testing included time spent in a pressurized chamber and a centrifugal force machine.
Krieff said that there may be a special ceremony next Wednesday "where he'll be even more formally certified."
Bass is reportedly vying for the highly coveted spot along with a former NASA official, Lori Garver--who's also considered a long shot for the next Russian launch.
Besides the fact that the Russian Aerospace Agency hasn't decided yet whether it'll even take a space tourist on its next Soyuz resupply mission, Kreidenko shot down talk that anyone is even close to scoring a seat.
"Anyone has the right to undergo tests in the Institute of Biomedical Problems," he said. "But that doesn't mean that such person is considered to be a candidate for space flight."
Then there's the complex contract issues and the $20 million he and his management have to cough up in order to secure their ticket to ride.
If Bass can say bye, bye, bye to Earth, he would become the world's third cosmic hitchhiker, just behind millionaires Dennis Tito and South African Mark Shuttleworth, who were the first and second space tourists, respectively.
According to Krieff, things couldn't be going more smoothly for Bass, who's slated to start space-flight training next Monday at the cosmonaut training center in Russia's Star City. Training could last up to five or six months.
While that might be bad news for 'N Sync fans hoping to catch them out on the road this summer, it's good news for Destiny, which is sponsoring Bass in the hopes of documenting his experiences for a series of television specials that it hopes to air on a major U.S. network. Destiny has already produced a similar space-camp show called The Big Mission in Denmark.
Posted by Jen on Thursday, May 30, 2002 @ 02:57 p.m.
The Russian space agency said today (May 29) that it had no plans to give 'N Sync's Lance Bass a ride to space, and that no other space tourist has secured a seat on a Russian rocket set to blast off to the international space station in October. "The Russian Aerospace Agency has had no contacts whatsoever with Mr. Bass," agency spokesman Konstantin Kreidenko said. "We have received no requests from either him or his representatives, not to speak about signing any contracts."
The 23-year-old boy band member said in February that he hoped to travel into space, following in the footsteps of an American businessman and South African Internet magnate who have flown Russian rockets to the international station.
Last week, Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems, Russia's premier space medicine center, said Bass and former NASA employee Lori Garver were being evaluated for their space travel fitness. But Kreidenko says "anyone has the right to undergo tests in the Institute of Biomedical Problems. But that doesn't mean that such person is considered to be a candidate for space flight." Kreidenko said no decision had been made about the next space tourist, and wouldn't comment on possible candidates.
The Russian space agency has kept one seat available in the three-person Soyuz spacecraft alongside Russian flight commander Sergei Zaletin and European Space Agency astronaut Frank DeWinne of Belgium. Time is running out to fill the slot, however, because of the months of preparation the candidate would have to undergo. A Russian cosmonaut will start training for the mission if it appears that no space tourist will join the trip.
The world's second space tourist, South African Mark Shuttleworth, returned to Earth earlier this month, saying it was the best thing he'd ever done. Like the world's first space tourist, Dennis Tito, he paid around $20 million for the ride.
Bass has the support of a Los Angeles TV production company, Destiny Productions, to help fund his bid and to film the training and trip for a TV special. He and Garver are scheduled to hold a news conference in Moscow later this week to discuss their plans.
Posted by Jen on Thursday, May 30, 2002 @ 02:56 p.m.
Despite having only one "official" day to do it, Eminem's The Eminem Show still managed enough sales to debut in the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 on Wednesday (May 29).
The highly anticipated release, which was moved up twice from its original release date of June 4 due to Internet piracy (allstar, May 24), surfaced on the unorthodox day of Sunday (May 26) (albums almost always hit stores on Tuesdays) and still rang up 284,534 in sales by Sunday evening -- the cutoff point to qualify for this week's Nielson SoundScan report.
While street date violations over the holiday weekend certainly helped extend Eminem's sales beyond its one official day (some stores were selling it as early as Friday [May 24]), the feat still marks the first time in SoundScan history an album debuted at No. 1 without the benefit of a full week of sales.
Last week's No. 1, P. Diddy & Bad Boy Records Present…We Invented the Remix (allstar, May 22), dropped to the No. 2 spot. Elsewhere in the top 10, Marc Anthony's Mended grabs the No. 3 slot behind 111,028 in first-week sales.
Other notable debuts include Box Car Racer's Box Car Racer (No. 12); Now That's What I Call Music! Off the Hook, featuring Aaliyah, Jennifer Lopez, and B2K (No. 13); Amy Grant's Legacy…Hymns and Faith (No. 21); Tommy Lee's Never a Dull Moment (No. 39); NOFX's 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough (No. 80); Something Corporate's Leaving Through the Window (No. 101); and Poison's Hollyweird (No. 103).
Next week's SoundScan report, which will reflect The Eminem Show's first full week in stores, should see the album's numbers increase dramatically.
-- Kevin Raub
Posted by Jen on Thursday, May 30, 2002 @ 02:54 p.m.
Britney Spears' current tour almost didn't go ahead after her mother made plans to divorce her dad last week.
New York's Daily News quoted a source who said Spears appeared "extremely distraught" last week in Las Vegas, just before the tour's debut.
Last week, Spears' mom, Lynne, reportedly told her husband of 30 years, Jamie, that she wanted a divorce. He had recently moved out of the mansion Britney had built for the family in Kentwood, La., and returned to the family's former home nearby.
The marital problems between her parents took a toll on Spears, the report said.
"She was ready to call off the tour," a source told The Daily News.
"The tour was off, then it was on. It was really tense backstage hours before the show. She finally did the shows. But she ended up cancelling (other) appearances (in Vegas). She didn't go to any of the parties."
Spears' spokeswoman wouldn't comment to The Daily News on the status of Spears' parents marriage, and denied there was any thought to cancelling the tour.
Posted by Jen on Thursday, May 30, 2002 @ 02:50 p.m.
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