■ Reporter’s notebook
Britney Spears' shotgun
wedding: is it a publicity ploy ?
The pop princess' marriage to Kevin Federline
continues a singer-weds-backup dancer trend
BY AMY LICHTY
PULSE REPORTER
Supermarket newsstands. TV
shows. Newspaper reports. It’s hard
to avoid the news about Britney
Spears getting hitched to fiance
Kevin Federline in a surprise cere
mony in Studio City, Sept. 18. What
you may not know, however, is who
Federline is and how he managed to
marry one of pop culture’s most fa
mous women.
Federline has one of the most
sought-after jobs for anyone wanting
to date a famous singer. He’s a backup
dancer. After incredibly famous
women such as Janet Jackson,
LeAnne Rimes and Jennifer Lopez
married unknown backup dancers, it
only seemed natural that Spears would
follow the trend. She isn’t even the
only pop princess to find love grooving
behind her. Rival Christina Aguilera
dated backup dancer Jorge Santos for
two years before breaking it off in
2001. Even Justin Timberlake fell for
Jenna Dewan, a backup dancer for
*NSYNC, shortly after his breakup
with Spears.
But Federline isn’t Spears’ first
taste of backup dancer love. Her
messy 2002 breakup from Timber
lake was sparked by rumors that she
cheated with dancer/choreographer
Wade Robson, which is still just spec
ulation. Shortly after, she had a fling
with backup dancer Columbus Short.
They were spotted making sweet mu
sic together for a short time, despite
the fact that Short was married and
reportedly expecting a child.
Fast forward to April 2004. Four
months after her infamous Las Ve
gas nuptials to childhood friend Ja
son Alexander, Spears and Federline
made their first public appearance
at a beach in LA’s Pacific Palisades
area. No one knew at the time
who Federline was, but that
changed quickly as his history was
plastered all over the pages of Us
Weekly and People magazines —
including the fact that he had a
pregnant girlfriend at the time, who
he had a two-year-old child with.
Regardless, the relationship blos
somed and turned into an engage
ment this July.
But with all the hoopla, reports
are surfacing that this marriage was
a hoax. According to Us Weekly,
this “wedding” was a fake, partially
because the two “newlyweds”
couldn’t come to an agreement on
the prenuptial details. They say they
hold a document that states: “Brit
ney Spears and Kevin Federline...
agree that they intend to participate
in a ‘faux’ wedding on September
18, 2004; however, they do not in
tend to and shall not validly marry
one another on said date.”
People magazine, however, got the
exclusive on both the engagement
and the wedding, and they stick by
the story that this is the real deal.
Federline even told People: “Basical
ly, those reports that we didn’t legally
wed are bullshit.”
Spears added: “I’m really upset
that somebody someplace decides
to write a false headline about a
special day that I’ve dreamed about
since I was a little girl. It’s too bad. I
don’t understand the thinking
behind it.”
Why would Spears fake her own
wedding anyway? Well, there are cir
cumstances that could possibly indi
cate this was a publicity stunt. It just
so happened that’s Spears’ newest
single, “My Perogative,” a cover of
the song Bobby Brown made fa
mous in 1988, recently hit the radio.
Even more suspicious is that the
video for the song, which shows
SPEARS, page 13
Sound: Collins, Louque pale
in comparison to Green Day
Continued from page 7
opera” and “perfect pop-punk
record” used to describe “American
Idiot,” but considering what is a
steady decline in quality since the re
lease of its breakthrough album,
“Dookie,” this seemed impossible.
Besides, “Idiot” is about as novel as
a pop-punk band can get.
Teetering skillfully on the brink of
overproduction, “Idiot” doesn’t so
much depart from the pop-punk for
mula as much as create a pastiche of
influences using the formula as a
framework. The album kicks off with
the unapologetically Costello-esque
title track, followed by "Jesus of Sub
urbia,” the first of two tracks that be
lie an affinity for the rock-operas of
Pete Townshend. At about nine min
utes apiece, these five-part ditties can
be considered nothing less than epic
when stacked up against the average
four-chord fare of Green Day’s peers.
From there, the album goes on to de
liver an intelligent but undeniably
pop-sensible selection, occasionally
flirting with the street-punk sound of
Green Day’s youth, with more than a
nod and a wink to The Clash, The
Kinks, Husker Du and even Meatloaf
along the way.
The most notable aspect of this al
bum is that each song possesses its
own personality, yet contributes to
the whole, which is the mark of a
classic. Even lyrically, this album is
difficult to criticize. While the title
suggests that the listener is about to
be subjected to yet another barrage
Courtesy
Singer Phil Collins scrapes the barrel with
“Love Songs,” his newest album.
of rehashed, anti-Bush rhetoric, vo
calist Billy Joe Armstrong manages to
deliver a fairly personalized impres
sion of the post-9/11 paranoia and
hysteria, complete with character
portraits and a semi-coherent plot
line. Fans expecting more of the same
will be disappointed, and that’s why
this album is good.
Last, and least, is Louque’s album,
“So Long," yet another mediocre turd
in the seemingly endless torrent of fe
cal matter released by Lava Records.
If this band were even slightly memo
rable, it would matter that its name is
impossible to pronounce, but don’t
worry because you’ll never have any
reason to talk about them. Imagine a
bland Jack Johnson with electric
drums, and your expectations are al
ready way too high.
ryanmurphey@dailyememld.com
o
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