For Sale! Brit’s Mickey Mouse Memorabilia
Long before there was “Oops, I Did It Again” and her subsequent public meltdowns, little Britney Spears was a squeaky-clean castmember of the Mickey Mouse Club.
Now you can own a piece of that innocent history. Find out how!
A Mickey Mouse Club T-shirt that Spears owned and gifted to one of her grandmothers will be up for auction later this month from New York’s Gotta Have It memorabilia site. It’s expected to go for as much as $20,000 because it’s also signed by fellow castmembers, including Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell.
Why she gave it to her grandmother, I don’t know, but the future pop star signed it, “I love you grandma.”
Also on the block will be one of Madonna’s daily planners from the late-’80s. That should fetch between $9,000 and $11,000, according to an auction rep.
GottaHaveIt.com’s Rock & Roll Pop Art Auction starts July 21.
Disney Stars Hit High School Musical 2 DVD Party
Disney Stars Hit High School Musical 2 DVD Party
Well, it’s official. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens are the cutest couple to come out of Disney-land since Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears left the Mickey Mouse Club.
The “Seventeen” stud and his singer/actress girlfriend were on the red carpet yesterday in Los Angeles for the DVD release of High School Musical 2.
They wore matching leather jackets, another reminder of the Justin/Britney romance (remember when they got all decked out in the denim outfits for an awards show?), and smiled pretty for the camera. And from the sound of it, there will be yet another HSM installment for these two to get rich off of.
Vanessa recently told press that she’s really excited about the prospect of High School Musical 3. “To do a third one for the big screen, I can’t begin to think how much fun we’ll have.”
And it sounds like the whole crew is up for it. “Only a few people have actually signed the contracts … [But] we’re all definitely on board.”
To see the entire gallery from the HSM2 DVD Release Party (November 19) - !
What’s a Pop Star’s Manager Do, Anyway?
I just read that Britney and her old manager are back together? Woo-hoo? Huzzah? What can a manager bring to the table at this point in her career anyway?Maria, Pompano Beach, Fla.
Woo-hoo and huzzah, I suspect.
Conventional wisdom states that managers shape the long-term arc of a musician's career. They're at the vanguard of a young singer's introduction to fame, via Nickelodeon or the Mickey Mouse Club. They engineer the public deflowering when the pop tart turns 17 and it's time to hussy her up for the middle-aged, male Maxim crowd. And they bully producers and movie agents into "seeing" the "untapped" acting "talent" of their clientele, shoving them into their first movie roles and Oscar-bait projects.
In a few years, when Justin Timberlake thanks the Academy for honoring his star turn in some tortured, three-hour Liberace biopic, the real person he should thank is his manager.
"While a label may be interested in squeezing every last drop out of an artist, a manager is thinking, ‘What's best for us in five years…or 10?' " one longtime music marketer buddy of mine says. "That is, assuming the manager is any good."
For Britney, Larry Rudolph's big challengenow that he's back in charge, againwill be reintroducing her as a bankable, reliable pop superstar. And he seems to have the chops to do it. Rudolph hasn't repped just Britney, but also Timberlake, Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson, Toni Braxton and DMX.
Other roles for a manager, per my evil genius informant:
- Confab with other members of a singer's teamlawyer, label, business manageron the details of a tour or concert series
- Help dictate the singer's next single or the direction of an upcoming album
- Work with producers in the studio to design tracks
- Running errands for the talent, such as picking up a fresh load of swag
As my source puts it, "The label may say, 'We're getting good radio play in Detroit,' and the manager had better be like, 'Get my band routed through Detroit. I don't care if you have reasons not to.' "
And all that help comes in exchange for a mere 6 to 10 percent off the top of a performer's earnings.
Actors and sports figures usually have managers, too, for similar reasons. Not having one can spell disaster in those businesses. Sharon Stone, for one, has a bad manager. Know how I know? Because her transformation into a werewolf is almost complete and no one is doing anything about it.
Christina Aguilera Dishes On Marriage
Christina Aguilera Dishes On Marriage
She was perhaps one of the least likely to get married among her Mickey Mouse Club-turned-pop star cast mates, but Christina Aguilera says that she loves having a hubby.
And the Dirrty singer tells press that when it comes to wearing the pants in the family, they share the duties. “Nobody wears both legs of the pants - we both take a leg.”
The Genie in a Bottle songstress also reveals what it is about husband Jordan Bratman that keeps her centered. “When I first met Jordan, one of the things I loved was that on my worst days, he’d walk into a room and make me smile. He’s one of those people who is soothing.”
Known for her raw sexual energy, Christina insists that her man encourages her to express herself. “Even when I feel an outfit’s too revealing, Jordan just says, ‘What? You have the body, go ahead!’ He knows it’s all part of my self-expression. I couldn’t really ask for a more supportive husband. My sexuality will never die, just take on a different form. Just because I may be in love or in a one-man relationship does not mean that I would ever tone it down - that would be conforming.”