More Celebrity HQ picture and gossip

Lady Gaga has tirelessly promoted her latest album, “Born This Way,” with everything from a controversial appearance on Letterman (she didn’t like his questions, so she ate his notes) to a face-to-face interview with Costco magazine. Her hard work and considerable talent have paid off — “Born This Way” is set to be the biggest first-week album debut since 2001, when *NSYNC’s “Celebrity” sold 1.88 million copies in their first week.

Billboard.biz projects that Gaga’s album will sell approximately 1.15 million copies, and some suggest that the sales might signal an upward turn for the music industry.

Some, however, claim that Gaga’s place in the charts is skewed by an Amazon promotion, which made “Born This Way” available for just 99 cents on two days. Billboard estimates that 400,000 digital copies of the album were purchased through the 99-cent offer. Elsewhere, Best Buy made the album available as a giveaway with the purchase of a Smartphone. The giveaway albums will be counted in the final Billboard tally.

Some people aren’t too happy about that. Reuters reports, “brick-and-mortar retailers who try to operate on
tight profit margins for music are up in arms about the promotions, with
some arguing that both Amazon’s 99-cent sales and the Best Buy giveaway
counts should be excluded from the numbers that are tallied for the
Billboard 200.”

Bill Werde, editorial director of Billboard, has come under scrutiny — mostly, he -, by Britney Spears fans on Twitter, who aren’t happy about the way Gaga’s sales may dwarf the sales of Brit’s “Femme Fatale.” It’s these people he had in mind when he explained his chart policy, writing, “Britney fans, I’m looking at you, or at least at the evil ones who keep cursing me on Twitter without asking questions.”

Ruh-roh.

“I don’t believe in changing or adding a rule in order to affect that week’s charts,” Werde says firmly. Some Spears fans cite her 2003 “Blackout” album, which was her first album that didn’t debut at #1, as a result of Billboard policies which changed midway through its first week on shelves. It put The Eagles’ “Long Road Out of Eden” at #1 and “Blackout” at #2.

“The powers-that-be (of which I was not one at the time) decided to make a
policy switch because they felt the best decision was to allow for the
most accurate chart,” Werde writes. “I’m not going to go back and second-guess that, but
I will repeat: I don’t believe in making a policy change that will
affect the same week’s charts.”

Werde reiterates that no policy will be changed based on Gaga’s and Amazon’s promotions. “We have never had a policy as it relates to pricing threshold of an
album apart from a promotion. Therefore, I am predisposed against making
a rule change to affect this week, even if I thought that ultimately we
should have a pricing threshold. That said, I’m pretty far from certain
it makes sense to consider pricing in such a way (although I encourage
your comments below — I will read them all closely and respond to new
ideas). For starters, market dynamics are shifting so quickly. Who’s to
say that in three years or three months or even three weeks that the
accepted value of an album won’t be .99 cents?”

What do you think, Zappers? Should Gaga’s Amazon sales count? Did you pay full price for her album or take advantage of the .99 deal? Was Britney wronged in 2007? Weigh in below in the comments.

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April 15, 2011 5:18 PM ET

It’s Britney Spears‘ post apocalyptic world, and we’re just living in it.

Round two of her “Till The World Ends” video has hit the web, this time
around featuring more choreography. And by choreography, we mostly mean
arm waving.

While her dance moves may not be what they were circa the “Oops!… I did
it again” years, we can’t deny that Brit Brit looks good. If given the
choice between the two videos, we’d choose the Britney-heavy second
release over those special effects any day.

In fact, there are no outdoor end-of-the-world shots or doomsday
references at all in the second video — Just dancing, partying and a
sprinkler system. Somehow, we imagine Ke$ha (who penned the track) would
approve.

We’ve posted both videos below. Which one do you prefer?

This is pretty epic!

- asked fans on Twitter who they’d like to see her collaborate with, and the response was overwhelmingly Britney Spears. What Rihanna’s fans want, they get, so the popstars made it happen!

“I got a #SEXY collabo comin your way supa dupa soon!!!! OH YEAH!!! By popular demand….” Rihanna - on Sunday afternoon.

Minutes later, Britney - via her own Twitter: “@rihanna You’re such a tease! I like it, like it…. -Britney”

Britney fans, enjoy this embarrassment of riches. First the “Femme Fatale” record, and now a collaboration with Rihanna that’s sure to be fierce? When Britney’s back, she’s really back. Rihanna is well-known for her surprising collaborations – her duet with Jennifer Nettles at the Academy of Country Music Awards was refreshingly original – so we’re psyched to see what she comes up with next.

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April 1, 2011 2:50 PM ET

Zap2it was the - that Joe Jonas is currently in talks to join Britney Spears on her summer “Femme Fatale” tour, after Enrique Iglesias bowed out.

Now, it looks like there may be another candidate in the running. She also just so happens to be the top choice in our -. It’s none other than Nicki Minaj.

TMZ -that lawyers for both teams are in “serious talks” regarding a Minaj opening act, but we’ll just say at this point — we’re both hopeful and skeptical.

Even if the tour doesn’t pan out, we would love to see Spears and Minaj team up in the studio someday.

Who do you think should join Brit Brit on tour? 

When - bowed out of Britney Spears‘ upcoming Femme Fatale tour (Big mistake. Huge.) just hours after she announced their joint venture on “Good Morning America,” we immediately began brainstorming a list of possible - for the “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You)” singer.

Apparently, so did Team Britney. This morning, sources tell Zap2it that a top candidate to join Britney on tour is Joe Jonas, who is taking some time off from the Jonas Brothers (the band, not his actual family) to make a solo record that’s a little more nightclub and a little less Mickey Mouse Club.

From what we’ve heard about Joe’s solo stuff, he may be the perfect match. “The dance element is where my heart is,” he -. “Most of the songs
are love-related, but I put the responsibility on myself to try to grab
their ears again.” The Britney tour may be the perfect opportunity for Joe to reach a more adult audience that still maintains that old-school pop sensibility.

Iglesias would have had a full production on the tour — in other words, he would have been more than just an opening act — but according to our sources, Joe’s set would be more scaled back, focusing only on his solo material.

Of course, talks are only in very early stages. Joe’s album still doesn’t have a release date, but he expects it to be ready to drop in late summer or early fall, which would make the timing of the summer tour perfect for generating buzz.

What do you think of Joe Jonas as Britney Spears’ tour buddy? Weigh in below.