LOS ANGELES: Britney Spears hasn't even taken her seat as the new judge of "The X Factor," but the pop icon is already getting a lesson in the media glare of live, talent show television.

Spears had barely wrapped up an appearance in New York confirming she is joining the singing contest before the celebrity knives were out, raising the question of how well the singer, who went through a public meltdown in 2007, can handle all the newfound attention.

Her dress, nails, shoes, legs and figure have all come in for scrutiny - most of it negative - in a taste of what may come when the show returns to TV in September for two nights a week over four months.

The New York Daily News ran photos of the "Toxic" singer's "bloody picked fingernails". It also showed a close-up of her thighs, commenting that she "appeared in a short white mini dress that showed off her famous pop star legs - and what looks to be a bit of cellulite."

Spears, famed for raunchy dance routines and music videos in her heyday, is now 30-years-old and a mother of two. Outside her sell-out global concert tours, she has been largely shielded from the media since a career and personal breakdown in 2007 that resulted in her affairs being handed over to her father.

Mary Fischer at The Stir on website cafemom.com, said the singer was "a hot mess" in the cream dress she wore for her New York appearance on Monday before Fox TV network executives and advertisers.

"She might as well have just thrown on a nightgown or racy piece of lingerie. She would've achieved the same effect (showing off the fact that she's shed a bit of weight and gotten her groove back), but she wouldn't have looked like she was trying so hard," Fischer said.

She suggested Spears should take a tip from Prince William's wife and style icon Kate Middleton who "is the definition of being sexy without revealing too much skin."Celebrity magazine Us Weekly was more excited by Britney's three carat diamond engagement ring, estimated to be worth about $90,000, that boyfriend Jason Trawick slid on her finger in December.

But some readers weren't dazzled by the ring and focused on Spears' fashion. Kathleen Tandy commented on the magazine's website that although Britney looked good in the second, purple dress she wore for photos on Monday "she looked like straight-up trailer trash" in the cream outfit.

Britain's Sun newspaper said "Britney looked better than she has in years," when she stepped out in New York. But elsewhere in the tabloid, reporters said her cream mini-dress "hugged her lumpy legs. A pair of tight ankle-strapped heels cut off her pins even more."

Elsewhere, Spears' legs were seen as either toned, bruised, dimpled or fat in hundreds of fevered online debates, where the former pop princess was compared (mostly unfavorably) to the demurely-dressed Demi Lovato, 19, who is also joining "The X Factor."

But the "Baby...One More Time" singer also had plenty of defenders. "I don't care for Britney, but seriously what is with all the fat comments? I'd love to see what some of you guys look like or your spouses..." wrote HuffingtonPost.com user Goldie Treasure.

"The only thing that looks kind of weird is her knee, but whatever on that. Christina (Aguilera) and Britney are not little 17 yr old pop princesses anymore they are women in their 30's with kids, cut them some slack."

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To Los Angeles, next, where Simon Cowell has formally unveiled Britney Spears as a judge on the US version of The X Factor.

Enchantingly, the singer's appointment had to be sanctioned by a judge, as she is still under conservatorship following her excruciatingly public breakdown a few years ago. But then, Simon is well aware of all that. Consider the passage in Tom Bower's biography of Cowell, which details Britney's guest appearance on the UK version of the show in 2008, all too soon after said meltdown.

Described as "on medication" to the degree that "the studio must be in lockdown", Britney does not appear to be in the best frame of mind to be making a high-profile TV appearance. Or, as Cowell reflects: "She's frosty and I haven't got a clue why and I don't care. I love all this."

Eventually, he enters her dressing room. "She was just staring at me," Cowell recalls to Bower. "I said: 'Have you ever watched the show?' 'No,' she said. And I said: 'Touch me, I'm human', and I think that broke the ice."

And in that moment, students of advances in psychiatric care will have spotted the birth of a controversial treatment that would come to be known as Simon Says Feel Better. Though clearly not a scaleable solution to all mental health problems in early 21st-century society, this pioneering therapy would see the diminutive mogul heal the sick of pop with the sublimely inviting words: "Touch me, I'm human."Let's see that in action again. "Touch me, I'm human." "Touch me, I'm human." "Touch me, I'm human."

Racking our brains for the only earlier notable use of the technique, we may alight in 1st-century Judea, where a local man became so legendary for his restorative powers that the sick would merely reach for the hem of his robe in the belief that it would cure them. The gospels differ in their accounts of the practice – Mark has Jesus feeling the power drain from him and demanding "Who touched my clothes?", while certain lost texts are believed to have him calling for the hand sanitiser.

Wherever you stand, though, you have to doff your hat to our own latterday Messiah, whose selfless gift of healing is too often misrepresented as exploitative ratings-grabbing. We can only wish Britney the best of luck with her return to the spotlight, safe in the knowledge that if it all starts to feel too much, the hem of Simon's grey marl T-shirt will be at her televised disposal.

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The sisters are most definitely doing it for themselves again this week as the sextastic celebrities just can't get enough of themselves, self-publishing pictures of their own hot selves because too much exposure is never quite enough for these girls who love to live in the spotlight, and we like to observe them, like leering scientists without proper credentials.

This week's Sextastic Twitpic Roundup includes the overly tanned cleavage of Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Hudgens and Stella Hudgens being showy playful, Adrianne Curry flash-bulb covered nekkid, Britney Spears nearly busting out of her dress, and much much more self-published must-sees.

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Britney Spears and Demi Lovato are joining the judging panel on "The X Factor" this fall, part of Fox's effort to boost its underperforming music competition shows.

The network's executives, in presenting next season's schedule to advertisers on Monday, also promised changes for "American Idol." While "Idol" remains Fox's centerpiece, as it has been for the past decade, it has lost a quarter of its audience this year.

Fox is adding two new comedies and a drama in the fall, pumping new life into "Glee" by moving it to a new night with guest stars Kate Hudson and Sarah Jessica Parker and touting a midseason drama starring Kevin Bacon as "the new `24.'"

The Spears announcement overshadowed the others. Despite weeks of rumors, it wasn't official until she strode onto New York's Beacon Theater stage wearing a white minidress, accompanied by show creator Simon Cowell and fellow judges Lovato and L.A. Reid.

"I'm so excited about the whole experience," Spears said. "It's going to be so much fun and different from anything I've ever done. I'm ready to find the true star."Lovato said she was "totally stoked" to join the cast.

They replace judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, who were dispatched along with host Steve Jones after last fall's debut season of the competition didn't meet the creator's inflated expectations.

"Not to be negative about the people leaving, but we just felt the mix could be more effective and more entertaining," said Peter Rice, entertainment chairman for the Fox Networks Group. Fox's entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, also promised work on "American Idol" next season but didn't specify anything.

"This year was a bigger drop-off than we anticipated," Reilly said. He said "Idol" made no changes from the previous year and there was little "urgency to view" at the beginning of the season. He said there was still a lot of life left in the franchise.

"Glee," once a sensation, saw its viewership drop by 21 percent this season. It will move to Thursday nights and a comfortable 9 p.m. Eastern time slot following "The X Factor" in the fall. Reilly said the show is "poised for a creative renaissance" and has Hudson and Parker lined up for multi-episode guest slots.

Part of the reason Fox moved "Glee" is to make Tuesday a four-sitcom night, with two new shows joining "New Girl" and "Raising Hope." Mindy Kaling, actress, producer and writer for "The Office," creates and stars in "The Mindy Project," a romantic comedy about a doctor looking for love. The other new comedy, "Ben and Kate," is about a pair of odd couple siblings.

"We've been building comedy momentum on Tuesday, and we finally have the shows that have exactly the tone that we are looking for," Reilly said. The fall's only new drama is "The Mob Doctor," on Monday night, about a young doctor who has to pay off her family's lifelong debt to the Chicago mob.

Reilly said Bacon's hiring for the midseason drama "The Following" was the casting coup of the year. Bacon plays a former FBI agent asked to come back to work to chase a serial killer he had caught once before. The killer escaped from prison and has resumed a series of grisly murders.

Another comedy focused on a family, "The Goodwin Games," is due at midseason and stars actor Scott Foley, of "Felicity" and "Grey's Anatomy."Fox's long-running drama "House" is ending its run this spring, and the network is cancelling high-profile dramas "Terra Nova" and "Alcatraz."

Fox also has made changes to its long-running Saturday night lineup, where "COPS" won't return until midseason. In the fall, Fox will present live sports events such as college football, Major League baseball and NASCAR races that night.

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Global pop stars Britney Spears and Demi Lovato ignited significant buzz across social networks on Monday with a slew of posts confirming they will be judges on The X Factor in the fall. The level of fan engagement Monday indicates the duo will likely bolster the Fox show’s digital chops — which may be necessary considering Simon Cowell only joined Twitter last season.

Spears — or at least her social media team — tweeted a photo of herself with judges Cowell and L.A. Reid just moments before they went on stage with Lovato at Fox’s programming upfront in New York City. The surprisingly blurry photograph went up at 4:38 p.m. ET, accompanied by two hashtags that quickly trended worldwide on Twitter (see below). As of 6 p.m., the tweet has racked up 8,325 retweets.

Not long after, Spears turned to intimate social network Path to share the news, which she also pushed to Facebook via Path. The Facebook post attracted 11,000 Likes, 650 shares and 821 comments in an hour. Spears’s involvement with Path began in March when she visited the startup’s San Francisco headquarters and published a post on the service.

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Los Angeles, CA – In the early days of Britney Spears’ career there were certainly a healthy helping of haters. People resented her early success, thought she was corrupting the youth, and just generally found her annoying but despite all that,  

Spears became a huge star. In fact, for a little while it could easily be argued that Britney was the biggest star in the world, selling millions of albums and becoming an icon for an entire generation of girls and an enduring sex symbol for the same generation of boys.

Things changed of course, as they tend to do, and Spears career and life collapsed as quickly as it had grown. Multiple marriages, drinking, drugs and emotional breakdowns have all become the repertoire of the singer who once was known only for catchy pop tunes. That demise did, at least for a little while, have her critics bring their razors to bear. Eventually though her decline stopped being a joke and started becoming a sad and potentially tragic tale that warmed and concerned the hearts of even her harshest attackers. While it’s certainly unlikely that Spears will ever return to dominate the pop charts, few observers and fans seem even remotely concerned and are far more interested in her health and well being. However, there are some critics who are still firmly on the anti-Britney bandwagon and who were hoping against hope that recent reports of her being beaten were in fact true.

“It’s looking more and more like the reports that Spears had been beaten by her boyfriend were in fact false. That the supposed audio recording was falsified for reasons that as yet aren’t clear. Frankly, I’m a little sad about the whole thing. I’m not down for domestic violence but if anyone deserves a punch in the face it’s Spears,” said one online critic. “I mean seriously, she’s a dirt bag and she deserves what she gets. She had everything and she threw it away, things that most people can only dream of having. If anyone deserves a black eye it’s her.”
Others echo the sentiment.

“Frankly, I wanted to punch her in the face years ago and I was really glad when I heard that someone had. It doesn’t matter that it was her boyfriend, just as long as it was a fist and a good hard smack in the face. She’s only gotten more annoying in the last few years and maybe that would have shocked her out of things,” said another anonymous critic. “Even if it didn’t, so what? It would have been very satisfying to have seen her walking around with a black eye, getting what she deserved. It doesn’t look like this really happened and that’s too bad. It would have been great if someone just socked her one. I would be more than willing if she ever comes around.”The supposed recording had Spears speaking to her first ex-husband stating that her current boyfriend, Jason Trawick, had punched her in the eye leaving a black eye.

“I don’t think that any rational person would advocate the punching of anyone in the face, particularly a woman, but in the case of Spears the sentiment certainly rings true. While these people may not actively go out punching people in the face, with Spears the emotion rings true,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple. “I guess its good she didn’t get punched in the face this time but honestly, it’s probably going to happen at some point. I mean the bulk of the damage she has done is to herself, but there’s more than a few people out there who have invested time and affection in her and they have been largely betrayed and that makes people a little punchy in the facey.”Other ex-husband Kevin Federline also denied punching her in the face despite no one having asked.

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The rumors had been swirling for months, and now, according to reports, the pop princess herself, Britney Spears, will be joining the judging panel on "The X Factor," landing a $15 million deal for one season.

Yet, after 15 years in the public eye, seven studio albums and more than 100 million albums sold worldwide, many are wondering: Is "The X Factor" the right career move for Spears?

"I think it is a good move, actually," Entertainment Weekly writer Tanner Stransky told MTV News. "I think she has so many people on her team watching what she's doing and being careful. I think nobody would let her take a misstep, but I think it's the right move right now."

This new role certainly has many advantages. It keeps Spears in the public eye while keeping her close to her family, and it will most likely bring in the big ratings that "X Factor" and Simon Cowell are hoping for. Yet there are some experts who are a little wary of Spears taking a spot on the panel, since over the years, the pop star has been noticeably withdrawn from press, rarely giving on-camera interviews.

"I think everyone is a little concerned, simply because Britney has been very press-shy since she's been in her conservatorship, and everything is incredibly guarded and incredibly controlled," Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard, said. "And there can be uncontrollable moments on 'The X Factor,' and if things are not completely in control and things are not rehearsed, things could go wrong. With a live show, anything can happen, and that can be very exciting but, at the same time, a little worrisome."

Stransky agreed and believes that, while Spears is judging the contestants, viewers will ultimately be judging her. "Everyone is going to take a close look at her and pay attention to what she says," Stransky said. "She's sort of been so managed on her interviews in the past five years, it's risky."

But Spears' loyal fanbase feels that putting Spears in an environment where anything can happen is actually a good thing, and will show a whole different side of the pop star. "That's part of the excitement of her being on this: It's unscripted," said Jordan Miller, webmaster for Spears' biggest fan site, BreatheHeavy.com. "We are so used to her reading cue cards and kind of being controlled in that way, so for her to break out of that and to do something that's stepping outside her comfort zone, I think it's a great step for her, career-wise, and for her as a person. I think she's going to do really good. I think she's confident."

And confidence is key when judging a singing competition, but so is experience — which Spears has in spades. For years, fans have listened to her chart-topping music and have seen her on tour, but now they're ready to connect with the star on a new level.

"I think the overall consensus is that people are really excited to see Britney do something new and be able to connect with her a couple times a week on national television," Miller said. "It's exciting for fans to see that she's going to be able to mentor these contestants, because like it or not, Britney does have the 'X Factor,' so it's going to be great to see how she can transcend this into more singers and inspire other people."

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It's official - Britney Spears is joining the cast of Simon Cowell's musical talent show The X Factor after signing a $15 million deal. The "Toxic" singer will sit alongside Cowell and Antonio 'L.A.' Reid on the judges panel according to E! Online.

"The contract is signed," a source tells the website. "There's been a lot of back and forth over the past few weeks as they negotiated the small details, but she's on. It's all completed and Britney is beyond excited."

Britney verbally agreed to the terms of the contract a few weeks ago, and several minor details had to be worked out before she signed.

Last week rumors that Britney made several outrageous demands in the contract - including details of the decor of her dressing room, among other things; however, a rep for Britney shot down the rumors, telling GossipCop.com that there was no truth to those stories.

She can't wait to sit down next to Simon at the judges' table and give this everything she's got," says the source that confirmed the news. "She is excited about showing the world that she can do this, and do this well. This is the perfect next stage in her career. Both Britney and Simon are very excited to work together."

Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, along with host Steve Jones, were all let go from the show after its first season, and Britney is the first official replacement. Rumor has it that Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus are both in talks to join the show. Cowell has shown a big interest in getting Demi on the panel and Miley is rumored to be the frontrunner to be the show's new host.

"She may not be the fourth judge but she may be the host. The new Steve Jones may be Miley Cyrus," a source tells HollywoodLife.com. "Simon Cowell likes Demi and Miley and wants them both and [Miley] is considering it."

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Britney Spears was snapped showing off her amazingly flat stomach at a family party in Brentwood, California on Saturday. It was thought she, her dad, her brother and her sister Jamie Lynn were celebrating the Mexican festival Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May"), an annual celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.

There was no sight of her fiance, Jason Trawick, or her two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James. She looked pretty, um, casual in a belly-baring red t-shirt and cut off shorts. Although she did up the glamour quota by having her flies undone for most of the day.

Britney has reportedly agreed her terms for joining Simon Cowell and LA Reid as a judge on the second series of X Factor US. Britney will be replacing either Paula Abdul or Nicole Scherzinger who were both dropped last season. (As well as Cheryl Cole - anyone else remember Cheryl was meant to be on the X Factor but got sensationally booted off mid-series? Just us?)

Rumours have kicked off over the last couple of days that Britney will be joined by US teen star Demi Lovato. RadarOnline have reported that Britney has really pushed for Demi over Miley Cyrus, who was the other name being bandied about.

The website reported a source saying, "Britney has loved how open and honest Demi has been with her fans after she went to rehab last year. She thinks they will have a lot in common and that they would have great chemistry on the show."

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Britney Spears got in on the Cinco de Mayo fun with her family in LA Saturday. She and Jason Trawick met up with Britney's brother Bryan, sister Jamie Lynn and her daughter Maddie, as well as dad Jamie. Britney's just one of the many stars that love Cinco de Mayo and she showed off her excitement for the holiday in a cropped red shirt that displayed her stomach. Britney's abs were also on display in a recent shoot for the Twister Dance game. It's just the latest business project for Britney, who is also rumored to be joining The X Factor, though no official announcement has been made about the show's new crop of judges.

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