• Rumors of real-life drama from the set of Hannah Montana over the weekend caused Miley Cyrus to tell People magazine, "I am fully committed to Hannah Montana. It’s what gave me this amazing opportunity to reach out to so many people," and that she’s very excited about the upcoming new season, which begins in November.  Besides, it’s probably a lot easier to be Hannah these days than Miley…
• Fellow musicians are reaching out to Travis Barker and DJ A.M., both recovering from critical injuries in a weekend plane crash, with Fall Out Boy and Gavin DeGraw–who both toured with Barker–issuing statements of sympathy and concern.  I know they feel that if it can happen to those two, it could happen to them as well…
• Taylor Swift is very excited that her song White Horse will be used in the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy, saying, "This is my life’s goal, to have a song on Grey’s Anatomy. My love of Grey’s Anatomy has never wavered. It’s my longest relationship to date."  Just in case you hadn’t figured it out yet, she is indeed just 18…
• More season premieres on the tube for Tuesday, with NBC launching Law And Order: SVU’s 10th season and ABC debuting an Ashton Kutcher-produced family game show called Opportunity Knocks.  CBS will again debut its entire primetime lineup–their new series The Mentalist has by now already figured out what the other networks’ weaknesses are…
• Charlie Sheen’s new pregnant wife Brooke Mueller discovered that pains she thought were related to her condition required a risky emergency gallbladder surgery just over a week ago–which was such a success that she was able to attend Sunday’s Emmy Awards with Sheen.  Considering his track record, she probably wasn’t willing to risk letting him out alone…
• Despite legal pressure from Harry Potter studio Warner Brothers, the Indian film Hari Puttar: A Comedy Of Terrors will be released this weekend, as a judge disagreed with studio arguments that their titles were too similar.  Odds are that people will hate it so much that they’ll rush out and buy all the Harry movies…

• Jordin Sparks has slightly different summer plans from most artists–she’s spending two weeks at a Christian athletics camp in Colorado that she’s been attending for many years.  It’s great that she wants to try and just be a kid while she can–I just hope her fellow campers won’t be putting her 3-legged race on YouTube…
• Rihanna has cut a deal to star in a new ad campaign for Gucci that ties in to their collaboration with UNICEF–she’ll be featured wearing limited-edition designs, which Gucci in turn will turn over 25% of sales to the world-wide children’s fund.  So she’s looking good and doing good…
• A scheduled custody hearing Tuesday for Britney Spears and Kevin Federline was postponed until Friday–and some are speculating that it may be because lawyers for both sides are working to settle the case.  It could mean that Brit may soon have her kids full-time–and K-Fed can go back to bumming drinks in bars…
• Fox told TV critics Monday that the network is making strides in featuring gay characters in its programming.  For example, several gay parts have been added to Prison Break…
• Law And Order alum Benjamin Bratt stars in a new series on cable’s A&E Network called The Cleaner, where he plays a recovering alcoholic who is moved by a relationship with God to help others eliminate their personal demons.  I wonder how long before he has to tackle a beautiful woman’s addiction to sex…
• Madonna plans to attend the All-Star game in Yankee Stadium Tuesday night–where Alex Rodriguez will be among the starters.  While many love to speculate, those in the know say she’s just taking advantage of the gossip to help promote her Sticky And Sweet tour–that’s the Madge we know and love…

• OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder is less than pleased that Idol runner-up David Archuleta is singing his band’s hit Apologize every night on the Idols Live tour, saying it’s "bizarre."  I think what really bugs him is how Archuleta’s dad keeps calling to find out what else he’s got that his kid can sing…
• It’s no wonder that Madonna is unhappy about the book her brother Chris has written about her life–among the dirt he dishes, he says she has a huge picture of herself–displayed in full view of her kids–wearing S&M gear laying on a bed of dead animals, plus he claims that current husband Guy Ritchie is a homophobe.  Sounds like somebody’s name is getting scratched off the Hannukah gift list…
• The Jonas Brothers seem to cause a commotion wherever they perform, and a recent show in Dallas was no exception–only it was Taylor Swift creating a buzz in the audience trying to watch the show.  Based on how she was acting, she was more interested in getting the boys’ attention than the fans’…
• It’s finally Brangelina Babies time, as Angelina Jolie gave birth to twins–a healthy boy and a girl–Saturday evening at a hospital in Nice.  They were named Vivienne Marcheline, which is Angie’s late mom’s name, and Knox Leon–named for where the money they get from selling the kids’ pictures will go…
• Miss Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe in Vietnam Sunday night, and for the second year in a row the Miss USA contestant managed to trip on her evening gown and fall on her keister.  It’s aR lot of pressure for pageant owner Donald Trump–he doesn’t like being the "butt" of anyone’s jokes…
• The Wall Street Journal’s website reports that NBC Universal and Law And Order creator Dick Wolf are at odds over the way the network promotes and distributes his long-running and still-popular franchises.  Wolf argues that the network overexposes his shows–which gave him an instpriation to get Madonna for an upcoming episode…

• It’s down to the two Davids–Cook and Archuleta–as American Idol will choose one of them as this season’s champion tonght at 8PM Eastern on Fox.  Starting tomorrow, one of these young men will go from a household word to "Whatever happened to…"–but enough about the winner…
• Miley Cyrus will release Breakout July 22, her first album not done as her Disney character Hannah Montana.  It makes me wonder whether the whole Vanity Fair photo shoot thing was accidental or not…
• Natasha Bedingfield kicked off her first headlilning tour in the US last night in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Get the complete itinerary and ticket info from Live Nation…
• Britney Spears’ dad Jamie has really thrown himself into his new role as conservator of her estate–so much so that he has left his catering job to concentrate on her affairs, and is being paid $2500 a week to do it.  He’s obviously doing a great job, but I wonder what it does to a dad’s ego to draw a paycheck from his kid…
• Lou Pearlman, who engineered the success of both Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, will be sentenced today after admitting he swindled almost $300 million from his investors.  Pearlman could get up to 25 years in prison–plenty of time to develop a new sound, although it’s hard to gauge the appeal for a band named "Dear God, Not Again!"…
• The ratings news continues to be bad for NBC–CBS’ Shark, which is being cancelled, had more viewers last week than all but one of the Peacock Network’s schedule.  Why do I get the feeling we’re about to find out exactly how many Law And Order franchise reruns can be aired in a week?

I’m a pretty big fan of Law And Order: SVU, a show that routinely deals with the seedier side of our society and more often than not results in a story line that will cause me to mutter, "What a mess".  That reaction, as you might expect, is a gigantic understatement based on whatever awful situation the show has devolved into.  It certainly seems as though that phrase comes out of me whenever I read of the latest debacle that is the World According To Britney Spears.

Let me see it I’ve got the last week down correctly:  her recent hospital admssion led to a hearing Friday where her father was given temporary conservatorship over her–puttiing him in control over her finances and security as well as access to her medical records.  Another hearing was held Monday with the judge continuing her father’s role as conservator while denying a petition to put someone else in charge of her affairs filed by yet another attorney claiming to repreent her.  The judge ruled, after an examination by a court-appointed attorney, that she "lacks the capacity to retain counsel".  Additionally, the psychiatrist who is supervising her care stopped her scheduled release Sunday and ordered her involuntary hold extended for two weeks.  Also, the judge ordered that her "friend" and "manager" Sam Lufti have no contact with Britney and the restraining order issued against him was extended.  Finally, Brit’s parents have told police that valuable items have been taken from her home and they believe it happened the day after she was taken to the hospital.  Did I miss anything?  What a mess indeed.

This is certainly not the first or the last celebrity meltdown that will be played before the unbelievable enormous stage the media provides. I can’t honestly say she deserves it any less than anyone else (the attention, not the meltdown).  But I can’t help but feel saddened by the spectacle and debacle of it all–this long, horrible soap opera played out in front of an audience alternately horrified and fascinated by each and every detail.  The worst part for me is that I’m as guilty of watching as anyone. 

Just like the awful accident we just can’t avoid gawking at, we simultaneously express disgust and delight with each succeeding scrap of gossip.  Phrases like "she brought it on herself", "she couldn’t be more deserving", "publicity hound" and others requiring saltier language collide in our brains as we hungrily devour every scandalous tidbit.  Whaddya know–all of a sudden, you’re right down in the gutter with her.

This young woman certainly has to take respoinsibility for the raft of terrible choices she’s made in her short life, but she’s not the only one to require accountibility.  She may be technically an adult, but where have her parents been throughout most of this ordeal?  Thank goodness they’ve stepped in to do what seems to be the most sensible thing on her behalf in a long time, but it was almost too late in arriving.  And friends–is she devoid of anyone who cares about her and not her fame, money and attention?  Then there’s the Dr. Phil’s of the world–certainly well-meaning but ultimately appearing to use her situation to raise their own profile.

I am truly torn by the entire situation.  I feel an obligation to those who follow what I do to report on the topics that are not just of interest but are truly topical.  I’m just starting to feel that we’ve all overstayed our welcome at the Britney Spears trough.  I’m hopeful that the legal direction of her well-being continues, with the court supervising those that are caring for her and making decisions about her.  It’s starting to appear that she may be as much a victim of others’ greed and avarice as she is responsible for her personal demise.  I really think it’s time for everyone to cut her a little slack and take a couple of giant steps backward from the whole thing.  Time will tell if any of the healing that is going on will take; a dose of reality and common sense might find its way to her with surprising results.  Wouldn’t it be great if like others who’ve gone down this road we could say, "Remember when…?"