Britney Spears was photographed walking with her head held high as she made her way to her second concert performance in Perth, Australia in the wake of rampant reports of fan disapproval of her concert performance style. The press has been running wild with reports of fan outrage over Britney’s performance style, claiming that many fans walked out of her show angry and unsatisfied. Here are the new pics of Britney making her way to her second Perth show and some of the criticism that has been thrown her way:

BRITNEY Spears was holed up in a Perth hotel yesterday as the row over her lip-synching concerts threatened to derail her Australian tour. Fans walked out after only three songs at Perth’s Burswood Dome on Friday, upset by her lacklustre performance. Many claimed her show was not worth the $200 they had paid. The lip-synch controversy has dogged Spears since she arrived in Australia and made headlines around the world, including on US TV’s CNN. Adding to Spears’ woes, media companies, including News Limited, refused to photograph the concert after being asked to signrestrictive agreements by her management. None were imposed on video journalists. Spears mimed most of her songs on stage, singing only on ballads. Among fans who walked out early was Amanda Hawlet, 22, who drove from home two hours away and spent almost $500 on a weekend to see Britney. She left only half an hour into the action, angry at the miming. “I want my money back or I want her to sing properly,” she said. “The ticket cost me $200 and she lip-synched the whole thing. It’s cost me half a week’s wage and you’ve got bills to pay, but you look forward to this concert, it’s a night out – and what do you get? Nothing! It was a waste of $200 – I could have got four pairs of shoes for that.” The lack of big screens – masking Spears’ miming and taking the focus away from her rigid performance – left many in the cheap seats fuming. Fans complained that the US pop star spent large portions of the in-the-round show with her back to them. “You couldn’t tell if it was Britney or not,” Mel McGuigan, 25, said. A Burswood spokesman said a record concert crowd had made it a huge success. No complaints had been received from fans, a statement said.

But while these folks were walking out of the show, another 18,272 people stayed inside to enjoy the show … which I understand set a new audience attendance record for Perth, Australia. The previous attendance record was set by P!nk with an audience of around 17,000. So, while Britney has a small number of critics, she also has a much larger audience of supportive fans who love and appreciate her entirely. Sounds like the fan climate down in Oz is about the same as it is here in the US. Our dear Britney has been thru worse … I’m sure she’ll weather this bit of controversy just fine.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Victoria Beckham was spotted tooling around SoCal in what looks to be a new ride (tho not as impressive as her old ride which leads me to believe this new car might be a loaner) but appeared to be naughtily applying make-up while she was behind the wheel … and you thought texting and driving was a no-no:

To be clear, it’s not entirely evident that VB is actually fiddling with her make-up while she’s in motion but one hopes that she was careful to keep both of her eyes on the road and out of the mirror while she was driving. I imagine it takes some bit of work to get her robotic/unhuman look down perfectly but it might be behoove her (and the other drivers on the road) if she took care of the make-up maintenance before she gets into the car ;) Just a thought.

[Photo credit: X17]

And so it begins … the principal cast of The Twilight Saga: New Moon were on hand for an in-store appearance at the Hollywood & Highland Complex here in Hollywood, CA to kick off a nationwide mall tour that will take various members of the cast in various incarnations to malls around the US so that fans can press the flesh with their fave Twilight stars … and to hear live music from bands like Deathcab For Cutie, Anya Marina, Band of Skulls and more. A horde of rabid Twilighters filled the open-air mall last night just to get as close to Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kellan Lutz and Kristen Stewart as possible … behold:

The scene was electric outside of Los Angeles’ Hollywood & Highland open-air mall on Friday evening. A huge line snaked out into the streets, and much of the crowd looked strikingly similar: gaggles of teenage girls (plus guys, moms, dads, and little ones) in black T-shirts emblazoned with five key words: The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Awaiting them inside? Autographs and a Q&A with the film’s supporting cast, plus courtyard performances from four bands who contributed to New Moon’s excellent soundtrack: Band Of Skulls, Sea Wolf, Anya Marina and, to close it out, Death Cab For Cutie. In other words, this was the Hot Topic-sponsored New Moon mall tour. One of the first fans to the stage screamed to no one in particular, “Oh my God! This is the coolest thing ever!” And for the crowd that braved the odds to get there – camping out at the mall on Halloween eve to buy the shirt that would grant them their entrance – it truly seemed to be. The coolness began when Twilight heartthrobs Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner paid a surprise visit. On stage, opening with their bluesy “I Know What I Am,” U.K. three-piece Band Of Skulls burned through a set that ran just shy of 20 minutes and channeled bits of the White Stripes, Black Sabbath, and the Black Keys. An apropos performance of “Hollywood Bowl” prefaced the closing song – their garagey New Moon contribution, “Friends,” which was met with squeals at an octave previously reserved for the likes of the Beatles. Indie folk-poppers Sea Wolf followed, delivering a cello-swathed selection of songs whose titles were matched to the event: “You’re A Wolf,” from 2007’s Leaves In The River, “Turn The Dirt Over” and “Wicked Blood,” both off of the just-released White Water, White Bloom, and the at once bouncy and autumnal soundtrack piece “The Violet Hour.” Both were impressive, but Anya Marina, whose “Satellite Heart” is one of New Moon’s most captivating moments, stole the show. “What’s up Hollywood? Are you guys having fun?” the grinning singer asked to a chorus of shrieks. “Well, we want to have fun with you.” She meant it. Marina was the only musician to engage the exuberant crowd – at one point leading them in a “Team Jacob” vs. “Team Edward” cheer-off – and it paid off. Her ubiquitous hits “Vertigo” and “All The Same To Me” were extremely well-received. Another surprise, mostly lost on the audience, was regular Morrissey collaborator Alain Whyte manning guitar, especially shredding on “Afterparty At Jimmy’s.” At the other end of the spectrum, Death Cab For Cutie greeted the incredible mania with zero banter and two songs – New Moon single “Meet Me At The Equinox” and Narrow Stairs highlight “Cath…” – well-performed, but over far too soon. The band said their thanks, unplugged and walked off. Before the ensuing melee caused by the rush to see Pattinson and Stewart up close, we asked one fan if she had a favorite band on the soundtrack. “I don’t really listen to this kind of music,” said Carmina, backed by an army of self-described “Twi-tards.” “But I like it now!”

Not since Tiffany took the US by storm with her mall tour back in 1987 have mall tours been this hot. To be honest, anything attached to The Twilight Saga franchise will generate huge interest … you throw in the actors themselves and you could sell anything at a high premium. Lord, this is just the beginning of the fervent Twilight melee that is about to be unleashed upon the world. The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens in theaters in just a few weeks … I don’t know that we’re quite ready to handle the onslaught … but it’s comin’ nonetheless.

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone had one, Heroes‘ Zachary Quinto had one … and, of course, we fondly remember that Jude Law had one … now everyone’s favorite Hobbit Elijah Wood has a porn’stache of his own … behold:

Okay, so mebbe this isn’t really a “porn’stache” per se as much as it is just a sad attempt at facial hair … but at least it’s something! Something tells me that Elijah decided to jump on the porn’stache bandwagon in order to appear more grown up and sexy … but I’m afraid that not even a full beard would be able to achieve either … not that Elijah has the ability to grow anything other than spotty facial hair. I suppose you can’t blame the young man for trying … mebbe there’s a cougar out there who’ll give his attempt at facial hair a second look.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Earlier I mentioned that David and I attended the LA premiere of the new film Dare, which stars Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford and Ashley Springer, last night and now we get to see some photos from the red carpet arrivals from last night’s event. Here are a few pics from the Dare LA premiere which was held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, CA sponsored by Gen Art and Bing:

As with any indie film, promotion is hard to come by … and I liked this movie so much that I want to do what I can to spread the word. As I mentioned in my brief review earlier, Dare tells a teenage love story that isn’t usually told in mainstream film. I was so impressed with Zach Gilford (who you may know from Friday Night Lights) in this film that I really want as many people as possible to see his amazing performance. See this movie if you can … I really think you will love it as much as I do :)

[Photo credit: Wireimage]

Last night David and I were invited by our good friend David Brind to the LA premiere of the new movie Dare which he wrote! The film has been screening at film festivals all year long (starting out with Sundance back in January) and finally premiered here in Hollywood:

The movie is a very poignant and frank look at the complexities of teenage sexuality which focuses on a group of high school kids who yearn for and find love from one another. Emmy Rossum (who plays Alexa Walker), Zach Gilford (who plays Johnny Drake) and Ashley Springer (who plays Ben Burger) bring this unconventional love story to life with an awkward honesty that is extremely refreshing to see on the big screen. Alexa has feelings for Johnny character … as does her best friend Ben. Johnny has feelings for both Alexa and Ben … and therein lies the complexity. The character development is really fantastic … I urge y’all to see this film. Be on the look out for Ana Gasteyer and Alan Cumming who are fantastic in their roles … and for Rooney Mara who is a total scene stealer. Dare opens in NY and LA next weekend and, depending on the demand, should open in wide release afterward.

After the premiere, we made our way to the Stone Rose for the after party. We got to hang out with some of the Dare stars and take some fun photobooth pics. Check ‘em out after the jump …

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MTV held its 16th annual Europe Music Awards in Berlin, Germany last night and brought out a host of musicians to appear, perform and/or collect awards. Beyoncé turned out to be the big winner at last night’s MTV EMAs but a whole bunch of other folks made their way to the event to celebrate a night of music achievement. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals last night:

But, as I mentioned above … the Queen B reigned supreme last night. Not only did she look fabulous on the red carpet but she also looked fabulous on the MTV EMAs performance stage … oh and she collected awards for Best Female, Best Song (Halo) and Best Video of the Year or her worldwide smash hit song Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It). After the jump, check out some photos from the EMAs stage and find out who else took home awards last night …

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