With seven number one hits, who better to help little sister Dannii win this year’s X Factor than Kylie Minogue? Dannii has vowed to beat rival judge Cheryl Cole by hiring Kylie – one of the world’s best-selling pop stars – to help her pick her three acts for the final. A source said: ‘Dannii realised once again that it’s a competition between the judges as much as it is between the competitors. ‘She knows she’s going to need the best team behind her.’ The source added: ‘Dannii knows that Cheryl is still managing to win the battle for the public. She realised it was time to bring in her sister to help change things around a bit.’ The sisters were filmed in a suite at the five-star Atlantis Palm hotel in Dubai, where rooms start at £1,000 a night. Kylie, 41, wears an emerald green off-the-shoulder dress while Dannii, 37, wears a floor-length patterned gown. The last 12 acts – three for each judge – will be revealed at the end of next Sunday’s show before the live rounds begin next month. A source told the Mirror: ‘The girls had a blast in Dubai. Dannii is a professional and takes her job as a judge very seriously. ‘But it was lovely for her to be able to take her sister with her to go through the decision-making process. Between them the girls have nearly 40 years experience in the music industry so who better to spot the stars of tomorrow?’ According to the Daily Star Sunday, Dannii claims she was made to feel like an outsider on last year’s X Factor. Dannii broke down in tears on one of the live shows when Louis Walsh accused her of stealing on of her song choices. The newspaper reveals that Dannii is once again reduced to tears on tonight’s Boot Camp show when her fellow judges decide to throw out one of her favourite artists.

Ummm … yeah … I still don’t know what the heck is going on over on X-Factor … all I know is that I love seeing the Minogue sisters together. It’s a shame that Dannii is all bizzy with this X-Factor biz in the UK cuz she’s gonna miss out on Kylie’s North American Tour debut this week here in Oakland, CA. I was hoping Dannii would be able to sneak over here to see Kylie’s shows but I understand she cannot break away. In any event, Dannii will be workin’ hard on X-Factor and Kylie will be workin’ hard touring the US (well, some of the US). Gotta love those Minogues :)

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The former Spice Girl was said to be considering an offer of more than £1million a series in a move which could help her invigorate her showbusiness career. Mr Cowell wanted her to replace Miss Minogue before the new series of the highly-popular ITV programme in the autumn, the story claimed. Mrs Beckham, 34, has been living in Los Angeles with her children while her husband David plays football for the LA Galaxy. But if he transfers to AC Milan, where he is currently on loan, she could consider moving back to Europe and joining X Factor. She is also said to have been tempted after seeing the success fellow WAG and singer Cheryl Cole, 25, has had since joining as a judge, the report claimed. A friend told the Daily Mail: “She doesn’t want to come back to Europe with her tail between her legs. But if she can return here to be on the X Factor, then that is different.” The move could cause tension between Mrs Beckham and Mrs Cole – something which may have positively influenced mischievous Cowell’s decision. Although the two women are friends, the Girls Aloud singer has made a series of negative comments about her contemporary Posh recently. In January, she criticised her for her lack of support when the allegations of her husband Ashley Cole’s infidelity surfaced. And she was recently quoted as saying that Mrs Beckham’s fashion range of dresses was for “older women” and “not something (Girls Aloud) would wear”. Simon Cowell’s spokesman Max Clifford told the Mail: “Simon speaks very highly of Victoria. I know he likes her a lot. This deal has not been mentioned to me.” A spokesman for Simon Cowell denied the story and said: “It’s complete rubbish. Nobody has ever had a conversation with Victoria Beckham or her people about this. She has not even been considered for the job.”

Blah. This Beckham move back to Europe is sounding more and more like it’s going to come to pass. VB and the boys will, most likely, relocate back to England while Becks gets a bachelor pad in Milan and the family flies back and forth , just like he did when he played for Real Madrid in Spain. Personally, I love that Dannii Minogue is a judge on X-Factor but I could see Cowell doing something as shitty as dumping Dannii for Vicki B. In any even, even if VB doesn’t join X-Factor, I’m sure she’ll have plenty of things to keep her occupied in the UK. I’ll be sad to see the family go but … as I said, I completely understand. Boo.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Britney Spears sang her latest hit on the X Factor stage during her first UK television performance in over four years. The pop singer, who turns 27 on Tuesday, mimed her way through her latest single Womanizer after the five remaining finalists each covered a classic Britney track. Spears, who was dressed all in black, with hotpants, fishnet tights and knee-high boots, did not coach the show’s contestants, as previous guests have done. It has been reported Spears travelled with a 45-strong entourage of stylists and security. And reports claimed she is said to have banned contestants and judges from approaching her. But the judging panel gave her a standing ovation along with an excited crowd. On Monday, she releases her sixth studio album Circus, and has been on a whistle-stop tour of Europe to promote the record. Earlier, Alexandra Burke, who sang Toxic, said: “When I was nine, Britney brought out Baby One More Time, and I loved her. I’m very excited about meeting her. This is the Britney we all know and love. I hope I can do my Britney song justice, with my own twist.” Eoghan Quigg performed Sometimes, Ruth Lorenzo – who was later voted off the reality show – sang I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, Diana Vickers sang I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman and JLS took on Baby One More Time.

For me, the folks making such a big deal of Britney lip-syncing (”miming”) are missing the point — and none of this criticism is new. Even at the height of her fame, critics felt it necessary to try and demean her performances by making a point of the lip-syncing. She is a performer, not really a singer … she has always been this way. I, for one, do not mind it at all. I find when critics attack her for the lip-syncing it’s because they’ve run out of other things to complain about … it means that things have finally gotten back to normal ;) Regarding this performance, I felt that she offered the most vim and vigor of all the performances she put on this week. Even tho she wore the same outfit that she wore in Germany, I think she looked the best on X-Factor than on the other two shows. The rolling steel cage ball was taken out of the performance and made it feel more like a dance routine than a “spectacle” — I liked it. At the end, Britney got a standing ovation from the crowd and from the judges. The girl is not trying to reinvent the wheel … slowly and steadily, she is working towards getting back to her comfort zone. I think she is handling it all very well. After the jump, check out a backstage photo of Britney with the X-Factor judges, a few photos of Britney making her exit from the venue and video of her performance in full …

Here is a very cute group shot of Britney Spears with the X-Factor judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole (of Girls Aloud), Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue (my girl!):

Here are a few pics of a jubilant Britney waving to her admirers as she left the X-Factor studios last night:

And without further ado (for those of you who have yet to see it or just want to watch it again), here is Brit’s X-Factor performance of Womanizer:

Britney Spears is set to perform on The X Factor – in her first visit to Britain in four years! If anyone was going to tempt Britney back to Britain, it was bound to be X Factor extraordinaire Simon Cowell. Cowell has reportedly persuaded the ‘Toxic’ star to perform her new single, Womanizer, on the hit ITV1 show in December. It will be Britney’s first visit here since her Onyx Hotel tour more than four years ago. A source from X Factor told The Sun: “Everyone is thrilled. To have Britney involved is a massive coup. They expect ratings to go through the roof when her performance airs.”

Woot! This is great news for the Brits! Britney has yet to commit to (or even announce) plans to perform here in the US so all y’all on that side of the pond have scored a big coup. I mean, why should we Yanks get to enjoy all the Britney ourselves … I don’t mind sharing. I know that there are hordes of loyal Britney fans in the UK (actually, all over Europe and the rest of the world) who have be anxiously awaiting her big musical comeback just like we have here so I’m happy that at least y’all have a live performance to look forward to. I’m hoping that Britters will be doing some performing here in the US as well … but in due time. I’m really looking forward to seeing what she’s got planned up her sleeve … but when she’s ready to show us. Might she be among the live in-person guests on the final ep of TRL when the show goes off the air this November? My money says yes …

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Dannii was coated in the gunk as she hosted the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards UK today at London’s Excel centre. In her purple and silver frock and designer heels Kylie’s little sister looked every inch the glamorous pop star when she arrived at the event. But onstage her composure was shattered when a pool of green sludge rained down on her. The 36-year-old screamed and raised her clenched fists in horror, before setting her jaw in a clenched scowl. Ironically when Dannii had earlier told reporters that she hoped to see fellow X Factor judge Simon Cowell get gunged. “I’d slime Simon of course,” she said. “But could he handle it? Or would we finally see Mr Nasty lose his cool on TV? We’ll have to wait and see.” The X Factor is up for a gong at the awards, which will be screened air on September 20. It faces Doctor Who, Britain’s Got Talent and Harry Hill’s TV Burp for Favourite Winner prize.

Now, y’all know that Dannii is my girl so I had to take the opportunity to spread the word about her slimy weekend ;) This country is seriously devoid of Minogueness so there is no chance that I’ll be able to watch Dannii’s hosting performance when the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards airs in the UK later on this month … I guess I’ll have to make do with these amazingly fun pics ;)

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]