Britney Spears
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Critics have assailed Britney Spears' lip-synching during concerts during her Circus tour of Australia. Fortunately, a knight in shining armor is riding to her rescue:

Michael Buble.

The hot Canadian crooner, also in Australia to promote his album Crazy Love, told Melbourne's Herald Sun that he can't believe the vilification of Spears.

"You'd think she killed someone," he said.

"Okay, she lip-synchs her show, people know that, they make the decision if they want to go and see her do that. People need to lighten up a bit."

Buble added in his passionate defense of Britney Spears, "Does she deserve the way she's been completely bashed by the media here? No."

Michael Buble says he finds criticism of Britney Spears "nasty."

One report Spears' camp objected to: that Australian fans were so unhappy with her concerts that they walked out of at least one Circus show in droves.

That's not true, her management says, claiming that it is only one or a handful of Australian critics making this a story and Britney Nation is thrilled.

As for Buble, he's firmly in her corner - and he can even relate. "Mind you, I lip-synch all my concerts," he said, joking. "I'm the Milli Vanilli of jazz."

Michael Buble also discussed one blip in his relationship with his girlfriend, Argentine actress Luisana Lopilato, 22, a star in her native South America:

"My Spanish is not great. I'm learning slowly. She's showing me up. Her English is flawless, I sound like a caveman when I try to talk Spanish."

When she's not worshiping Lucifer, Britney Spears is always pushing her brand. Today, that venture means unveiling her own iPhone and iPod Touch application.

The app is fittingly named "It's Britney!" and is currently available worldwide at the iTunes App Store for $1.99, which might be $1.99 more than it's worth to you.

With "It's Britney," fans get to the front of the line with all things Britney Spears - all the latest official news, exclusive messages, photos, lip-syncing videos, etc.

Additionally, the app features a "Shake Shake Shake" feature in which Britney says "It's Britney Bitch!" every time the user shakes their iPhone or iPod Touch.

We take it back, we'd pay $1.99 for that in a nanosecond. Although we'd prefer a Jon Gosselin app that says "I'm a douche" everytime you shake your phone.

Here's Britney Spears reading cue cards and teasing her new iPhone app ...

Britney Spears and Jason Trawick, her agent and boyfriend of several months, may not be engaged yet, despite the marriage rumors that persistently pop up.

But they certainly look the part of the family unit.

The couple and Britney's two sons, Sean Preston Federline and Jayden James Federline, looked happy as can be as they strolled through a park on Saturday.

It was a tender family moment ... just Britney Spears, Jason Trawick, her two sons and massive amounts of security following them around Sydney, Australia.

Still, life is good for Britney and family ...

Britney Spears and family out and about.

Don't think for a second, though, that the singer's handler wasn't observing her every move. Also along for the stroll was Britney's father, Jamie Spears.

Gotta keep your eyes on the cash register at all times, after all.

Taking a few moments away from her Circus tour in Melbourne, Britney Spears shared some of her personal religious views on Twitter just minutes ago.

Apparently she gives herself every day to Lucifer, and eagerly awaits the arrival of a New World Order, presumably headed by Satan himself. Awesome.

Who knew the star felt so strongly about the end of democracy and freedom and the installation of a bureaucratic, collectivist one-world government?

Maybe they'll ban pants. Now that's a political platform we can see her getting behind. Here's a screen cap of Britney Spears' devil-worshiping Tweets:

Of course, this is likely the work of a hacker (it's happened to Britney before, with the focal point of her faux tweets being the size of her vicious lady parts).

At least we hope so. Otherwise our girl has been possessed and is not of sound mind, which could be very bad. It would be like 2007-2008 all over again.

UPDATE: The hijackers remain at large, but the situation has been fixed and Britney's Twitter now features the following explanation of her Satanic ways:

As we reported last week, Britney Spears brought the Circus tour down under, but has not received the welcome she expected ... or would have expected, if she had any clue where she was at the moment or what people were saying about her.

Fans have been complaining about the quality of her performance, even walking out of her concert in Perth, according to reports in the Australian media.

The cause? Disgruntled concertgoers apparently aren't thrilled what you would think would be the obvious realization that Britney Spears lip-syncs live.

That, and she gives "a lackluster performance overall," according to one paper, who went on to say that the sexy American songstress was just "boring."

Spears' promoter refuted claims of fans fleeing the Circus, telling The Australian newspaper "Britney is aware of all this and she's extremely upset by it."

We're just impressed she even knows she's in Australia.

Britney Spears' Circus tour has met its share of Australian critics.

Also issuing a carefully-worded response were reps for the venue where the Perth show was held: "From [our] perspective, the event was a huge success."

Not sure how well that response will go over with one woman who told The Australian, "What a waste of $200. I could have got four pairs of shoes for that."

To which The Hollywood Gossip would reply: 1. That sucks, but 2. This is a surprise? Go see Britney Spears live if you want, but how do you expect better?

Spears' manager, Adam Leber, came to her defense, claiming that it was the work of just one Australian journalist that sparked this whole lip-synch debate.

"It's unfortunate that one journalist didn't enjoy the show," he said. "Fortunately the other 18,272 fans in attendance did." Well, 18,271. Shoe lady didn't.

Perhaps the best comment on the story came from none other than a certain douchebag also in Australia promoting his album, who posted on his Twitter:

"If you're shocked that Britney was lip-syncing at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you." LOL. So true, John Mayer.

OMG! Britney Spears does not sing live! Australia is just now getting this memo issued in 2003, apparently. Do you even get the Internet down there, mates?

Britney just arrived down under Thursday, but already she's the subject of government scrutiny over the fact that she'll be lip-synching portions of her shows.

Government scrutiny. What a great country. If this is what their elected officials have to worry about, we're living in the wrong place. Sydney here we come!

No, seriously. This is a real story. Virginia Judge, Minister for Fair Trading for New South Wales, said she is considering options to make sure fans aren't misled.

Britney's Circus tour tickets are going for more than $1,300, and while "it is Britney's 'prerogative' to lip-sync, it is my job to make sure consumers know what they are paying for up front," Judge said in a statement released by the government.

OMG WHAT? Britney doesn't sing live? Devastating and shocking.

One idea is to require disclaimers indicating that portions will be pre-recorded. They should also warn about expletive-laden tirades and wardrobe malfunctions.

Seriously, does anyone not know or care about this? It's no secret that many artists, including Spears, lip-sync at times during their elaborate stage shows.

We can't imagine anyone goes to see Britney live for the well-sung lyrics. They go to watch a hot girl gyrate on a stripper pole and dry hump backup dancers.

This isn't to say $1,300 isn't a ripoff. They play Britney Spears' "3" at strip clubs, too, and you can actually pay for a private dance there. Not that we know.

Britney Spears' Circus tour has officially touched down in Australia.

"Longest flight ever but we had a great time ... So excited to be here," Britney's interns Twittered upon landing in Sydney just after 6 a.m. Thursday.

Spears then promptly boarded another jet bound for Perth, where the pop star will perform the first of 15 shows scheduled in the country on Friday.

Of course, this is Britney Spears, so you know there will always be some controversy with her. She's already getting criticism in the Australian media.

Why? For lip-synching much of her shows while charging up to $1,360 for tickets. Fair, but think of the wardrobe malfunctions you get for that $1,360!

Britney Spears touches down in Australia.

Brit-Brit didn't leave L.A. without a minor ruckus, either. She was seen trying to go through security at LAX airport sucking down a huge Big Gulp drink.

This is a big no-no. Ordinary citizens are not allowed to bring open beverages through security. And besides, all that caffeine and sugar is bad for you.

The one-woman stimulus package is bringing quite an entourage with her: 225 crew members, 45 band members and dancers, and 15 circus performers made the trip to Australia, where she will hire 150 local workers per city.

Controversies aside, Australia is in for a treat.

As soon as the "3" music video flashes on screen and Britney starts disrobing, gyrating, panting and lip-synching like a madwoman, all will be forgotten.

With her first-ever concert tour through Australia starting in just a couple of days, pop star Britney Spears is doing her best to live a normal life while she can.

Well, whatever her equivalent of a normal life is. This is a woman who cleans up her image at the same time she releases her "3" music video, remember.

Friday night, Britney took her boys Sean Preston Federline, 4, and Jayden James Federline, 3, out for a family dinner in Calabasas, Calif. Here's mommy ...

Britney Spears' son Jayden is so big! Kids. They grow up so fast.

It's been really nice for Britney to be spending some low-key time in L.A. recently. The kids have really gotten to know their new dad-in-waiting Jason Trawick.

Click to enlarge more Britney Spears pictures featuring the international superstar and mother-of-two doing what she does best. Or at least loves most ...

[Photos: Fame Pictures]

After three preview clips (five freaking seconds each, spread throughout the day Thursday) and a word from her sponsor ("Fantasy" by Britney Spears, natch) the marketing machine has run its course and Britney Spears' new video is out.

Take a look at the uber-sexy, threesome-themed video and after you go take a cold shower, tell us what you think of it by voting in the poll below ...

What do you think of Britney Spears' "3" music video?

Britney Spears' new single is called "3." In case there was any confusion, that's the number of sex partners involved in a provocative encounter she's singing about.

It's also half as many seconds as the video clip she posted on Twitter, promoting the new "3" music video. Yup, it's that frickin' short. But c'mon, it's still so hot!

There's not too much more to say about it, given the ridiculous length of the clip. But we must say, Britney's newer, cleaner image must not extend to her music ...

This concludes the first Britney Spears "3" video clip. We hope you're satisfied. There are supposedly two more coming, too ... which is actually what she said.

Sorry, we've been reading too many Office quotes lately. That crazy Michael Scott.

UPDATE: The second and third clips from "3" are released! Peep 'em post-jump:

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