With the release of her sixth studio album Circus only three weeks away, Britney Spears is working on a “top secret project” with her manager and choreographer.

The pop star, 26, released four exclusive photos on her new celebrity MySpace page of auditions for male dancers for the new project “in anticipation of next month’s Circus.”

The new page launched Monday and features pictures from Spears’ wins at this year’s Video Music Awards and a video of the director’s cut her Circus single “Womanizer.”

Spears recently took the stage at a Madonna concert in Los Angeles. She also is planning her own concert tour next year.

- Emmet Sullivan

Source:www.People.com

Britney Spears arrived Friday in Louisiana with her sons for a family visit to her hometown in Kentwood.

It was the first time the 26-year-old singer was allowed to take Preston, 3, and Jayden, 2, out of California since losing all custody rights earlier this year to ex-husband Kevin Federline.

“This is a terrific indication of the progress she’s made, and the growing trust between the two parents,” says a source close to Spears. “It was arranged cooperatively between Kevin and the lawyers.”

Since reaching a custody settlement in July, Spears currently has two visits and an overnight per week with her children.

Adds the source: “Britney just wanted to get some family time in and show the boys Louisiana, now that they’re getting older.”

• Additional reporting by STEVE HELLING and JENNIFER GARCIA

Source:www.People.com

Britney Spears has already revealed a video of her fitness regimen - and the pop star is still at it. Witness a new

picture of Spears in the dance studio, working up a sweat as she prepares for her tour next spring.

In a series of photos - some black and white, and some color - posted as a gallery on the singer’s official Web site Spears is show in action with her dancers.

Although she is hard at work, family is still close to her heart - literally. In the above photo, mom-of-two Spears, 26, wears two Key to My Heart pendants with the names of her children Sean and Jayden.
- Pete Norman

Source:www.People.com

Britney Spears’s father, Jamie, has been named permanent conservator of his daughter’s affairs, a Los Angeles court ruled on Tuesday. He was also named permanent co-conservator of her estate, along with an attorney, Andrew Wallet.

“I’ve met several times with %26#91;Britney%26#93; and she requested that I not object to the permanent conservatorship,” the singer’s court-appointed lawyer Samuel Ingham said in open court.

Commissioner Reva Goetz stated that the permanent conservatorship was “necessary and appropriate.”

“People shouldn’t read too much into the word ‘permanent’” explains Terry K. Wasserman, a mental health lawyer not involved with this case. “In many cases, it’s just a formality to avoid having to renew a temporary status over and over again.”

A source close to Spears concurs, saying, “This is by no means something that’s going to last forever. The conservatorship being made permanent in name is primarily to ensure increased time with her children, and provide support for her music and work goals.”

Adds Wasserman: “Ms. Spears can regain control of her life anytime - as long as her doctors feel she’s able to manage her own affairs.”

RELATED GALLERY:
• See ALL of Britney’s PEOPLE covers!

Source:www.People.com

How did Britney Spears get so toned so fast? Easy. The pop star has been working out - and documenting her hard work for fans to see. In a new video posted on her official Web site, Spears takes fans inside her home gym to watch her pump up with a trainer. Also part of her fitness regimen: Plenty of workouts at local dance studios, where the pop star has been clocking some time.

Spears is getting in top shape as she prepares for the Dec. 2 release of Circus, her latest album. The singer is also expected to begin a worldwide tour - her first since 2004 - in the spring of 2009. And earlier this month, Spears showed off her buff bod in the sexy video for “Womanizer.”

Source:www.People.com

Baby, one more time!

Britney Spears will hit the road for a string of tour dates next spring, the trade journal Billboard reports.

The 2009 shows will be her major tour since 2004 - and her subsequent downward spiral.

The tour - which will include dates in the U.S. and abroad - is expected to include material from Circus, out Dec. 2. (That’s Spears’ 27th birthday.) She has already released a sexy video for “Womanizer,” the first single off her new album.

Source:www.People.com

A mistrial was declared Tuesday in Britney Spears’s misdemeanor trial for driving without a license. The jury was deadlocked 10-2 in favor of the singer’s innocence, the foreman said in open court.

“The jury is hopelessly deadlocked, and I declare this a mistrial,” stated Judge James A. Steele, who later dismissed the case.

The jury had deliberated for three days in the trial, which involved only one day of witness testimony.

Spears, 26, had been accused of driving without a California license, stemming from an August 2007 fender-bender.

“Today’s outcome shows my client did nothing wrong. I consider this a victory,” said Britney’s attorney, Michael Flanagan. “Britney was vindicated in that she took on a system that attempted to make an example of her celebrity.”

At a hearing later on Tuesday, Judge Steele dismissed the case, after prosecutor Michael Amerian stated his desire not to retry Spears. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to ask for %26#91;retrial%26#93;,” Amerian said in open court.

Flanagan said he spoke with the singer’s father, who was “ecstatic” the case was dropped.

Celebrity Proved an Asset

Jury foreman Gary Moy, 45, a communications analyst (and one of two jurors who voted guilty), said at a press conference after the decision was announced: “We felt deadlocked from the beginning, there were lots of questions about lack of evidence, whether Spears had a Louisiana license or not, what the definition of residency was. We felt we were never given all the facts in the case.”

He added, “Some jurors felt their time was wasted.”

Moy also noted that he believed Spears’s celebrity worked in her favor, saying that people have a “natural propensity to identify with celebrities, and I feel some of the jurors inserted their personal feelings” into their decision-making.

“We put our best foot forward,” said Amerian about trying the case - and adding that he was troubled by the jury foreman’s comments about her fame working in Spears’s favor. “It just goes to show you how difficult it is to convict a celebrity in Los Angeles.”

RELATED GALLERY:
• Get your Britney fix! See her 16 PEOPLE covers!
RELATED ARTICLE:
• Read about more celeb run-ins with the law

A jury was split 10-2 on Monday on whether Britney Spears was guilty of driving without a license.

The judge sent the panel back for more deliberations. After another two hours, and still no verdict, the judge dismissed them for the night. Deliberations are to resume Tuesday.

It wasn’t known whether they were leaning toward guilt or innocence. A unanimous guilty vote was needed for conviction.

Spears, 26, was charged with a misdemeanor offense for allegedly lacking a valid California license at the time of a fender-bender last year. The charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Spears’s defense called her father to testify that Britney considers Louisiana home. The pop star says she had a Louisiana license at the time of the accident (though she since has gotten a California one).

Britney Spears and Paris Hilton tied for No. 1 on Mr. Blackwell’s 47th annual “Worst Dressed Women List,” the retired designer revealed Tuesday.

Calling them “two peas in an over-exposed pod” and “style-free and fashion deprived,” Blackwell dubbed Spears and Hilton the “Screamgirls.”

Blackwell didn’t limit his nitpicking to young stars such as 20-year-old Lindsay Lohan (No. 3), who went, he claims “from adorable to deplorable” - also targeted, in No. 10 spot, was 57-year-old Meryl Streep, even though she played a fashionista in The Devil Wears Prada.

Escaping Blackwell’s barbs are his “Fabulous Fashion Independents for 2006,” including Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie and Helen Mirren.

To see the complete list and add a comment, visit PEOPLE’s style blog, Off the Rack.

After hearing closing arguments, a jury began deliberations Friday in Britney Spears’s driving-without-a-license trial.

The panel deliberated for two hours without reaching a verdict and was dismissed for the weekend.

In a half-hour closing argument, prosecutor Michael Amerian told jurors that Spears, 26, should be convicted of the misdemeanor charge because she did not have a California driver’s license at the time of a August 2007 fender bender.

“Every significant occurrence of Britney Spears’s life has occurred in Los Angeles,” he said, referring to her marriage, the birth of her two sons, and divorce. “She is a California resident.”

He added that the fact that the singer applied for (but did not receive) a California license four months prior to the accident “shows her intent to stay here.”

Spears’s defense called her father to testify that Britney considers Louisiana home. The pop star says she had a Louisiana license at the time of the accident (though she since has gotten a California one).

Her lawyer, Michael Flanagan, told jurors that Spears “doesn’t want to be here (in California). She’s a Louisiana girl. She’s only here because of her custody case. She keeps thinking, maybe next month I can go home.”

He pointed out that a dozen paparazzi vehicles follow the singer’s every move daily. “You got a glimpse of what it’s like for her to be here. No doubt that’s why she’s been driven crazy, why there’s a conservatorship, why she was hospitalized,” he said. “Do you blame the girl for wanting to go home (to Louisiana)?”

But prosecutor Amerian said there was no hard evidence presented that Spears even had a Louisiana license on the day in question, other than Jamie’s testimony.

If convicted, Spears faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

RELATED GALLERY:
• Get your Britney fix! See her 16 PEOPLE covers!
RELATED ARTICLE:
• Read about more celeb run-ins with the law