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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop star Britney Spears releases a music video on Wednesday that features the troubled singer as an animated superhero in a futuristic world.

The music video will premiere on Wednesday on dedicated Web site (www.BlackoutBall.com) at 6:30 p.m. EDT and accompanies her latest single “Break The Ice” — the third from her 2007 album “Blackout.”

The release of the video, along with an upcoming acting role on U.S. television comedy “How I Met Your Mother,” marks something of a comeback for Spears, 26, whose career has been sidelined by psychiatric problems and months of bitter child custody battles.

Spears’ Jive record company said the video was made in South Korea in Japanese anime style. Spears last year released two singles from the “Blackout” album which has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide but whose commercial success pales in comparison to the singer’s heyday six years ago.

In the past year, Spears has been in rehab, lost custody of her sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline and been hospitalized twice for psychiatric evaluation.

Television executives said on Monday that Spears had been cast in an episode of “How I Met Your Mother.” The episode is expected to air on March 24 and according to insiders Spears will play a receptionist in a doctor’s office.

Spears got her first role in a prime-time U.S. television series in March 2006 when she played a Christian conservative talk show host in a guest appearance on “Will & Grace.”

The director Ang Lee and his frequent producing and screenwriting partner James Schamus were honored with a freedom of expression award this week at ShoWest, an annual convention of theater owners in Las Vegas, for their collaborations, which include last year's sexually charged thriller “Lust, Caution.” The film went a long way to legitimizing its NC-17 rating in the United States, which is reserved for explicit adult-themed material. Dan Glickman, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, which oversees the ratings system, said the film “showed people that an NC-17 movie is not pornography, which is kind of the legend we have been living with.”

Kid Rock caused another scene at a Waffle House – this time for charity. The entertainer came to sign autographs for hundreds of fans during a fundraiser for homeless families at the suburban Atlanta restaurant. The event came just a week after Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, pleaded not guilty to a charge of battery from a fight last fall at another Waffle House. A spokeswoman for Waffle House, Kelly Thrasher, said the company wanted to “take a negative situation and turn it into a positive situation.” Kid Rock, 37, added: “The whole situation before was kind of silly.”

The rise of China as an economic power has sparked interest in English-language fiction about the country, bringing success to several bilingual authors. But only a few authors will be remembered once the novelty wears off, said writers speaking at the annual Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Writers like Yan Geling and Li Yiyun are part of a new group of mainland Chinese who have enjoyed success writing fiction about their home countries in English after moving to the United States. Once readers “get over that China is so exotic, it's so mysterious,” said Li, “I think that's where real literature comes in.”

If John Cho has a cult following now as Harold in the “Harold & Kumar” movies, wait until “Star Trek” comes out. Cho will co-star as Sulu in J.J. Abrams's film, due out next summer. He's shooting his last scenes as the Starship Enterprise's helmsman this week, and is promoting “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay,” which had its premiere last weekend at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas. Cho, 35, is aware of the pressure he and the rest of the cast and crew are under to please “Star Trek” fans.
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Spears has previous TV sitcom experience playing a character on a 2006 episode of Will & Grace. She was also the host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live in May 2000.

Madonna, John Mellencamp, Philly soul producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, literate songwriter Leonard Cohen, British rockers the Dave Clark Five, and surf instrumentalists the Ventures were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Monday night in New York.

Among all the recollections and praise, it was Justin Timberlake’s induction speech for Madonna that had tongues wagging.

He recalled feeling ill one day while working on Madonna’s new album and she asked whether he wanted a vitamin B-12 shot. He said sure, expecting a doctor to show up, but Madonna pulled out a syringe and said, “drop ‘em.”

After he pulled his pants back up, “she looked at me and said, ‘That’s top shelf,’ and that was one of the greatest days of my life,” he said.

Ten actors from the HBO series The Wire watched the series finale with one of its biggest fans – Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

The mayor hosted a screening of the final episode at City Hall on Sunday that was attended by about 100 people.

The story told in the Baltimore-based drama is much the same in Philadelphia.
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A federal judge has given an attorney claiming to be Britney Spears’ new lawyer until February 29 to explain why the singer’s ongoing conservatorship case should be moved to a federal court.Judge Philip Gutierrez ruled Jon Eardley, who has practices in New York and Washington, DC, has to prove why the conservatorship of Spears’ estate violates her civil rights.Last week, Eardley filed a legal complaint in US District Court, arguing the case should be moved from Los Angeles Superior Court to a federal court.But on Wednesday, puzzled Judge Gutierrez failed to follow Eardley’s logic and set a deadline of February 29 for the attorney to explain his reasoning.
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