Friday, Aug. 4, 2000 | 8:43 a.m.
Did she or didn't she?
Will she or won't she?
Are they or aren't they?
These are the questions that keep adolescents -- and the media -- on the edge of their seats.
If you don't know who "she" is, you may as well stop reading now: You either didn't enter or have been been out of the roller coaster known as the Britney Spears Rumor Mill too long to care.
Gossip has followed 18-year-old Spears -- who performs before a sold-out crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena tonight -- since she exploded onto the pop music scene last year, donning sweet Catholic-school girl garb in the heavily-rotated video for the single "... Baby One More Time."
The song (also the title of her debut album) was followed by another dance tune,"(You Drive Me) Crazy," and the heartstring tuggers, "Sometimes" and "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart."
The one-time Mouseketeer's second disc, aptly titled "Oops! ... I Did It Again," has so far birthed a hit in the title single and, most recently, "Lucky," about a "Hollywood girl" who cries because she's lonely. (A strange coincidence mirroring Spear's own life? Rumormongers will, doubtlessly, judge that.)
Almost since her career began, Spears has made headlines for such things as her alleged acquaintances with members of certain boy bands and the royal family, and her expanding bustline.
But why is Spears a rumor magnet? Ted Casablanca, gossip columnist for E! Online, says she is "much more accessible" than her pop peers, specifically teen songstress Christina Aguilera, another former Mouseketeer who won the Best New Artist Grammy this year.
"First of all, (Spears) eats," Casablanca says, "she has more of a natural young woman figure," compared with Aguilera who is "'stick thin" and "acts less her age, less of a teenager.
"Britney seems, to me, to still be very much holding on to her age, not trying to act older, and I think that a lot of young women identify with that ... They want to be able to still like teddy bears and have crushes on boys, and yet they still want to be a woman and have sexual experiences and Britney, in a way, offers both of those things. I think Christina is more of an enigma in a way. I think she's harder to figure out."
Rumors have also flown about a rivalry between the two pop stars. "There does seem to be this diva battle between Christina and Britney, and ultimately that's the most interesting thing about them both," Casablanca says. "It's like they're the Joan Crawford and Bette Davis of the teeny-bopper set.
In honor of reigning teen scream Spears' performance, the Sun has compiled a short list (via the Internet and magazine and newspaper accounts) of some of the rumors that have spun around Spears. (Calls to her publicists at Jive Records in New York -- to confirm, deny or even decline comment on the gossip for this story -- were not returned.)
* Britney had breast enhancement surgery. The 19-year-old vehemently denies this allegation. She reportedly has said that when she first signed with the record label and took photos, "I weighed 105 pounds; I weigh 130 now. I went through a major growth spurt."
Meanwhile she told the USA Today: "My mom would just die if I did that."
Casablanca offers his own theory. "I've got all of these obnoxious spies all over the place and they've seen her backstage. I'm convinced that she wears very well-put-together underwear -- heavy on the construction of those brassieres.
"I can't tell you how much mail I get wanting to know if they're real or not," he says, most of it from the mothers of Spears' teenage fans. "I think it relates directly back to (slain child beauty queen) JonBenet (Ramsey).
"I think there's a real interest on just how much do you alter a young woman's appearance, how soon in her life and what lengths are you willing to go to to achieve stardom, and I think there are a lot of questions about what kind of parental influence does she have that this is being allowed."
* Britney is engaged to and/or has secretly married Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync. This was widely was reported -- and denied by Spears' camp on her website, www.britneyspears.com: "Contrary to what has been erroneously reported, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are neither engaged or married. The story, which began in the British tabloid News of the World, is, not surprisingly, completely without merit."
Spears has been quoted as saying of Timberlake, her former "Mickey Mouse Club" co-star: " I adore him. He is the cutest thing in the world, and we talk, but it'snothing serious."
Casablanca says, "I think that, yes, she is dating Justin. I've certainly been reporting it. They've been seen out at concerts; he hangs around backstage; they go to movies. Something is going on, clearly. Whether it's a love relationship or not, I don't know for certain. I would suspect it is. And I think they're both trying to keep it quiet for whatever their reasons are."
* Britney wants to wed Prince William, the future king of England. She's been quoted as saying, "Marry Prince William? I would love that. After all, who wouldn't want to be a princess?"
"I don't think there's any interest on (William's) part," Casablanca says, "but I think she's very smart to be playing it out the way she has ... I think if she had come out with, 'Oh, I'm not really interested in him,' or had created some sort of appearance of, 'I'm too good for him,' I think that would be absurd.
"She's a Mouseketeer; he's from Buckingham Palace. The contrast is quite extreme and I think for her to play it up with humor on her end is quite savvy."
* Britney doesn't sing her own songs. "I've heard she lip syncs a lot," Casablanca says, "but I think ultimately the recorded voice is hers. In her (stage) show, I think, it's quite clear that she is more into the performance, the dancing ... That's what she's more into than, say, someone like Aguilera who I think is more of a singer in the pure sense."
* Britney is getting her own TV show. Last year Spears told the Toronto Sun: "As far as acting goes, I'd love to do film. There's been talk of a lot of things, but my schedule's so busy right now I just want to focus on my music. But maybe in the long run."
Casablanca has heard that rumor, too, as well as those about movie offers. "And I think it will all happen. Whether or not they're successful remains to be seen. And I think she's gonna get that stuff a lot quicker than (pop star) Mariah Carey, who's been wanting it for just as long, if not more so." With Spears, he says, "There's a magnetism there on camera that I think will probably, depending on which vehicle she choses, could translate onto film or TV successfully."
* Britney's sexy image and attire. "I don't see what the big hoopla is," she told the Toronto Sun. "What's the big deal? I have really strong morals, and just because I look sexy on the cover of Rolling Stone doesn't mean I'm a naughty girl. I'd do it again ... I was tired of being compared to ('80s pop star) Debbie Gibson and all of this bubble-gum pop all the time. It shut (critics) up, didn't it?"
In Germany's In Style magazine, she said: "I only wear these crop tops because other clothes would make me sweat when I dance. I never wanted this sexy image. I want to become like Madonna, only without all the men, gossip and scandals."
Again, Casablanca defers to the Ramsey connection. Spears "bleaches her hair; there's questions about what she's done to her body and how does that affect the making over of a woman like that for stardom at such a young age ... I think that will be one of the most interesting things to see, which is what type of woman both personally and professionally does she become."
And, in a report that surfaced late last week in the New York Post, Spears allegedly had a tourist with a camera booted out of a popular New York nightclub. The tourist, from Miami, was quoted as saying Spears was "drunk and belligerent," while representatives from the club claimed she was drinking soda and juice.
Maybe Spears is telling the truth when she sings in the "Oops!" single: "I'm not that innocent."
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