Britney fever? We’re cured.

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OK, if you haven’t yet seen Britney in her best black underwear (and I guess we should give her points for covering her bum) as she opened last night’s Video Music Awards, it’s up for viewing on MTV’s site. She sang “Gimme More,” which begs the question, “More what?” More money? I think she’s set. More attention? Oh please. Been there, overdone that.
Britney was dressed for a bump and grind act, but she delivered her performance with all the gusto of a poorly faked orgasm. She had more energy on her millionth performance of “Oops! I Did It Again.”
Can we in the media come to some sort of agreement on this? Britney apparently doesn’t want to be a music star anymore, or she would have performed as if her career were on the line, because it is. And even her most ardent fans (and who are they these days?) must have felt let down. So let’s just let Britney ride off into the sunset toward whatever trailer park she chooses to settle in.
As VMA host Sarah Silverman so glibly pointed out, “She’s 25 and she’s already accomplished everything she’s going to accomplish in her life.”

What a display

Oscar producer Laura Ziskin meant well when she asked for some sort of display on stage of nominated costume designs. But what the hell was that? “Curse of the Golden Flower” and “Marie Antoinette” were showcased nicely, but the corgi next to the multiple versions of “The Queen,” the two white-haired Mirandas in their “Prada” wear and the Voguish posing of the “Dreamgirls” were just campy gone weird.

Green?

Vice President Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio just came out to announce that for the first time in Oscar history, the show has gone green, meaning whenever possible, choices favored those that were ecologically sound.
Of course, it probably was much closer to green back in the early 30s when it was just a dinner get-together of Hollywood insiders. You wanna be really green? Dont force the closure Hollywood Boulevard for about a week, leaving cars trucks and buses belching fumes while they idle in the traffic.
And dont anybody remind Al about all the chemical waste involved in metal plating on those statuettes.

Ellen’s on

Great opening sequence with absolutely no frills. Short, sweet and endearing straight-on interviews with the nominees, cut just quickly enough. Thank you, Errol Morris. Then came Ellen DeGeneres. She’s known for her apolitical comedy, and she likes it that way. But she did get in one impartial comment. It came after acknowledging Jennifer Hudson, noting the irony that Americans did not vote for her to win “American Idol,” and yet here she is with an Oscar nomination for “Dreamgirls.” “And Al Gore is here tonight, (for the documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’),” DeGeneres said. “Americans did vote for him, and…. It’s very complicated.”

Touche. Al and Tipper had a good laugh, and Ellen got big applause.

Ricky’s cool

I love Ricky Gervais! If you didn’t catch his video message to Kate Winslet on E!’s red carpet coverage, then it’s going to lose something in this translation. The creative genius behind “The Office” and star of “Extras” was polite and suportive of his old friend, but his Siamese cat apparently couldn’t hold back, expressing her preference for Helen Mirren’s performance and her snide opinion of Winslet’s gown. Kate thoroughly enjoyed it, and that was the idea. Every nervous nominee should have a friend like him to help them relax on their way in to the big event.

Simon says

If you’re ex-Idol contestant and Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson, one good thing about being interviewed by Ryan Seacrest on the Academy Awards red carpet is his ability to get Simon Cowell eating a heapin’ helping of crow on tape. Cowell submitted a video message just for Hudson, whom he drubbed during her “American Idol” performances in season three. “We’re rooting for you,” he said, predicting she would win the supporting actress honor for “Dreamgirls.” Hudson was so touched that she expressed concern about her makeup being runined by a tear or two. Finally! Simon making somebody cry is a good thing.

The veep is in the house

The Kodak Theatre, anyway. Former Vice President Al Gore, hoping for a documentary award for director Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” just did the red carpet thing with wife Tipper — she in Bill Blass, he in Ralph Lauren.

He’s as sharp and self-deprecating as ever. When E! host Ryan Seacrest asked him who could play Gore in a biopic, he replied, “I don’t know … William Hung?” If you’ve ever seen Al dance, you know his suggestion has some merit.