Best and worst dressed at the Aussie Open 2011

 

 Venus Williams snares attention with her dresses, but she's not the only star making waves

The first two rounds are in the book at the Australian Open, which means it's time for your favorite quarterly review of Grand Slam fashions, Busted Racquet's best and worst dressed tennis players list.
Note that Venus Williams didn't make the worst dressed list. This is because she would be so dominant on said list that it'd be unfair to the other competitors. Venus is already in the bad outfit Hall of Fame. You can't compare her to a mere mortal, like Caroline Wozniacki. They don't let Mariah Carey enter "American Idol," you know?

As for the best dressed, you'll notice a lot of Nike, Lacoste and adidas kits on the list and there's a simple reason for it: those companies make the best looking tennis clothes. Sometimes simple and clean is better, Yonex.

some of the worst dressed

some of the best dressed

Jesse James and Kat Von D are engaged!

According to People, Sandra Bullock's ex-husband and the tattoo artist are getting married.
"You know sometimes the public and press gets it wrong. This is one of those times. 2010 was actually the best year of my life because I fell in love with my best friend. An amazing woman who stood behind me when the world turned their backs," Jesse told the mag.
"I have never met anyone so kind and loving and committed to making the world a better place every day," he continued. "My love for her is beyond description. So honored that she said 'yes.'"
Kat Von D confirmed her relationship with Jesse in September 2010, after he finalized his divorce from Sandra Bullock in June after he admitted to being unfaithful.
"This is definitely something that I think we weren't expecting, and it's been great," the "LA Ink" star told Access Hollywood at the time.
When asked about her new fiancée, she told People, "There is no one else for me. He's the one.
Will Kat leave Los Angeles for Austin, Texas?
"If only it were that easy. Having two places we call home will be good for now. In the end, home is where the heart is, and my heart's with him," she told the mag.
The couple has not announced when they plan to wed.
source:Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
some pics of the couple 

Buzz over odd choice for 'Batman' villain

Searches Surge on Batman’s Nemesis

 Gotham City is filled to the brim with iconic villains. So, some people were surprised to hear that Bane, a relatively obscure character in Batman's world, would get a starring role in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Sure, Catwoman (played by Anne "Meow" Hathaway) will likely get the, ahem, lion's share of the screen time. And Web searches on Hathaway did soar an impressive 3,693%. However, folks were far more interested in learning more about Tom Hardy, who will play Bane. Online interest in the actor soared an astounding 17,662% in one day. Searches for "tom hardy bane" posted equally impressive numbers. Clearly, folks want to know more about the bad guy.

So, who is Bane? Longtime fans of Batman may have horrible memories of Bane's other big screen appearance. In the widely panned 1997 film, "Batman & Robin," a neon-hued Bane, played by the late Jeep Swenson, had a minor role as Poison Ivy's henchman.
But Bane's job in that movie was to mostly break stuff and look freakishly large. In the comics, which will presumably have a large influence over the upcoming film, Bane has a mind as impressive as his muscles. He was raised in a prison and famously broke Batman's back in an epic showdown. In other words, Bane ain't no Penguin.
It remains to be seen if director Christopher Nolan will use copious amounts of CGI to give Bane the appropriate Hulk-like appearance. After all, Hardy, while no wimp, isn't exactly 8 feet tall and made entirely of muscle. The actor was most recently seen opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Nolan's "Inception," where he uttered the line, "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."
Hardy will no doubt look a lot bigger as Bane when "The Dark Knight Rises" hits theaters in 2012. And if the film is a hit, which it almost certainly will be, expect Hardy's career to be a lot bigger, too.

 

When a woman should make the first move

 3 good reasons to make the first mov
When my friend Stuart was a teenager, he and his friend were on a mission to find some fireworks. They stumbled into a convenience store where Stuart found himself face to face with a young and attractive clerk. Stuart then meekly inquired, “Do you have any firecrackers here?” The young woman, he recalls, scanned him from head to toe in a slow once-over and then breathily replied, “Just me, honey.” Shy and flustered, Stuart admits he left the store that day pretty darn fast, but also confesses that most of his relationships throughout his life have been initiated by women because, as he tells it, he’s a “chicken” when it comes to making the first move. While I rather admire the nervy convenience store clerk, I tend to be a little more like Catherine, a 41-year-old nurse who was taught that nice girls don’t make the first move. Two years ago, Catherine decided to challenge the rules she grew up with and contacted a guy on Match.com whose profile caught her eye.

“This was a biggie for me,” Catherine says, “after being raised by a Catholic ex-Marine with four daughters who always said guys will think you are easy if you call them. Of course, he refused to let us pierce our ears or wear makeup because he wasn’t, after all, ‘raising a bunch of harlots.’” Today, she’s still going strong with the man with the intriguing profile. All good-girl Catherine needed to do was take a chance and break out of her ingrained (but outdated) patterns concerning dating stereotypes.
Like Catherine, many women have decided they’re not interested in waiting around and have realized that there are a lot of good reasons why a man might not be making the first move. Here are a few possibilities to consider:

1. He’s not so good at flirting
You might think of it this way: there’s one set of skills that are crucial for initiating relationships (flirting, for example), and there’s a completely separate set of skills for sustaining an established relationship. The man you’re interested in could be very skilled at sustaining a relationship, but have no clue when it comes flirting (and if you think about it, a guy like this might be a very good catch). Remember my friend, Stuart? He belongs to the latter category. “I’ve made the first move a couple of times,” Stuart says, “and they’ve been disasters. One previous girlfriend noted that I have zero flirting skills, which is what most people use to judge the terrain before making a move. Because I just lumber in, it’s usually a disaster. So almost all of my, uh, dates have been initiated by the woman or have been low-risk setups.”

2. He’s just a wee bit intimidated
Remember that annoying “Out of your league” expression? As in, “Don’t even try it, man. She’s waaaaaaaaay out of your league.” Well, as silly as that sort of thinking is to us now that we’re grown, it can linger on in some men’s brains and create confidence-crushing fantasies, such as this one: 1) Glance at beautiful woman; 2) Wonder momentarily if maybe, just maybe, she’d… 3) Have fantasy brutally interrupted by memory of “frenemy” (think Reggie from the Archie comic books or Iago from Othello) jeering: “Forget about it, man. She’s waaaaaay outta your...” and scene. Some fantasy, right?

In fact, I think this is exactly what may have happened to Sara’s future husband, Tom. At the time — some 15 years ago now — Sara and Tom were both working as promoters in the music industry. “People at radio stations all around the country would say to me, in a sing-song voice, ‘Somebody liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes you!’” says Sara, now a 44-year-old psychotherapist. “It actually began to annoy me, because I felt that if he liked me so much he should let me know. I refused to make the next move because I thought the whole thing smacked of high school.”

But when Tom did finally work up the nerve to call Sara, her roommate told him she was in Santa Fe for the weekend. Tom then conjured up the idea that if a beautiful woman like Sara were in Santa Fe, she must be there on a romantic weekend with a boyfriend. So, intimidated and discouraged, Tom decided not to ask Sara out. A year later when Sara spotted Tom at a party, she decided to make the first move. “Are you ever going to ask me out?” asked Sara. “I will now,” Tom replied. And he did. They’ve been married for 15 years.

3. He’s been treated badly in past relationships
Maybe you’re a bit like Sara and you’re thinking, “If he likes me so much, surely he can ask me out!” But before you dismiss him on the grounds of “not stepping up to the plate,” stop to consider what he’s been through. A painful, recent rejection — a long relationship ending suddenly against his wishes, perhaps — might be one reason why he’s hesitant to put himself on the line.

Sometimes, making “the first move” doesn’t even mean asking the guy out. It can be as easy as taking the conversation with an acquaintance to the next level by turning it from what’s happening in the news to what’s happening over the weekend. As Sara recalls, “It worked out well, my making the first move, but there was a lot of groundwork to be put down beforehand that helped me make that move a little bit easier.” 

Roger Ebert's new silicon face-Have a look..

Roger Ebert Will Wear Prosthesis for New Review Show

Roger Ebert with his new prosthesis

 When film critic Roger Ebert announced his new review program, "Ebert Presents at the Movies," which premieres tomorrow, it was understood that the bulk of the show would be hosted by AP critic Christy Lemire and newcomer Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, in part because Ebert's cancer surgeries had required the removal of most of his mandible. For those familiar with his appearance on the Oscar red carpet or on "Siskel & Ebert," the change in his face after the surgeries was quite shocking, especially when it was featured so prominently in Chris Jones' fantastic Esquire profile from last year. But Ebert will be returning to television for the new show, in which he'll contribute a weekly segment called "Roger's Office." And for the program, he'll be debuting a new look, literally: He'll be wearing a prosthetic to cover his lower face. 

Late last night, Ebert broke the news on his blog, revealing for the first time the "two-year process that has now resulted with my coming into possession of a silicone prosthesis." Using 3-D photos of Ebert and a bust made by a friend of his during art school years earlier, a team including doctors and an anaplastologist came up with a "device [that] would fit over my lower face and neck and, colored to match my skin, would pass muster at a certain distance." To demonstrate the craftsmanship of the work, Ebert even included a picture of himself wearing the prosthesis.
We have to say, the time spent getting this done right has paid off: It's pretty impressive work. People who grew up watching Ebert will most assuredly notice the difference, but in case Ebert or others worried that his surgery-disfigured face might scare off viewers, the new prosthesis will go a long way toward reassuring the skittish.
Still, that isn't the only change that people will notice with Ebert. The surgeries also robbed him of his voice in 2006, but he's gotten around the problem thanks to CereProc, a Scottish company that gave him a new digital voice compiled from Ebert's old audio recordings. (He debuted it on "Oprah" back in March, and it was shockingly similar to his actual voice.) So, even though Ebert has been through a lot in his cancer bouts, he'll very much be back tomorrow.
Except, of course, that Ebert has hardly been gone: In the last few years, he's been more prolific than he ever has, writing reviews and commentaries at a dizzying rate of consistent excellence. But, as he wrote in that same blog post, even as he prepares to unveil these changes on the show tomorrow, he knows he's not fooling anyone:
At the beginning of this process I assumed I would wear the new prosthesis whenever I left the house, so that "nobody would know." But everybody knows. The photograph of me that appeared in Esquire even found its way onto billboards in China. And something else has happened ... I accept the way I look. Lord knows I paid the dues.
Indeed. Seriously, none of us are ever allowed to complain about writer's block again after what he's been through. When we were kids, Roger Ebert was one of the writers who got us inspired about the art of film criticism. Nowadays, that inspiration extends far beyond movies to how to live life to the very, very fullest.

Venus williams out does herselef again with her dress

Just when you thought Venus Williams had gone as far (and short) as possible, she manages to stretch the boundaries of tennis fashion a little bit more with her very short dress.
In her second-round match at the Australian Open, the seven-time Grand Slam champ walked onto court at Rod Laver Arena wearing a yellow tank-top dress with a crisscross pattern covering her bare abdomen. It looked like a mix between Solid Gold Dancer and Edward Scissorhands.

Venus said it was totally inspired by "Alice in Wonderland."
"Yeah, don't laugh. But it's kind of about a surprise, because when Alice goes down the hole, the rabbit hole, she finds all these things that are so surprisingly.
"This outfit is about having a surprise in tennis a dress, and kind of, you know, showing some skin and then just having a print. Prints don't happen that often in tennis. So it's called the Wonderland dress(ALICE). It was fun."
Bravo, Venus. I'd call this your best yet, but I've learned my lesson. You still have another match on Friday.
Oh, and her earrings weren't bad either too:

Anime - Hentai Wallpaper Sexy Girls

Melissa Etheridge to step into the 'American Idiot'

NEW YORK – Melissa Etheridge is about to get in touch with her punk side .
The Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer will temporarily step in for Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong while he takes the break from performing in his Broadway musical, "American Idiot."
Etheridge, best known for her song "Come to My Window," will play drug dealer "St. Jimmy" from Feb. 1 to Feb. 6. Armstrong, the composer and co-author of the musical, returns Feb. 10.

The high-octane show follows three working-class characters as they wrestle with modern life. One joins the Army, one becomes a father and one of the descends into a drug-fueled life — thanks to St. Jimmy.
Says director Michael Mayer: "This character is seductive, thrilling and dangerous. Melissa Etheridge is all that and so much more too."

Anne Hathaway to play Catwoman in the upcoming Batman movie

ANNE Hathaway will play the role of Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman, in the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises, Deadline reported Recent Wednesday.

The Love & Other Drugs actress will star opposite British actor Christian Bale in director Christopher Nolan's third and final film in the Batman series finally.
"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be the fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story," Nolan said.
English actor Tom Hardy, who was in Nolan's hit Inception, was also confirmed as part of the cast - in the role of the supervillain Bane.
"I am delighted to be working with Tom again and also excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman's most formidable enemies," Nolan added.
The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed to worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Who Will be totally Benefited from Mobile Number Portability?

Starting Thursday, mobile phone users across India will be able to switch telecom operator or mobile technology without changing phone number.
MNP actually first reached the Indian consumers last November. But that was just for users in the Haryana area – now the service is available to the over 600 million mobile phone users across the country totally.
Switching from one network to another (while keeping the same number) is pretty straightforward: All customers have to do is send an SMS with their mobile number to 1900 (SMS PORT 1900) to get their unique porting code. After this, the process is essentially the same as getting a new connection.
Network providers are eager to lure customers from rival companies but also fearful of losing their own.
Telecom experts say this service is likely to appeal to customers who were previously willing to spend more rather than give up their old numbers.
“MNP will target more high-end to mid-level users as compared to average user who will be concerned about not changing their number but would want to take advantage of better service facilities,” said Kunal Bajaj, director of the telecom consulting firm Analysys Masons India.
This means most users switching numbers are likely to be postpaid users, since this is the type of payment most common among higher-end users.
This makes MNP a bigger risk for larger companies like Vodafone Essar India Ltd. and Bharti Airtel. “They have more postpaid high-end users and thus would want to protect them from going away,” said Mr. Bajaj of Analysys Mason.
Mr. Bajaj said this is a good chance for smaller operators like Idea Cellular Ltd., Tata Communications Ltd. and Reliance Communications to broaden their consumer base through improved offers and customer support.
Others agree. “New operators like Uninor and Videocon will gain because they hardly have anything to lose and can build consumer trust on the new service and offers they can give to customers,” said an official from MNP Interconnection Telecom Solution, a firm that is set to implement the new service across parts of India.
But some bigger players say MNP is an opportunity for them too. Samaresh Parida, strategy director at Vodafone Essar, said the deciding factor will be quality, more than price. “Companies that have a strong brand proposition, superior network quality, innovative and differentiated products and services and greater predictability of quality of customer service will have an edge. High value customers are extremely wary of changing to the new lot of service providers that have limited or untested network coverage and quality,” Mr. Parida said.
Telecom providers have sought to maximize the benefits and limit the damages of MNP by launching often aggressive marketing campaigns.
Vodafone’s Indian unit launched a “Everybody’s welcome” campaign and Idea launched the now-popular “Switch to Idea” campaign.
Idea was among the first to attract the attention of consumers who are thinking of changing operator. In a recent TV advertisement, actor Abhishek Bachchan tells people “No Idea, Get Idea!”. The company has recently set up a helpline consumers can ring up to get guidance on how to change network.
Not all have been so proactive about it. Although a Bharti Airtel spokesperson has described it as “a great opportunity,” the company is yet to launch a media campaign on MNP.
While the service will definitely make the market more competitive, how successful will the service itself be?
Cost and time shouldn’t be a major deterrent, since switching to another network is only 19 rupees ($ 0.40) and it takes about five days.
In Haryana, where the service has been available for a few months, MNP has so far received a positive response from customers.
“In Haryana, even prepaid users have churned, something which we had not thought of earlier. Now prepaid users are also churning in favor of those service providers which give them value for money and better talktime schemes,” said the official from MNP Interconnection Telecom Solution Today.
A recent survey in the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times revealed that one in six mobile phone subscribers want to switch over. It also put Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar as the most likely operators to benefit from the switch.
Globally, Mobile Number Portability(MNP) has a good track record and is today common practice in many countries in Europe. It remains to be seen whether Indian market will follow

The strangest Super Bowl seats of all the time?

NFL to charge people $200 to stand outside Super Bowl stadium

For one-third the price of a regular ticket, NFL fans will be able to stand outside Cowboys Stadium and act like they are attending the Super Bowl XLV. The league announced on Wednesday that tickets to watch the game on large HD video screens on the east side of the stadium will cost $200(huge).

They're calling it the "party plaza," because what's more of a party than spending two bills to go through a security line for the right to sit on a grassy knoll, pay $9 for a beer and watch a game that's freely available on television..?

Tickets will first be offered to Cowboys season-ticket holders who will have to buy in blocks of four. The $800 will cover four tickets to watch the game, four programs, four scarves and a parking pass. Scarves? For that price, they better be Burberry.

"We've never done this before," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN Dallas of the league's plan to price-gouge folks who want to attend the Super Bowl without actually attending the Super Bowl.

Besides additional revenue, the biggest upside for the Cowboys is that those who are buying tickets to the party plaza will count toward the game's official attendance. Jerry Jones has expressed a desire to break the Super Bowl record for biggest crowd, which was set in 1980 when 103,985 attended the game at the Rose Bowl.

How people standing outside a stadium counts as attendance is beyond me. If you're standing next to an unplugged TV, does that mean you'll be tallied in that of Nielsen ratings?

How Super Bowl ticket prices compare to other sports
There’s nothing like the feeling of rolling up to your local sports stadium, ticket in hand, to see your heroes up close and personal. However, those who simply must have the best seat in the house had better make sure the bank balance is hefty. Here’s a sampling of the most expensive sports tickets for the current season and into the spring of 2011. Note that these prices are a combination of both primary and secondary market pricing.
NFL
The Super Bowl carries the most expensive ticket prices and packages of any of the major professional sports. This season’s extravaganza, scheduled for Feb. 6, 2011 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, carries a whopping $9,000 price tag for premium seats in the “100 section,” which, by the way, are already sold out.
Too steep? Then $1,500 gets you in the parking lot to tailgate (no stadium entrance included). But if you really want to impress your pals with a total NFL experience, a luxury suite for 25 – fully catered, of course – will only set you back about $200,000.
[Related: NBA teams with most expensive tickets]

Speaking of the NFL, when the scheduling gods planned the 2010 season opener for the New Orleans Saints, they did one heck of a job. Not only were the defending Super Bowl champion Saints meeting the Minnesota Vikings (and sure-to-be Hall of Famer quarterback Brett Favre), it was a rematch of last season’s thrilling NFC Championship Game that saw New Orleans win on its way to the club’s first Super Bowl. It also drew the highest priced ticket of any team for the NFL regular season to date, at $575 (face value, no mark-up fee, no parking). To the delight of the sell-out crowd, the Saints won this one too, 14-9.

NBA
Here’s the perfect holiday present for the ultimate hoops fan: a courtside ticket to the Miami Heat-Los Angeles Lakers game on Dec. 25, 2010 at the Staples Center in L.A. The average price per ticket is the most expensive in the league at $893. But when a “regular” seat won’t do, you have options: The front row behind the visiting team’s bench costs over $6,000 for each seat (and you must buy four seats). But Miami’s LeBron James, the big-name draw, won’t be sitting much anyway. For a few bucks less ($5,000 each) you can get an unobstructed view of King James battling under the boards with Lakers star Kobe Bryant from center court.
Courtside seats for the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 20, 2011 (also in L.A.) cost a bit more at $6,500, but you get to see all the league’s big stars lumber up and down the court.
NCAA Final Four
College hoops fans might just be the most enthusiastic of the whole bunch. They spend months following the teams, weeks mapping out their grids, and hours on end glued to the TV or internet telecasts. And the folks who organize the tournament know it. A seat in the lower tier of the championship game at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, on April 4 will set you back on average about $3,500. (Mere mortals can sit in the nosebleed section for a modest $175.)

NHL
Professional hockey has fallen out of favor in recent years with American audiences, but the sport’s marquee game this season is the Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2011, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals at Heinz Field. The annual outdoor game has been a huge success in the past, and this year’s edition should be no different. With the game already sold out, you can expect to shell out $300 – for the worst seats in the house. For club seats in the lower bowl you’re looking at a $3,000 price tag.
During the regular season, the Vancouver Canucks’ home game at Rogers Arena on Dec. 18 against the Toronto Maple Leafs (these two teams average the highest ticket prices in the league) will cost $900 for front row seats just off center ice. To compare, the New York Rangers and longtime rival Philadelphia Flyers face off at the storied Madison Square Garden in NYC on Jan. 16 for a paltry $295.
Major League Baseball
The 2010 season is over, but baseball junkies can already order tickets for the 2011 All-Star Game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 12. But act fast! Box seats behind home plate are $3,600 each, and you must buy them in pairs; Dugout box seats are $1,800, and third-base box seats are $1,500 each.
Horse Racing
Not all fans are aficionados of sports that involve varied-sized balls. The Kentucky Derby is arguably the most renowned event in thoroughbred racing. Seating in “Millionaire’s Row” at Churchill Downs for the May 7, 2011, leg of the Triple Crown will set you back about $4,000 (must buy two or four seats). Mint julep, anyone?
The bottom line

Like any retail industry, ticket prices for sporting events are determined by the economics of supply and demand. The high-end seats are not for the budget-conscious people.

Swiss Open New Probe Against 'WikiLeaks Banker'

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, left, accompanied by former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer, right, are seen after Elmer handed Assange two CD cases full of files, following a news conference at the Frontline Club in London, Monday Jan. 17, 2011. Elmer blew the whistle on the conduct of Julius Baer Bank in the Cayman Islands for which he is set to stand trial in Zurich, Switzerland, on Jan. 19 for breaching Swiss bank secrecy laws. Accompanied by his lawyer Jack Blum, he will reveal more details of alleged abuses in the world of offshore financial centres. As he did back in 2007 he will pass the said documents and information to Wikileaks.

Former Swiss banker by Rudolf Elmer hands two CD cases full of files to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, left, following a news conference at the Frontline Club in London, Monday Jan. 17, 2011. Elmer blew the whistle on the conduct of Julius Baer Bank in the Cayman Islands for which he is set to stand trial in Zurich, Switzerland, on Jan. 19 for breaching Swiss bank secrecy laws. Accompanied by his lawyer Jack Blum, he will reveal more details of alleged abuses in the world of offshore financial centres. As he did back in 2007 he will pass the said documents and information to Wikileaks.

Rudolf Elmer is seen during a news conference at the Frontline Club in London, Monday Jan. 17, 2011. Elmer blew the whistle on the conduct of Julius Baer Bank in the Cayman Islands for which he is set to stand trial in Zurich, Switzerland, on Jan. 19 for breaching Swiss bank secrecy laws. Elmer claims he has evidence of alleged abuses in the world of offshore financial centres and passed the said documents and information to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Rudolf Elmer, center, poses for the photographers with digital disks, he claims have information and documents before handing them to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, left, during a news conference at the Frontline Club in London, Monday Jan. 17, 2011. Elmer blew the whistle on the conduct of Julius Baer Bank in the Cayman Islands for which he is set to stand trial in Zurich, Switzerland, on Jan. 19 for breaching Swiss bank secrecy laws. Elmer claims he has evidence of alleged abuses in the world of offshore financial centres and passed the said documents and information to Wikileaks.

Britney Spears still dominates

Week Ending Jan. 16, 2011: Songs: Britney Tops Taylor
Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" sold 411,000 digital copies this week, which enables Spears to break Taylor Swift's record for the biggest first-week sales tally for a song by a female solo artist. The old record-holder was Swift's "Today Was A Fairytale," which sold 325K in its first week a year ago.
This is Spears' biggest one-week digital sales total to date. It surpasses "Womanizer," which sold 303,000 copies during Christmas week 2008 (when sales traditionally spike).
"Hold It Against Me" posted the fourth biggest first-week sales tally in digital history. It trails Flo Rida's "Right Round," which sold 636K in its first week in February 2009; the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow," which sold 465K in its first week in April 2009; and Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent's "Crack A Bottle," which sold 418K in its first week in February 2009.

"Hold It Against Me" debuts at #1 on this week's Hot 100. This is the second time that Spears has opened atop the chart. She achieved the feat in October 2009 with "3." Spears is only the second artist in the chart's 52-year history to debut at #1 with two or more songs. Mariah Carey has debuted at #1 three times. She scored with "Fantasy" in September 1995, "One Sweet Day" (with Boyz II Men) in December 1995 and "Honey" in September 1997. (What about Celine Dion? See The Fine Print, below.)
Spears' achievement is all the more impressive because she has been a star so long. Her first single, "...Baby One More Time," reached #1 in January 1999. Most of the artists who have entered the Hot 100 at #1 have been relative newcomers (such as the red-hot Ke$ha, who did it in November with "We R Who We R").

Only five other artists who have debuted at #1 had been stars for more than a decade at the time they made these powerful debuts. Elton John had been a star for 27 years when he debuted at #1 in 1997 with "Candle In The Wind 1997." Michael Jackson had been a star for nearly 26 years when he debuted in the top spot in 1995 with "You Are Not Alone." Aerosmith had been a top act for 25 years when they debuted at #1 in 1998 with "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing." Eminem had been a star for nearly 12 years when he debuted at #1 last year with "Not Afraid." Whitney Houston had been on top for 10 years when she debuted in the top spot in 1995 with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop Song)."
"Hold It Against Me" is Spears' fourth #1 hit on the Hot 100. It follows "...Baby One More Time," which took 11 weeks to reach #1, "Womanizer," which took two weeks to hit the top spot, and "3."
"Hold It..." will quickly become Spears' eighth million-selling digital hit. Her top digital sellers, per Nielsen SoundScan, are "Womanizer" (3,114,000), "Circus" (2,763,000), "3" (2,049,000), "Piece Of Me" (1,668,000), "Gimme More" (1,627,000), "Toxic" (1,537,000) and "If U Seek Amy" (1,175,000).

The key line in Spears' song is "If I said I want your body now/would you hold it against me." Groucho Marx is said to have come up with the double entendre when he hosted the TV game show You Bet Your Life. The line provided the title of Bellamy Brothers' 1979 hit "If I Said You Have A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me," which topped the country chart for three weeks and cracked the top 40 on the Hot 100. The dry wit of the line was central to the success of the Bellamy Brothers' hit. I'd say the line is incidental to the success of Spears' song. The driving techno beat is what matters.
Spears' song sold nearly 10 times as many copies as this week's #1 album, Cake's Showroom Of Compassion, which sold just 44,000 copies this week, a new low for a #1 album in the Nielsen SoundScan era. Here's a link to this week's Chart Watch: Albums in which I give all the depressing details. (Of course, albums cost about 10 times as much as an individual song, so it evens out, sort of.)

The Fine Print: Celine Dion debuted at #1 in February 1998 with "My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From ‘Titanic')" and did it again that December with "I'm Your Angel" (with R. Kelly). But Billboard doesn't count the second hit as an official #1 debut. Let me explain: The song bowed at #1 the same week that the magazine changed its chart methodology to allow non-singles to enter the chart. Silvio Pietroluongo, the magazine's Director of Charts, explains, "That debuted at No. 1 due to the change in chart rules, not on a proper week to week comparison. The song was ranked in the prior week's test chart." (Billboard is right to be scrupulous about its chart standards, though I'm pretty sure that Dion's small army of devoted fans won't be happy with this.)

Bruno Mars' "Grenade" slips to #2 on the Hot 100 after a total of two weeks on top. It debuts at #1 in the U.K. It's Mars' third hit to reach #1 in both countries, following B.o.B's "Nothin' On You" and Mars' solo smash "Just The Way You Are."

Mars is only the fourth male solo artist in chart history to hit #1 in both countries with consecutive singles. Elvis Presley reached #1 in both countries in 1960-61 with three consecutive hits: "It's Now Or Never," "Are You Lonesome To-night?" and "Surrender." Shaggy scored in 2001 with "It Wasn't Me" (featuring Ricardo "RikRok" Ducent) and "Angel" (featuring Rayvon). Usher triumphed in 2004 with "Yeah!" (featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris) and "Burn."
This is amazing (to lift a word from "Just The Way You Are") given that Mars made his very first appearance on the Hot 100 (at a lowly #89) on Feb. 13, 2010.
Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 songs.

1. Britney Spears, "Hold It Against Me." This new entry is Spears' fourth song to reach #1; her ninth song to reach the top 10. Digital sales rank: #1 (411k).

2. Bruno Mars, "Grenade." The former #1 song dips to #2 after two weeks on top. This is its eighth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #2 (219K).

3. Katy Perry, "Firework." The former #1 song dips from #2 to #3. This is its 11th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #4 (184K).

4. Rihanna featuring Drake, "What's My Name?." The former #1 song dips from #3 to #4. This is its 11th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #12 (114K).

5. Wiz Khalifa, "Black And Yellow." The song jumps from #7 to #5. This is its fourth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #3 (190K).
6. Enrique Iglesias featuring Ludacris & DJ Frank E, "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)." The song holds at #6 for the third straight week. This is its fourth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #5 (182K).
7. Ke$ha, "We R Who We R." The former #1 song drops from #4 to #7. This is its 12th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #9 (141K).
8. P!nk, "Raise Your Glass." The former #1 song drops from #5 to #8. This is its 13th week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #13 (108K)
9. The Black Eyed Peas, "The Time (Dirty Bit)." The song dips from #8 to #9. This is its eighth week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #7 (157K).
10. Bruno Mars, "Just The Way You Are." The former #1 song dips from #9 to #10. This is its 22nd week in the top 10. Digital sales rank: #21 (86K).
Rihanna's former #1 hit "Only Girl (In The World)" drops out of the top 10 (to #12) after a total of 15 weeks there.
Avril Lavigne's "What The Hell" enters the Hot 100 at #13. It bows on Hot Digital Songs at #6 with sales of 163K. The song, from Lavigne's upcoming album Goodbye Lullaby, is vying to become Lavigne's sixth top 10 hit on the Hot 100.
"H*A*M" by Kanye West and Jay-Z enters the Hot 100 at #23. It bows on Hot Digital Songs at #10 with sales of 125K. The song is from their upcoming collabo album, Watch The Throne. The two stars teamed in 2009 for the #2 smash "Run This Town," which also featured Rihanna.
Staying Power: Cher's "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" jumps to #1 on this week's Dance/Club Play Songs chart. Billboard's Keith Caulfield notes that this makes her the first artist to have a #1 hit on a Billboard chart in each of the last six decades. Combining her solo and Sonny & Cher hits, Cher topped the pop chart in the '60s, '70s, and '90s. She topped the AC chart in the '70s and '80s. She has topped the Dance/Club Play chart in the '90s, '00s and '10s.
Pop Quiz: "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" brought songwriter Diane Warren her first Golden Globe for Best Song this past Sunday. It may also bring the pop veteran her first Academy Award. Warren has been nominated for an Oscar six times. With what songs? Name as many as you can. Bonus points: Who recorded the songs and how high did the songs climb on the Hot 100? Answers below
Willow's "Whip My Hair" tops the 1 million mark in paid downloads this week, nearly 19 years after her dad, Will Smith, landed his only platinum single (which denoted the sales of 1 million singles). D.J. Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, a hip-hop duo which consisted of Smith and Jeff Townes, went platinum with "Summertime" in July 1991.
Song Scorecard: Two other songs top the 1 million mark in paid downloads this week: Eminem's "No Love" and "Stereo Love" by Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina.
R.I.P. Margaret Whiting was probably before your time, but if you saw the 2009 movie Julie & Julia, you heard her touching version of the standard "Time After Time." Whiting had top 30 hits spanning 21 years, from 1945's Oscar-winning "It Might As Well Be Spring (with Paul Weston and his Orchestra) to 1966's "The Wheel Of Hurt." Whiting died last week. She was 86.

Quiz Answer: Diane Warren's six songs that have received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song are "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" from Mannequin (Starship's version hit #1 in 1987), "Because You Loved Me" from Up Close And Personal (Celine Dion's version hit #1 in 1996), "How Do I Live" from Con Air (LeAnn Rimes' version hit #2 in 1997), "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" from Armageddon (Aerosmith's version hit #1 in 1998), "Music From My Heart" from Music Of My Heart (*NSYNC & Gloria Estefan's version hit #2 in 1999) and "There You'll Be" from Pearl Harbor (Faith Hill's version hit #10 in 2001.)