Last night it was time for L.A. Reid, Demi Lovato, Simon Cowell and Britney Spears to slice the X Factor acts down from 16 to 12.

‘They’re like my children, so it’s going to be very hard to choose which one of my children will go home,’ Britney said, presumably not meaning that she’s driven with her acts on her knee as she did with Sean Preston when he was five months old.

But she did drop one of them, as he nearly did with Sean again allegedly back in 2006, and in all seriousness, it seemed like a painful decision to make for the sensitive star.

The beauty decided to send 13-year-old Diamond White home after her amazingly moving version of Elton John’s Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word.

Khloe faced a hiccup as she tried to yelling over the baying crowd to ask Simon whether it would be easy for him tonight, he replied with an annoyed: ‘Sorry?’ 

Britney Spears‘ former confidante and self-professed manager failed to prove his libel and breach-of-contract claims against the singer’s parents and her caretakers, a judge who dismissed the case mid-trial ruled Thursday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bruguera said an attorney for Sam Lutfi hadn’t proven any of his allegations in the case that centered on events before the singer’s public meltdown more than four years ago.

Lutfi’s side rested its case Tuesday, but Bruguera agreed with arguments by attorneys for Spears’ father and her conservators that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to send the claims to a jury.

Lutfi had sued Lynne Spears for libel and the singer’s father, Jamie, for allegedly hitting him at the singer’s mansion in an incident shortly before Jamie Spears and others were granted control over the singer’s life. Lutfi also had claimed he was owed a 15 percent share of the singer’s earnings, but Bruguera disagreed.

Lutfi left the courtroom without speaking to reporters, and attorneys on both sides of the case declined to comment.

The case centered on many of Britney Spears’ darkest moments, including a pair of psychiatric hospitalizations that led to her father being named her conservator. Her fiance, Jason Trawick, was added as a co-conservator earlier this year. The arrangement is overseen by a probate judge who had directed them not to allow the singer to appear at the trial.

Lutfi’s attorney Joseph Schleimer had contended in opening statements that his client was made a scapegoat for Spears’ downfall. Schleimer argued Spears’ mother lied about claims that Lutfi drugged the singer and isolated her from family. And he said Lutfi’s close relationship with the paparazzi was a way to get them to be less unruly and more respectful of the Grammy winner.

Yet Lutfi failed to show he had a binding management agreement that would have entitled him to 15 percent of the singer’s profits from her 2007 album “Blackout” and other projects, the judge ruled. Joel Boxer, an attorney for Spears’ conservators, argued that even if Lutfi had an agreement to serve as the singer’s manager, he obtained it through undue influence.

Lynne Spears’ attorney Stephen Rohde noted that many of his client’s claims were included in court filings that prompted a judge to place the singer under the conservatorship, and that those statements were made under oath.

Lutfi sued in 2009, the same year that Spears’ conservators obtained a restraining order against him to stop trying to contact her or meddle in her affairs.

He told jurors he endured death threats after the publication of Lynne Spears’ book, “Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World,” and he claimed the experience left him depressed and suicidal.

Schleimer argued he was stymied by rulings that denied him access to sealed court records and Spears’ medical files, but Bruguera said the complaints weren’t valid. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that information,” the judge said.

Spears’ parents sat through the entire trial, which opened with Schleimer showing videos and photos of Spears’ turbulent period, including shaving her head and hitting a sport utility vehicle with an umbrella.

Britney dressed up as a witch for Halloween on the set of The X Factor.  She wore a black hat and cape and cast a spell over her witch´s cauldron!

Britney Spears was pictured for the first time with her X Factor group. She will be in charge of mentoring the “Teens” this year.

Britney uploaded a photo of herself and her family on vacation in Hawaii yesterday (July 4)

“She’s not on the show to be Britney Spears on a TV show,” the X Factorboss, 52, says of the “Till the World Ends” singer, 30. “She’s actually there to prove to the world there’s more to her, and she’s got the ability to do this job really well. She’s taken the role really seriously.”

Part of what Cowell likes most about the pop star – with whom he is “fascinated” – is her down-to-earth nature.

“It’s quite interesting because when someone has done what she’s done as she has with her career, and being such a public person, you kind of think she is going to be very confident, but in real life she’s shy,” he says. “There’s kind of a mystique about her which I think is what kind of attracted me to her in the place.”

As for fellow judge Demi Lovato, 19, Cowell calls her a “total brat,” explaining that she’s “completely fearless, irreverent.”

Adds Cowell, “A lot of people who watch our show are 16, 17, 18 and younger, so we had to have someone I thought on the panel that could reflect that younger audience, and I’ve never done that before, and I wasn’t sure it was going to work.”

So far it’s working, Cowell says, and the new judges are opening his eyes and ears. “Because the two girls are on the panel,” he says, “I’m kind of seeing and hearing this in a totally different way.”

Source: People Magazine

The X Factor judge took a break from her work on the reality show to soak up the sun with all her boys in Maui on Sunday.

Brit, fiancé Jason Trawick and sons Sean Preston and Jayden James Federline looked happy to spend some time relaxing in Hawaii.

While the Pacific islands make for a nice reprieve from Hollywood, it’s an East Coast getaway where Britney really feels relaxed…

READ: Jamie Lynn Spears Sings Tribute to Britney

The 30-year-old’s future in-laws recently put their Long Island home on the market, and Spears was not happy about it.

“NOOOOO. I love this house!” she tweeted last month, along with a link to a Newsday story about the sale of the five-bedroom home.

A source told E! News Britney “loves the house so much. It’s a peaceful haven for her, a place where she can get away and relax.”

Hope she can still get some R&R in Maui!

Source: E! Online

Sources say the pop princess was a bit shy at first, but has since become downright “blunt” in her assessment of contestants. “Everyone was kinda shocked at how tough she was and how she wasn’t scared to say it straight,” a source says from the set.

So far Spears has tended to prefer “exciting” contestants who are visually appealing and charismatic performers rather than those who simply possess a fine voice. “She knows it takes more than having a good singing voice and that you have to be entertaining and have that ‘wow’ factor,” the source says. “She can really tell the difference between a good singer and a great performer.”

Spears’ favorite rejection? “Too boring.”

The new judge also isn’t swayed by heartfelt appeals. “The judges always ask [contestants] a few questions before they sing and Britney makes it clear that she isn’t interested in sob stories or people who try to get a sympathy vote,” the source says. “She’s always compassionate and understanding but she is always totally focused on their performance and talent.”

Here are some of Spears’ reactions to contestants from The X Factor set:

– “I thought it was magnificento!”

– “Who let you on the stage?”

– “I feel like you need to go to New York and be on Broadway. I don’t think the pop industry could handle you.”

– “I’m sorry, I was bored. I have to say no.”

– “Holy cow! I can’t believe that voice came from that tiny body.”

– “To make a great performance, you have to step it up. There’s a big wall between us, and you need to learn to break it down.”

–  “I can’t look. I literally can’t look.” (During one male contestant’s raunchy dance.)

–  ”I’m sorry, sweetie, but you have to be great to be on this show.”

Backstage, all four judges share the same green room, plus have private meeting rooms of their own. Spears is said to be socializing with the crew and other judges between takes rather than being standoffish.

Fellow pop singer and new Factor judge Demi Lovato has been described as more chatty on the panel, with head judge Simon Cowell said to be “over the moon” pleased with both hires. X Factor premieres on Fox Sept. 12. Let’s hope the honeymoon survives next season!

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Britney Spears arrives in Maui, Hawaii yesterday (July 1).  She arrived with her fiance, Justin Trawick, and her two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.  The family will be relaxing until the next X Factor auditions next week.