Move over Barnum & Bailey — Britney Spears is the new ringmaster in town, and her “Circus” tour is going to be more than light tricks and puffs of smoke!

The pop princess is going to be sawed in half and disappear into thin air — and those are just two of the tricks Spears has up her sleeve for her upcoming tour, “The Circus Starring Britney Spears.”

“Right away, she got into the boxes and into the magic contraptions to learn the stuff, and she’s so excited about this tour and all the elements that are in it,” illusionist-comedian Ed Alonzo dished to E! news. Alonzo has revealed that he will be performing onstage with Brit during her concerts, where the “Womanizer” singer will serve as the magician’s assistant.

Ed continued, “We’ll be doing a little dissection, transposition, a vanish, an appearance — and if I do a trick, she doesn’t just hold the props, she’s actually getting inside the big boxes or I am slicing her up.”

Alonzo also dished that Spears has a knack for magic! “I made [the tricks] really easy for her, but there are some complicated things that she is doing that you would think a contortionist would have to do, or a trained magician’s assistant,” he said, “but because she’s a dancer, it really makes sense to put her in the magic, and it works and she’s really, really good at it.”

Britney will also perform some of her hits that helped her skyrocket to the top of the charts. Ed confessed that the show would feature “the best music of Britney that people have loved over the years and, of course, brand-new favorites from the new album.”

“The Circus Starring Britney Spears” kicks off March 3 in New Orleans.

“There’s nothing more to be said about music. I’m the f–king end-all, be-all of music. I know what I’m doing. I did ‘808s’ in three weeks. I got it. It’s on cruise control … Man, we talked about music for God knows how long! Now let’s talk about how my f–king sweater didn’t come back right from Korea. That’s what’s interesting me.”

“I had a style that was over-the-top, overly expressive, and it forced me to just lay back and be a little cooler. One of the problems with being a bubbling source of creativity — it’s like I’m bubbling in a laboratory, and if you don’t put a cap on it, at one point it will, like, break the glass. If I can hone that … then I have, like, nuclear power, like a superhero, like Cyclops when he puts his glasses on.”

“What I feel like — ’cause I wanna be married, of course—I feel like the type of girl I would be with is a fellow superhero. So we get that ‘already flying and now we’re just flying together’ thing.”

“Titles are very important. I like to embody titles, y’know, or words that have negative connotations, and explain why that’s good. Take the word gay — like, in hip-hop, that’s a negative thing, right? But in the past two, three years, all the gay people I’ve encountered have been, like, really, really, extremely dope. Y’know, I haven’t, like, gone to a gay bar, nor do I ever plan to. But where I would talk to a gay person — the conversation would be mostly around, like, art or design — it’d be really dope. From a design standpoint, kids’ll say, ‘Dude, those pants are gay.’ But if it’s, like, good, good, good fashion-level, design-level stuff, where it’s on a higher level than the average commercial design stuff, it’s, like, gay people that do that. I think that should be said as a compliment. Like, ‘Dude, that’s so good it’s almost … gay.’”

Alexandra Burke has reportedly signed a US record deal with Epic worth £3 million.

The X Factor winner was picked up by the label for a five-album contract as a result of the success of her ‘Hallelujah’ single, The Sun reports.

An industry insider said: “Epic think Alexandra can follow in Leona’s footsteps.

“The US market loves women with big voices – and Alex certainly has that. If she comes close to Leona’s success it will be a job well done.”

It is claimed that Epic is planning a similar launch strategy to the one used by parent company Sony to promote Leona Lewis.

Earlier this week, Burke said that watching Coldplay’s success at the Grammys has made her more determined to crack America. {Source}

I must say, I’m particularly happy for Alexandra. With all the talk of her being ‘the’ next big worldwide star, a US deal really was a necessity. With Leona signing with J Records (also under the Sony Music umbrella with Epic), it really seems that they are following a similar template with Alex – a fact also made evident with the label’s choice to take time with the recording of the album (which is due in November). Working with the top US producers, stylists etc also seems an inevitability as the £3Million is what will be used to both make and market the album, as well as carving out an image for Alex. Exciting stuff.

LeToya Luckett will shoot a video for “Not Anymore” on Friday in Los Angeles. The mini-movie will be directed by Bryan Barber (OutKast, The Game) and is the first single off the 27-year-old’s sophomore album Lady Love.

The treatment calls for nothing you’ve seen from the R&B songstress before, conceptually and visually. The video will be set in the early 1960s, but will have a modern feel similar to Barber’s video for Christina Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man.”

Taking place on an old revival tour bus and “American Bandstand”-like stage, LeToya is the newest addition to a Motown record label and is burning up the charts, eventually moving on from the man who broke her heart and reveling in the ultimate revenge—success.

With the song being a grower – and not as instantly likable as, perhaps, required – a killer video is just what is needed. I’m particularly anticipating this one, as some Barber’s previous work have really been awesome.