Oops! Britney again out of control, now goes Bald

Fans of Britney Spears, the driving force behind the return of teen pop in the late '90s, can fetch their favorite star’s shorn-off locks, which she shaved at a Los Angeles hair salon this weekend, for $US1 million on eBay, the major auction service on the Web.

Britney enthusiast can purchase the chopped off hair directly from the salon owner whose clippers the newly-shorn star used during her weekend emotional breakdown. The saloon reportedly also flogging leftover Red Bull energy drink and a blue Bic lighter left behind by the singer.

The American pop singer, dancer, actress, author and songwriter, Britney on Friday evening visited Esther's Haircutting Studio in the Tarzana district of Los Angeles to shave her head bald, triggering another media storm over her "out of control" lifestyle.

The star asked the hair dresser to shave her head but when the hairdresser refused to do so, Britney shaved her head herself. According to a source at the salon, "Britney came in and said she wanted them to shave her head," and when the hairdresser refused, "Britney grabbed the hair clipper and started doing it herself."

Esther Tognozzi told the syndicated television gossip show "Extra" that she was afraid to shave Britney's head in case she was sued for ruining the star's image. Tognozzi said it was looking like Spears was "just there in body and not really emotionally there," but did get "a little bit teary- eyed" when she realized her mother might get upset.

Besides shaving her head, the 25-year-old mother of two young sons added two tattoo designs to her body. Soon after lopping-off her locks Britney reached at Body & Soul Tattoo in Sherman Oaks. The tattoo store employee Emily Wynne-Hughes said the star, who appeared "distraught and disturbed," got a black-white-and-pink cross tattooed on her lower hip and red-and-pink lips on her wrist, and paid $80 for the designs.

The marked change in Britney’s appearance came on the same day when People magazine and other entertainment media reported that “Oops!” girl recently entered a rehabilitation centre in the Caribbean island of Antigua and checked out a day later. However, Britney’s representatives denied such reports.

The star’s shorn-off locks are surrounded with a mystery as besides the salon a number of other sellers are also offering Britney's hair on eBay. Among them an enterprising person in Pennsylvania has claimed having the hairs. The man is reportedly selling 10 lots of the purported locks on eBay at $50 per lot.

But JT Tognozzi, the shop owner's husband claims to have the only authentic Britney locks - and says it will donate some of the proceeds of the eBay sale to charity, possibly including the Florida-based Locks of Love, which supplies wigs to kids with cancer.

The thick pile of dark tresses and extensions is the only authentic Spears hair on eBay, said JT Tognozzi. "It's pretty crazy all the frauds and stuff that's out there," he was quoted as saying.

Hazim Gaber, a Canadian web developer claims to have the artist’s hair which he says his employee snatched off the salon floor. He has asked for upwards of $.2 million for hair and even promised to release a web video as proof of authenticity.

But stating the web developer’s claims untruthful, the salon owner said the only people in the shop during the incident were his wife, her assistant, Spears and the singer's bodyguard. She further said that the shop was already closed for the night and the doors were locked.

Spears, born Britney Jean Spears in McComb, Mississippi, began performing as a singer and dancer at a young age. She is best known for her studio albums, music videos, and songs such as "...Baby One More Time", "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "Toxic".

Spears ranks as the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history. She emerged at the forefront of the pop music scene in late 1998, thanks to her chart-topping debut album, ‘...Baby One More Time’, which was crafted by producer-songwriter Max Martin.

With the sales of over 31 million albums in the U.S. alone, Spears ranks as the eighth best-selling female artist in American music history. Britney Spears has always been provided interesting fodder for media wags, ranging from her kiss with Madonna at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards to posing nude for the August 2006 cover of Harper's Bazar.

The life-size sculpture of a naked and very pregnant Britney Spears kneeling on a bearskin rug as she gives birth has also attracted considerable media attention.