This might not be the first time we've heard a Britney Spears track without any Auto-Tune enhancement, but it doesn't mean it makes us cringe any less this time around.

On July 2, the unedited vocal version of Spears' track "Alien," off of her most recent album, "Britney Jean," leaked. As the video picked up steam, track producer William Orbit posted a statement Monday, July 7, explaining that the track is a vocal warm-up session, not Spears' final take.

"I'd like to affirm that ANY singer when first at the mic at the start of a long session can make a multitude of vocalisations in order to get warmed up," Orbit wrote. "Warming up is essential if you’re a pro, as it is with a runner doing stretches, and it takes a while to do properly. I’ve heard all manner of sounds emitted during warm-ups. The point is that it is not supposed to be shared with millions of listeners.

"A generous singer will put something down the mic to help the engineer get their systems warmed up and at the right level, maybe whilst having a cup of herb tea and checking through lyrics before the session really kicks off. It’s not expected to be a ‘take.'"

Listen to the track below, and decide for yourself whether this is a warm-up or the real deal.

Rumors had swirled among anti-immigration activists near a U.S. Border Patrol station in Southern California that the agency would try again to bus in some of the immigrants who have flooded across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Instead, they got dueling anti- and pro-immigration rallies Friday.

The crowd of 200 outside the station in Murrieta waved signs and sometimes shouted at each other. One banner read: "Proud LEGAL American. It doesn't work any other way." Another countered: "Against illegal immigration? Great! Go back to Europe!"

Law enforcement officers separated the two sides and contained them on one approach to the station, leaving open an approach from the opposite direction.

It was not certain, however, that any buses would arrive on Friday. Because of security concerns, federal authorities have said they will not publicize immigrant transfers among border patrol facilities. By late afternoon many demonstrators were leaving.

Six people were arrested, five for interfering with police who were investigating a fight and one for disorderly conduct, police said. One of the five was a woman who jumped on an officer's back, but police did not give details on the actions of the rest.

Earlier this week, the city became the latest flashpoint in the intensifying immigration debate when a crowd of protesters waving American flags blocked buses carrying women and children who were flown from overwhelmed Texas facilities.

Federal authorities had hoped to process them at the station in Murrieta, about 55 miles north of downtown San Diego.

"This is a way of making our voices heard," said Steve Prime, a resident of nearby Lake Elsinore. "The government's main job is to secure our borders and protect us — and they're doing neither."

Immigration supporters said the immigrants need to be treated as humans and that migrating to survive is not a crime.

"We're celebrating the 4th of July and what a melting pot America is," said Raquel Alvarado, a high school history teacher and Murrieta resident who chalked up the fear of migrants in the city of roughly 106,000 to discrimination.

Kate Upton shared a gorgeous photo via Instagram on Monday, June 30. "In bed with ," wrote the 22-year-old, who was wrapped in nothing but a white sheet:

Given that Upton tagged fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott in the caption of her bedroom photo, it's safe to say the snapshot is part of a photoshoot and not simply a candid of Upton rolling out of bed. Still, we wouldn't be surprised if the model woke up like this.

After what turned out to be "the trip from hell" to Vienna, Austria, the Kardashians didn't have an easier time on their first class flight home to Los Angeles, Kim revealed during the latest episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" on June 29.

After being accosted by a man in full blackface mimicking Kanye West at the Vienna Ball, Kim revealed that on their flight home a woman started screaming at her daughter North.

"Mom had the baby, I fell asleep, I woke up to this woman screaming, 'Kanye West’s baby!' The woman is screaming at my child, I jump up," she recounted, before her sister Khloe interjected: "I would’ve punched her in her face."

"No, we were on a plane. I wanted to," Kim replied. "It was crazy."

"This lady stood up in the cabin in first class and yelled at the top of her lungs, 'She’s with a black guy, and that baby is black! And you need to shut that black baby up!'" Kris told Khloe.

Always the one with the answers, Khloe told her mother and sister, "I would say, 'Hashtag, fact my baby is black. Hashtag, I only like black c**k!' That’s what I would say!"

Kim went on to say that the woman then started talking about her sex tape with former boyfriend Ray J, shouting, "'And she has a sex video with a black guy. How disgusting, with a black guy.' Like going on and on."

According to Kim, the pilot had to come out and told the woman they were going to call the LAPD as soon as they landed, before the woman's husband apparently sat on her and told her to "shut up."

"It was the trip from hell. It was so racist," Kim said.

We're slightly confused as to how we're only hearing about this incident now, but then again, the show also made it seem like Kim immediately penned a blog post in response to what happened at the Vienna Ball. While the 33-year-old did in fact write a blog post about her experiences with racism, she didn't post it until a full three months after the incidents in Vienna and on the plane occurred. 

Welcome to For Your Consideration, The Huffington Post's unapologetically obsessive conversation about the Oscar race. Ahead, managing entertainment editor Christopher Rosen and entertainment editor Matthew Jacobs look at the year thus far.

Rosen: Here we are, Matt, at the year's mid point. What a six months it has been! Who could forget Jason Bateman's sparkling usage of browns and other browns in "Bad Words"? Or Johnny Depp sleepwalking through "Transcendence"? What about that remake of "RoboCop" with that guy from "The Killing"? Oscar contenders all! I look forward to seeing the For Your Consideration ads on the sidebars of Variety articles.

That's the Clickhole version of the awards landscape thus far. The reality is that no film released during the first six months of 2013 scored an Oscar nomination in the top six categories (Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Director). In fact, last summer as a whole was only represented in those categories by two nominees: "Blue Jasmine" stars Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins. How does that translate to this year?

Well, not too well: Of 2014 releases to date with legitimate awards aspirations, only Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" feels like a true contender. But even that film has blemishes and obstacles in its path. "Grand Budapest" was unexpectedly tragic in a way that Anderson hasn't strived for in quite some time, but it still paled in comparison to the rest of his CV, and none of those films really made major impacts with Oscar voters. Other great movies such as "Edge of Tomorrow," "Obvious Child," "Neighbors" and "The Fault in Our Stars" all feel too slight to make it through the forthcoming awards gauntlet. We're at the point where it might be time to put all of our eggs in fall's basket and hope that 2014's remaining features are half as good as last year's incredible crop.

But where would the fun in that be? That's why we're writing this, after all: to push forth some crackpot theories about why Laura Dern should be an Oscar contender for "The Fault in Our Stars" and why "Obvious Child" writer-director Gillian Robespierre needs to be in the conversation for screenplay honors. Or am I just a fool who should focus his energy on real contenders like "Boyhood," aka the best movie of 2014 that hasn't been released? What do you think?

Jacobs: It's sad when a midyear checkup only serves to recall the malaise that's preceded us as far as stellar movies are concerned. I'm battling a constant struggle to forget almost anything with Johnny Depp or Jason Bateman the instant the credits roll, so allow me to ask what this "Transcendence" you speak of is.

It's true, though: Outside of superhero fare, these months have been rather revolting. Where's our "Midnight in Paris"? Our "Fargo"? Our "Silence of the Lambs"? Everyone is terrified of being forgotten. I'm surprised names like Darren Aronofsky, Clint Eastwood and Jim Jarmush are featured on the marquee at all during the early months. I do agree that Wes Anderson has given us what is surely the only legitimate contender so far, although I'll challenge your notion that "The Grand Budapest Hotel" pales. Months later, I'm still positioning my feelings on the film, but I might call it Anderson's best work yet. His name will rightfully reappear in screenplay considerations during the lead-up to January's nominations.

I'll see your Laura Dern (phenomenal) and Gillian Robespierre (refreshing), and I'll raise you an Uma Thurman for her electrifying turn in the otherwise dismissible "Nymphomaniac: Volume 1." Much like Viola Davis in "Doubt" and Beatrice Straight in "Network," Thurman appears briefly in the movie but steals the two-hour ordeal right out from Lars von Trier's prurient feet. Whether a von Trier performer -- save Emily Watson in "Breaking the Waves" -- can ever again catch the gleam in Oscar voters' eyes begs another conversation, but if there's one performance that deserves recognition so far this year it's hers.

Prepare for Miley Cyrus to invade your living room: NBC announced the pop star’s "Bangerz" tour will be featured in a two-hour special to air on July 6th.

Cyrus relayed the good news on Facebook yesterday. "Smilers! NBC is bringing #BANGERZTour straight to your living room!," she wrote. "Catch the 2-hour behind the scenes concert special on July 6 at 9pm/8pm CT!" 

Stocked with behind-the-scenes footage and performances from her upcoming shows in Spain and Portgual, Cyrus’ NBC special should be an interesting test in network editing. The "Bangerz" tour has been a notoriously risqué affair, with the singer's raunchy performance including the riding of an inflatable penis.

Music programming remains a hot commodity for TV networks: HBO recently announced a 10-part miniseries featuring highlights from Beyoncé’s Mrs. Carter World Tour. Dubbed "Beyoncé: X10," a series of four-minute concert segments from the tour with air every Sunday evening ahead of the final season of True Blood.

Cyrus stayed busy while on the road for her "Bangerz" tour. After performing together onstage in Los Angeles, Cyrus and the Flaming Lips hit the studio to record what Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne calls "completely weird" versions of the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life."

The "We Can't Stop" singer says she hopes to write music with the Lips for her next album. "On my last record, everything we did was with computers," she told Rolling Stone. "But they're real musicians – they can change keys on a whim. I've never seen anything like it. They've had me on this journey that's greater than anything I've been on. It's really deep."

Zendaya will no longer play Aaliyah in the Lifetime biopic about the late R&B singer. The 17-year-old Disney star backed out of the project and a rep confirmed that she is "no longer involved" with the film.

Zendaya was cast only two weeks ago and filming was scheduled to start this summer, with a fall release date. She was originally set to record four of Aaliyah's songs for the film. The biopic is tentatively titled "Aaliyah: Princess of R&B," and is set to trace Aaliyah's career from her debut on "Star Search" to her tragic death in 2001. She was killed in a plane crash at age 22.

The network's PR department released a statement on Twitter and said that production is "on hold."

The late singer's family has been vocal about their opposition to the biopic and said that they would make it hard for Lifetime to use recordings. "Because we control the masters, the rights and some images of the musical elements that we put together like the videos, and photo shoots and things that we did, what we can just withhold those elements from the production which we would do," Aaliyah's cousin Jomo Hankerson told The Wrap. But he was clear that they didn't have a problem with Zendaya's casting, just the idea of a made-for-TV movie. “This needs A-list actors, A-list talent that can breathe life into what we think is a phenomenal story," Hankerson told the New York Daily News.

Rapper Rick Ross has been released after his arrest following a North Carolina concert.
Greensboro Police Department spokeswoman Susan Danielsen says that Ross was taken into custody Friday night after the SuperJam concert. She says a court had issued an order for his arrest because he failed to appear in court on a previous misdemeanor marijuana charge.

The rapper, whose real name is William L. Roberts, was taken into custody after his performance. Danielsen says he was released on $1,000 bond.

Messages seeking comment weren't immediately returned by a spokesman for Universal Music Group or executives at a booking agency that works with Ross.

The hip hop artist and MC was detained by police and taken into custody after his performance at the Super Jam concert.

According to police, he was arrested for failure to appear in court for a previous misdemeanor drug possession charge. He was released on $1000 bond shortly after his arrest.

Rick Ross, whose real name is William Leonard Roberts II, reportedly took his stage name from infamous – now reformed – Los Angeles cocaine kingpin 'Freeway' Rick Ross, who later sued the rapper for using the name, however the suit was dismissed by the presiding judge.

Maria Sharapova has warned her Wimbledon title rivals she is peaking just in time to take advantage of Serena Williams' stunning exit.

Sharapova, who has yet to drop a set after routing Alison Riske 6-3, 6-0 in the third round, heads into the second week as the newly-installed favourite following Alize Cornet's shock 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over world number one Williams on Saturday.

Serena's defeat is a huge boost for French Open champion Sharapova, who had been scheduled to meet the American top seed in the quarter-finals.

That would have been a major obstacle to Sharapova's hopes of winning Wimbledon for the second time as she had lost her previous 15 meetings with Serena.

But with Williams vanquished by Cornet's brilliant display on Court One, fifth seed Sharapova now has a golden opportunity to lift the Venus Rosewater dish for the first time since 2004, when she famously shocked Serena in the final as a 17-year-old.

The Russian will face German ninth seed Angelique Kerber on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals and she struck an ominous note for her rivals by admitting she is hitting top form at just the right moment.

"I'm pleased that I've gone three good matches in. I feel like I improved with every match," Sharapova said.

"I started the first match a little nervous, which was expected. Once I got through that, I feel like I've elevated my game.

"I feel like I'm serving better. I didn't face a break point after the first game. Like I said, it's really the footwork, little things, imposing yourself out there."

It is the first time since 2006 that neither Serena nor sister Venus, beaten by Petra Kvitova on Friday, will be in the Wimbledon fourth round and with the draw also blown wide open with second seed Li Na's defeat on Friday, Sharapova could be forgiven for feeling a sense of deja vu.

Family members of Indians stranded in war-ravaged Iraq have said they will be leaving for the capital New Delhi on Sunday to meet with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Speaking to ANI, Gurpinder Kaur, the sister of Manjinder Singh, one of the Indians abducted by Iraqi rebels, said, "We are going to meet the External Affairs Minister. We have not got any information (about our relatives) as yet. We will plead with her to bring back my brother who is stranded in Iraq. This is the second time we are going to meet the External Affairs Minister." She added, "If we do not get a satisfactory response, then, we will sit on protest at Jantar Mantar."

Referring specifically to the  Indian government's special envoy to Iraq and former envoy to that country Suresh Reddy, Gurpinder asked, " If Suresh Reddy is not getting any success in his mission, then why are they (the Indian Government) not sending someone else?"

The father of another reported Indian abductee said, " I am going there again. I will plead with them to bring my son back. I think there must be an opportunity in India so that youths do not have to go to work abroad? We want our son back, or else, we will sit on protest at Jantar Mantar." The mother said, " We are going to meet the External Affairs Minister. We are going to meet and try to get information from the minister. We want our son back. We want to know about my son's well being."

On Saturday, it was confirmed that Sushma Swaraj would be meeting again with the family members of stranded Indian workers in Iraq on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.

The families of stranded Indians have said that they far from satisfied with the progress being made by the Indian government in finding their children in Iraq.

Manjinder Singh is among the 40 Punjabi boys abuducted by Iraqi rebels.

Gurpinder Kaur said that a Punjab Government official had called her to say that the meeting with Swaraj had been fixed for 3.00 pm on Sunday. She said, "After meeting the minister, we will decide about the "dharna" at the "Jantar Mantar".

Hira Lal, the brother of Sonu of Chamunda Devi village, said , " After June 15, they have not received any call from Sonu". He said they are praying for the safe return of all Indians and hoping that the government would escalate their efforts to bring back their children safe and sound.