Image no problem for Britney Spears

MONTREAL -- The lesson to be learned from Britney Spears' press conference here yesterday was this: Dress sexy -- expect sex-related questions.

The voluptuous pop music queen, in Canada one day after the release of her sophomore album, Ooops! ... I Did It Again, has been chided for her increasingly revealing oufits. She is, after all, just 18 years old with a large female teen following.

But her sexy image isn't a problem for her.

"I hate being considered a role model, because I make mistakes just like everybody," Spears told about 60 reporters and 20 contest winners at a downtown hotel here.

"And I just try to be a good person, and hopefully they see the positive things about me. But it's not something that you try to do -- to be sexy. I think you're the sexiest when you're just you and just real."

As for those nagging rumours about her getting breast implants, she said she wasn't trying to put them to rest with her opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, which she hosted last weekend. Spears opened the TV sketch show saying she wanted to "clear up some crazy, crazy rumours" about herself, like "the one about my boobs being fake. That is just ridiculous. I mean, C'mon! I'm 18 and I'm still growing, ya know?"

As she said that, fake breasts moved around inside her dress via a remote control gadget.

"The monologue, all of that was my idea," said Spears. "It was just me kind of making fun of everyone making fun of me."

However, Spears appeared absolutely stunned at one question. A reporter asked if her keeping the line "can't get no girlie action," in her cover of the Rolling Stones classic Satisfaction was "a conscious effort to reach out to her lesbian following." The followup question about whether she was bisexual -- the answer to both questions was "no" -- appeared equally to flabbergast her.

She did admit that her record company hadn't wanted her to record the Stones song, but she went ahead anyway.

"Yeah, they didn't really want me to do it at first, but I called (producer) Rodney Jerkins 'cause I'm such a fan of him, he's amazing. 'Cause I knew he would approach it totally different, so people wouldn't really compare the two songs."

And, no, she hasn't had any feedback from Mick and Keith yet.

As for her new tour, which brings her to Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre on Aug. 22, Spears is getting set. She next heads to Orlando for four weeks of rehearsals with a tour director who has previously collaborated with Ricky Martin. (A Britney In Hawaii TV special airs on Global and Fox June 7.)

Interestingly, while Spears held court here, her former fellow Mousketeer Christina Aguilera held a press conference a few hours earlier in Toronto.

Spears had nothing but praise for her perceived 19-year-old rival.

"I think she's an amazing performer. She is brilliant -- the girl can sing. She's amazing. And anyone who can make it in this business I have so much respect for because I know how hard it is."

And just before you go thinking that Spears is too good to be true, she revealed at least one thing worthy of a normal hormonal 18-year-old when asked what kind of movies she'd like to be in.

"Anything with Brad Pitt," she said with a giggle.

On the flip side, Spears recently told a German magazine that she intends to abstain from sex until her wedding night.

"There are just so many emotions involved once you do something like that and take that step in a relationship," she said yesterday. "So I would love to be able to wait until I'm married and just make sure it's the right person."