Cry Me A River

Justin Time

EXCLUSIVE: NSYNCer on solo debut and ... his ex, Britney By JANE STEVENSON Toronto Sun

On his solo debut, Justified, Justin Timberlake of NSYNC fame, embraces his love of R&B/pop music made by such stars as Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

In fact, Timberlake was roundly criticized for embracing Jackson a little too much -- as in copping some of his dance moves -- during his solo performance debut at the MTV Video Music Awards back in August.

"I think now more than ever, it's unfortunate, but I think people associate Michael with someone who is crazy," Timberlake, 21, told The Toronto Sun -- in an exclusive Canadian (English-language) newspaper interview -- down the line from Anaheim, Calif., late last week.

"And I'm not going to speculate exactly what's going on in his head because I have enough rumours about me to worry about. But, I think as time goes by, people will see, I think I'm a lot more hip-hop than Michael ever was."

Still, Timberlake, who is currently the subject of gossip himself for supposedly using a look-alike of his ex, pop star Britney Spears, in the video for his latest single, Cry Me A River, said he was concerned by the pictures of Jackson dangling his infant son out of the window of a German hotel.

"I think a picture says a thousand words but I've had pictures of me having lunch with my agent before -- this is last summer, this is just to put it in perspective -- and I gave her a hug goodbye on the street when I was just getting into my car, and everybody said, 'This is his new, brown-haired girlfriend.' So, you know, I'm not going to speculate what happened. What I saw from the picture, I was a little stunned initially."



As for the current brou-ha-ha over the Cry Me A River video-- last week's US magazine's cover story had a headline that read 'Britney vs. Justin, The War Is On,' with shot-by-shot references of the clip inside -- Timberlake isn't talking.

"I laugh at US magazine," he said. "It's so all wrong. I'm not going to speak on the video. Everytime I speak on something, it gets misinterpreted the wrong way. I will say the video speaks for itself. It's open for interpretation."

In the clip, a hooded and menacing-looking Timberlake breaks into the home of a cheating girlfriend (the Spears look-alike), films himself making out with another girl on the bed, and when the homeowner returns, follows behind her, creepily smelling her hair and watching as she takes a shower.

"Actually, I had nothing to do with the concept," said Timberlake. "I had nothing to do with picking out the girls, anything in the video. (Director) Francis Lawrence scouted the location, sent me the treatment, play-by-play. He really is a genius who concocted this whole thing in his head."

The end result has been that Cry Me A River, which Timberlake describes as "a hip-hop ballad with a gothic feel," took the biggest jump up in the singles chart -- at least in the U.S. -- last week.

"As far as rumours and stuff like that, I'm having a good time," he said. "And that smirk in the video, it's there for a reason. Anything anybody says, that has to do with what used to be my personal life, or what they think is my personal life at this point, I just let it go. I do what I do."

However, the buzz around Cry Me A River couldn't have come at a better time for Timberlake, who broke his foot about five weeks ago, preventing him from travelling, including a promotional trip to Toronto in late November.

There has been some suggestion that Justified hasn't sold as well as everyone had hoped with Timberlake's inability to properly promote it.

Since it's Nov. 5 release, Justified has sold 2.2 million copies in the U.S. and 130,000 in Canada and currently sits at No. 11 and No. 19 on the respective album charts.

"I think it affected the visual," said Timberlake, who confirmed he's planning a solo tour next summer. "The fact that I wasn't able to be in those places where I was supposed to be. For instance, being in Toronto. I was just a little disappointed in the timing, just because I wanted to have my ugly mug up there. Let people see that this was for real."

Timberlake said he was rehearsing some dance moves in Los Angeles, when the accident happened.

"I was trying some new stuff," he said. "Let's just say I gave break-dancing a new definition. I didn't have a nasty spill or anything. The next day I just felt like aliens were trying to signal us through my foot. I could hear it throbbing. It hurt so bad."