Britney’s hitched again

Los Angeles — Pop singer Britney Spears married her fiance, dancer Kevin Federline, in a surprise ceremony, her record label said Sunday.

“She did marry him yesterday,” Jive Records spokeswoman Sonia Muckle said. She declined to provide further details.

The wedding was Saturday evening at a private home in the Studio City area with 20 to 30 people attending, “Entertainment Tonight” said on its Web site.

Spears, 22, and Federline, 26, announced their engagement in June after dating since early this year.

It was the second marriage in nine months for Spears.

‘Sky Captain’ leads weak weekend

Los Angeles — The debut flight of “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” landed the No. 1 weekend box office spot with an estimated $16.2 million amid an overall lackluster turnout at theaters.

The $70 million, film-noir-styled fantasy starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie cast its live actors against digitally animated giant robots on a backdrop of 1930s New York.

Other estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.:

2. “Mr. 3000,” $9.2 million.

3. “Resident Evil: Apocalypse,” $9 million.

4. “Wimbledon,” $7.8 million.

5. “Cellular,” $6.87 million.

Pianist plans Russian visit

Fort Worth, Texas — Acclaimed pianist Van Cliburn returns to Russia this week to help heal some very deep wounds.

Cliburn will be honored by President Vladimir Putin and play a concert Tuesday dedicated to the memory of the more than 330 school siege victims in Beslan.

The 70-year-old Texan will be making his 10th trip to the country. In 1958, Cliburn, then 23, won the first Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow; he has since performed around the world.

His last visit to Russia was in 1993.

Willie Nelson’s fuel for thought

Seattle — Willie Nelson’s new Mercedes has never had a drop of gas in it, but it drives as well as any car he’s ever had. So, he wonders, why aren’t foreclosed family farms in the United States being used to grow soy, corn and other vegetables for environmentally friendly fuels?

“We don’t have to be out there fighting wars all over the world,” he said. “We can give a young couple a way to make a living on a 200- or 300-acre farm.”

Making family farms profitable was a major theme of Farm Aid’s 17th concert, which was Saturday at the White River Amphitheater. This was Farm Aid’s first appearance west of the Rockies, a change suggested by Seattle resident Dave Matthews.

Besides board members Nelson, Matthews, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, Farm Aid 2004 featured Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and others.