BRITNEY BAILS ON MICHAEL

Michael Jackson has lost a pretty young thing from his concert lineup – pop tart Britney Spears dropped out because the star-studded event clashed with her own television special.

“Britney did have to pull out – and she’s really upset about it,” said Ame Van Iden, a spokeswoman at the publicity firm that represents the teen temptress.

Spears had committed to perform a duet with Jackson – the 1987 tune “The Way You Make Me Feel” – during the extravaganza at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.

Concert organizers were expecting her at rehearsals this week, but Spears canceled at the last minute.

Under her contract with HBO, the songstress can’t have any performance broadcast within a month of “Britney Spears Live from the MGM Grand Las Vegas,” which airs Nov. 18 on the cable channel.

When she signed on with Jackson, she thought his CBS special would air early enough to avoid the blackout period – but the air date has since changed, her reps said.

A CBS spokeswoman said no date for Jackson’s show has been set, but confirmed it was unlikely to happen before Oct. 18, shutting Spears out.

The production was experiencing other last-second problems.

There was talkWhitney Houston’s hubby, Bobby Brown, would drop out of a number because he was unhappy with the dance steps but the differences were later resolved.

Houston will perform the duet “One Day in Your Life” with Jackson.

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