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There were many drama-drawing divas in the news this week, starting with Janet Jackson, whose career still has yet to recover from her Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" scandal of 2004 (unlike her Super Bowl bodice-ripper, Justin Timberlake, who somehow emerged practically unscathed). But Miss Jackson was exonerated this week, in a way--when, in a landmark decision, a federal appeals court threw out the $550,000 indecency fine stemming from that famously FCC-infuriating incident.

"This is an important win for the entire broadcasting industry because it recognizes that there are rare instances, particularly during live programming, when it may not be possible to block unfortunate fleeting material, despite best efforts," the CBS Network, which had the misfortune of unwittingly broadcasting the Super Bowl debacle, issued in a statement.

So it looks like CBS and Justin have bounced back from the Super Bowl scandal much more completely than Janet has herself, judging from the lackluster sales for her quickly forgotten recent album, Discipline.

Meanwhile, tabloid diva and Timberlake ex Britney Spears--who was last week's biggest music-newsmaker, after she agreed to grant her former husband, Kevin Federline, chief custody of their two children--was laying uncharacteristically low this week. But of course, she couldn't manage to escape the paparazzi--or drama in general--entirely. Two photographers suspected of loitering on city-owned property near Brit's home were arrested on Monday, after they refused to leave an access road near the exclusive gated neighborhood where she and a bunch of other celebrities reside. However, when Britters did rear her hair-extension'd head in public later on to take some sanctioned pap snaps, she was actually looking downright respectable, rocking a relatively demure LBD at a Jenny McCarthy-hosted charity event (see pic at right).

So while Britney may never be Mother Of The Year, she does seem to be getting her life back on track, and she's even reportedly working on another album already. Let's hope it sells better than her last effort Blackout, which was her first album not to go platinum...or come to think of it, let's hope it sells better than Janet's dismal Discipline. After all, Britney has a lot of child support to pay now!

And another scandalous mother figure, Courtney Love--who was causing controversy back when Britney Spears was still on the Mickey Mouse Club and Janet Jackson was still on Diff'rent Strokes--made news this week. The world-famous widow was sued for nearly $1 million by the accounting firm London & Co, whose reps alleged that Courtney broke an oral contract to share 5 percent of her earnings from the company set up to manage the intellectual property of her late husband/meal ticket, Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain. So it looks like Courtney may once again be headed to court.

Meanwhile, another tabloid-baiting drama queen, Amy Winehouse, continued to deal with courtroom and husband drama of her own. Nine months ago, Amy had barely returned from her honeymoon with her soulmate/enabler, Blake Fielder-Civil, when Blake was suddenly shipped off to London's Pentonville Prison for alleging assaulting pub owner Jamie King. The Winehouse-Fielder-Civils have therefore spent most of their young marriage apart while awaiting his fate at his trial, and since this court-imposed separation, Amy's already fragile mental, emotional, and physical health have continued to deteriorate. But she's seemingly never lost hope that she and her old man would be soon be together again, and she's never missed an opportunity to give a wifely onstage shoutout to her beloved "Blake Incarcerated," even when singing for Nelson Mandela or accepting a Grammy Award at the time.

Well, sadly for Amy, it looks like these newlyweds won't be reunited any time super-soon...not unless Amy smuggles a file in her giant beehive next time she visits her lesser half at Pentonville. But considering that Blake at one time faced a potential life sentence (on perversion-of-justice charges, after he tried to bribe Jamie King with $400,000 and an all-expenses-paid exotic vacation), his punishment could have been much, much worse.

This week, Mr. Fielder-Not-So-Civil was handed a 27-month prison sentence, but since he has already served nine months, he may only have 18 months left as an inmate. And that sentence may actually be trimmed down even further, to four and a half months--meaning that Amy, who often changes a line in her hit "Rehab" to "I'd rather be at home with my Blake," just might have her Blake home in time for the holidays.

Also in positive Amy news this week, the Grammy-winning star racked up another prestigious pop honor, as a paraffin figure of her bouffant-topped likeness was unveiled at the Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. (Other pop icons to be immortalized in wax at Tussaud's include Madonna and the aforementioned Justin Timberlake.) Amy's proud papa Mitch Winehouse, who's pictured here with Amy's mom Janis attending the unveiling, said the six-foot-tall-including-beehive mannequin bears an "incredible" likeness to his (in)famous daughter.

But Mitch is of course looking at the statue through a father's adoring eyes; in our opinion, the waxen Amy looks a whole lot better than the real Amy. Hey, maybe Pentonville Prison can make some arrangement with Madame Tussaud's to borrow this Amy replica, to prevent Blake Incarcerated from getting too lonely in his jail cell until his parole. Just a suggestion. At the very least, maybe Tussaud's could carve up a wax Blake dummy, to keep Amy company and hopefully keep her out of trouble.

And finally, Nashville bad girl Mindy McCready, who at this point in her troubled life has possibly been to rehab more times than Amy, Britney, and Courtney combined--and, like Britney, Courtney, and Janet, has long been hoping to make a career comeback--unfortunately made news for all the wrong, comeback-thwarting reasons this week. A reported Ambien-and-vodka overdose landed the controversy-courting country singer in a Tennessee emergency room, after which she settled into an extended-care rehab center in Arizona. Before this latest lockdown, Mindy was slated to appear on an intervention episode of Dr. Phil--but there's no word yet on whether Dr. Phil will now try to ambush Mindy in her hospital room, like he ill-advisedly did with Britney at Cedars-Sinai in January this year.

And so concludes another wild, wayward week of wild, wayward women in music news. Come back next Friday for more headspinning headlines, and until then, goodnight and good music.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 10 STORIES:

1) Blake Still Incarcerated - Amy Winehouse's husband gets a 27-month prison sentence.

2) Janet No Longer Under FCC's Control - The indecency fine for Jackson's Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" is dropped.

3) 50 Cent No Quiero Taco Bell - Fiddy has a beef with the fast-food chain.

4) What's In A Name? - Nas scores a number-one album in spite of, or perhaps because of, its controversial original title.

5) They Tried To Make Her Go To Rehab - And embattled country girl Mindy McCready said yes, yes, yes.

6) Amy Waxhouse - A paraffin statue of the British diva is unveiled at Madame Tussaud's.

7) Court Waffles In Kid Rock Case - The rapper gets probation for his Waffle House brawl.

8) A Paparazzi Blackout - Photographers are arrested for trespassing near Britney Spears's home.

9) A Hole In Her Financial Records? - An accounting firm claims it is owed $1 million by Courtney Love.

10) George Michael's Hot Ticket - The pop star suggests that Barack and Hilary run for office together.