A downpour today (April 18) in Sydney forced organizers of Britney Spears' first live performance in Australia to scramble. Spears was to have played at a 10,000-capacity open-air arena at Sydney's Fox Studios, but torrential rain on Wednesday and the prospect of more today made it necessary to reschedule the show for later in the day at a smaller site at the studios.

Giant screens were put up in a parking lot to allow fans who couldn't get free passes to the indoor show to see Spears, the show's organizer and sponsor Pepsi said in a statement on its Web site. "Britney has requested that provisions be made for her to make a special appearance outside as well so that she is able to say hi to her fans in the car park," the statement said.

The 20-year-old pop star is scheduled to appear later today on the red carpet at the Australian premiere of her coming-of-age movie "Crossroads," which opened in February in the U.S.

The visit marks Spears' second trip to Australia. She arrived in Sydney the morning after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and canceled most of her media engagements, then had to stay longer than planned because of restrictions placed on international flights.

Prior to kicking off a North American tour next month, Spears will perform next Thursday in Tokyo. As previously reported, she will kick off her latest stateside tour with a pair of May 24-25 shows in Las Vegas.


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