How Simon Cowell attempted to ruin Britney Spears' career even before it began

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It's nearly difficult to envision the lyrics that made Britney Spears a musical celebrity with her No. 1 single from 1999.

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anybody else having first performed "Baby One More Time."

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However, if pop entrepreneur Simon Cowell had his way

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One of his past UK boy bands, and not One Direction, would have delivered those famed lyrics.

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"At the time, I put together a boy band called Five, called Five;

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We were nearly about to defeat them in America,"

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Howie Mandel was informed by Cowell on an episode of his "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" podcast.

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Someone from America calls me and says, "I just heard this song. The author wrote it for TLC.

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But following the death of the "No Scrubs" trio, "... Baby One More Time,"

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