A Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner ruled Wednesday that Britney Spears’ father would retain control of his daughter’s finances and estate for five more months.

Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz extended James Spears’ control until July 31, said court spokesman Alan Parachini. Parachini wasn’t immediately able to provide more information.

Spears was named co-conservator of the pop star’s estate after she was hospitalized twice in January. His temporary authority was to continue until Monday.

the year leading up to the hospitalizations, Spears had been caught on camera by paparazzi engaging in increasingly bizarre behavior. She shaved her head, beat a vehicle with an umbrella, wore skirts sans underwear and left her car on a busy street with a flat tire.

“I like Britney,” 5-year-old Elissa Bouganim, who has taken three classes with the pop star, told People magazine. “Today, first we were dancing slow, and then faster and faster … Then we did the fish-move and lots of other fun things.”

Spears, 26, has become a semi-regular instructor at the Millennium Dance Complex in the past month.

“It’s just amazing to watch Britney with the kids,” Elissa’s mother, Pam, told People. “Elissa won’t stop dancing now, that’s all she wants to do. Britney has really inspired her.”

Elissa even gave Spears a gift during Tuesday’s class.

“It was a picture of [Peter Pan’s] Tinkerbell,” she told People. “And she gave me a hug.”

Elissa also said she wants to dance with Britney “all the time.”

Musicians Snoop Dogg and John Legend, and actress Raven-Symone will be involved in World Wrestling Entertainment’s annual WrestleMania XXIV extravaganza later this month as it continues to attract celebrities in guest roles.

The March 30 pay-per-view event at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando will also feature boxer Floyd Mayweather in a match with 7-foot, 399 pounds wrestler Big Show.

Legend will kick off the event by singing “America the Beautiful.” Snoop Dogg will serve as celebrity ring announcer for a “BunnyMania” match featuring female wrestlers who have appeared in Playboy.

Raven-Symone, who stars in the upcoming comedy “College Road Trip,” will host a wish-granting event as well as a “Bacon, Bagels and Biceps” brunch during WrestleMania weekend.

Biggie is coming to the big screen.

Fox Searchlight has hired Jamal Woolard, a Brooklyn-based rapper, to play late rap icon Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G., in its upcoming biopic “Notorious.”

Derek Luke, Angela Bassett and Anthony Mackie also have been cast in the movie, the art-house studio said. Directed by George Tillman Jr. (”Soul Food”), it goes into production this month and is set for release in January.

Luke (”Catch a Fire”) will play Biggie record producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, who off-screen is an executive producer on the film. Mackie (”Brother to Brother”) will play rival rapper Tupac Shakur, while Bassett (”Akeelah and the Bee”) will play Biggie’s mother Voletta Wallace.

The production held an open casting call last fall in the hope of finding the next Notorious B.I.G., ne Christopher Wallace, the generously built East Coast rapper who was killed in an unsolved Los Angeles drive-by in 1997.

The idea, executives said, was that as with casting for sports movies like “Miracle,” the production would be better served with a non-actor who can rap and imitate Biggie than with a pro actor who might need to be taught how to rap.

More than 100 Biggie wannabes, many of them non-pros and all with the requisite size, turned out to show off their rapping and impersonation skills.

Woolard, who also is known as Gravy, is not a total unknown. He has released a number of albums, though he’s perhaps best known for being shot before a radio appearance outside the New York hip-hop station Hot 97 two years ago, after which he proceeded with the interview and became a part of hip-hop lore.

Like Biggie, Woolard was a drug dealer before he became a rapper. He had released a number of albums on indie labels in the 1990s before being signed by Warner Bros.

Voletta Wallace cited “Jamal’s charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile” as reasons for the casting. “He is a talented and charismatic actor, and I am excited that he will bring Christopher’s character to life,” she said.

Biggie, who drew on his experiences as a drug dealer in his rapping, is considered a seminal figure in the hip-hop world; his posthumously released “Life After Death” was a top seller and is considered one of the most influential hip-hop records of the modern era. “Notorious” is expected to examine his troubled life, his music and his impact.

The Beastie Boys are taking a break from the studio this week to play a handful of shows.

The hip-hop trio teamed up with Moby to play a charity concert in New York Tuesday, and will headline the Langerado Music Festival in Florida on Friday, and the MX Beat Soundfest in Mexico City on Saturday. Tuesday’s gig, at Terminal 5, was a benefit for the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, which uses music as a medium for healing.

After the tour, the Beastie Boys will return to the studio. But fans shouldn’t hope for a new record any time soon. It’s all new, original,” MCA, a.k.a. Adam Yauch, told Billboard.com, “but I don’t think it’s gonna come out this year, no.”

The Beastie Boys won a Grammy last month when their 2007 release, “The Mix-Up,” was named best pop instrumental album.