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Kelis Is No Queen of the Desert

Mon., Apr. 9, 2007 6:11 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

Tony DiMaio/www.ipartypix.com

It sounds like Kelis is living up to the diva she sings about in her hit song "Bossy."

I hear that the hip-pop singer caused all sorts of trouble at the White Party, this weekend's big gay dance bash in Palm Springs.

Here's what I've been told:

Not only did Kelis demand her payment up front and in cash, she apparently refused to rehearse her two-song performance. Organizers begged her to, because there was plenty of dancing involved. "She said, 'I don't do choreography,' " a well-placed source reports. "I'll just stand there and sing."

Phil Lobel / Lobeline Communications.

Then the "Milkshake" songstress arrived about two hours late for the show. And when she saw that she was to make her entrance from the top of giant stairs on the stage, she refused to perform her opening song.

Instead, she insisted that her stand-in for rehearsals do the number by lip-synching. "It was just weird," my source says. "People were just like, What is going on? That's not Kelis."

And when she did finally sing, several sources report she was less than stellar. "She was terrible," one source says. Another partygoer says, "She seemed in good spirits, but she did not motivate the crowd. The boys were more excited for the gyrating Apocalypto-dressed—paint and loincloths—go-go boys than for her."

A rep for Kelis insists, "She is never demanding. From my understanding, everything went great." A rep for White Party producer Jeffrey Sanker declined to comment.

Sounds like Kelis should have taken her cues from Tony Award winner Idina Menzel, who was the star attraction at the weekend's Tea Dance on Sunday night. She performed deejay Tracy Young's dance remix of her signature song "Defying Gravity," from the musical Wicked.

Introduced by longtime actor pal Glen Badyna of Dirt, Menzel started her performance with a big shout-out to the crowd. "You," she said, "all look so f--king gorgeous!"

Menzel's hunky hubby, Taye Diggs, was also an attraction. During an early afternoon sound check, a gaggle of guys waved and ogled him from several hotel rooms that overlooked the outdoor party space.