I guess he is, and his new girlfriend is Miss Nevada USA, Veronica Grabowski. And Criss was reportedly pissed when she didn’t make the finals of the Miss USA pageant last week.

Shortly after Angel’s honey, Miss Nevada USA Veronica Grabowski, didn’t make the finals of the Miss USA pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort, Angel – who flipped the NBC cameras the bird – wigged out when he saw Las Vegas Review Journal columnist Norm Clarke. Angel was ticked off that Clarke ran an interview with preliminary judge Sandy Mecca, in which Mecca claimed Angel exhorted her to give Grabowski “high marks.” Mecca said the comments made her uncomfortable and disturbed pageant owner Donald Trump. When Angel ran into Clarke after the show, he screamed, “You’re a [bleeping] idiot!” Angel then screeched at Clarke, who wears a patch over his right eye, “Don’t ever write another word about me or you’ll need an eye patch over your other eye.” “Good one,” Clarke shot back “Never heard that one before.”

Um, okay, I take it that this Norm Clarke guy wears an eye patch over one eye. And Criss was threatening to injure the other eye. Which is so unbelievably cool of him. Threatening to beat up a half-blind guy. Who — I did some research — is 65 years old. Bad. Ass.

For the first time, illusionist Criss Angel is opening up about what he’d planned for Britney’s big VMA comeback performance … and what went wrong.

“With Britney I presented concepts to create, within her performance, illusions that would happen in the open. You would see Britney and then she would split into two Britneys and then four Britneys with no boxes or covers. It would just be a visual effect using no screens. People in the past have used the art of magic in music performances but mostly in a cheesy way. Magic has not kept up with popular culture and technology.

“Other things I wanted to do with her was to literally transform her into birds and then for her to reappear in the audience. I also thought of having her levitate over the audience. It was going to be really visual moments that were all epic tableaux that were beautiful, artistic, elegant and, most important, unique — things MTV hasn’t seen in music. I wanted to captivate people in the moment. That was the essence of what I wanted to do with the Britney performance, because I think the performance she did with the snake was a highlight of her career and I wanted to trump that and I thought we had it.”

So, what happened?

“Britney is really strong with her own ideas. And what I had planned wasn’t an easy thing to do and would have required a lot of rehearsals. Ultimately, I told her I needed 100% commitment or I wasn’t going to be able to do this. I told her that, ‘You have to feel comfortable.’ So, we explored it and she decided it wasn’t for her, and I completely understand.”

So, basically, what he’s saying is that Britney didn’t want to make time for all those rehearsals. This statement contradicts the earlier rumors that the casino couldn’t get insured for Angel’s crazy stunts. Basically: Britney was just too lazy.

This can’t be! Everyone who dates Britney Spears loves her for who she is inside. I mean, what’s not to like? The ever-changing extensions? The regular weight gain? The history of promiscuity? The hick accent? The fact that everyone in the whole wide world has seen her vagina? How could anyone who hooks up with Britney have ulterior motives?

But rumor is that Britney didn’t win Criss over with her darling personality.

“Angel … was “ecstatic” when his manager, Jeff Kwatinetz, asked him to meet with Spears, who was interested in using illusion in her VMA performance this Sunday. The two “hooked up the night they met” and Angel has been “using her to get press ever since,” we’re told. A Vegas spy said, “He doesn’t even really talk to her when they go out. This weekend at [club] LAX, they weren’t seated at the same table, but when the paparazzi were around he jumped in all the pictures. . . . The paparazzi all have his number.”

Doesn’t Britney have anyone around her who’s not being paid to be there?

I can’t think of a single person.

Hurry up! Grab one to sit on!

Sigh.

It was just earlier this summer that (married) magician Criss Angel was proclaiming his undying love for Cameron Diaz. But that’s all over now — Cameron’s already being linked to Jessica Simpon’s ex John Mayer — and Criss Angel has moved on to none other than Britney Spears.

The two were caught by cameras at 4 a.m. last night in the Tower Beverly Hills Hotel. They were later spotted holding hands and taking an elevator up to an 11th floor suite. I have a feeling there was lots of “freak,” not so much “mind.”