Britney Spears will kick off the 2008 MTV Video Music awards (VMAs), the channel has confirmed.

The Toxic star put in an unforgettable performance at last year’s ceremony, stumbling her way through dance routines and miming poorly as fears grew for her mental state.

However, since her hospitalisation earlier this year – as well as her family being granted control of her estate – the 26-year-old is on the road to recovery and is “excited” to open the 2008 awards.

“MTV has long played an important role in my career. How can I not be there to kick off their 25th VMAs?” she told People magazine.

“I’m excited to open the entire show, to say hi to my fans and to be nominated.”

The singer has been nominated 16 times for an astronaut-shaped VMA but has never been successful.

However, she has another shot at glory this year with nominations in the best female video, best pop video and video of the year categories, all for her hit Piece of Me.

MTV Networks’ music president Van Toffler commented: “Britney has done everything from perform with a snake, lock lips with Madonna and prove that what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

“I can’t wait to see what she does to kick off this year’s show.”

British comedian and actor Russell Brand is hosting this year’s event, which takes place on Sunday in Los Angeles.

BRITNEY SPEARS will finally team up with her ex-boyfriend JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE for a song on her new album, according to reports.
The follow up to Spears’ 2007 LP Blackout is slated for release next year (09) and looks set to feature a duet between the former couple, according to New York Post gossip column PageSix.
The pair, who met on the set of U.S. variety show The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1993, were reportedly set to sing a track together for Blackout – but Spears allegedly missed the recording session with producer Timbaland.
Spears and Timberlake split up in 2002 after dating for four years. The SexyBack star is currently romancing Hollywood actress Jessica Biel

TV’s SUPERNANNY JO FROST is reaching out to BRITNEY SPEARS in a bid to help the troubled pop star win back custody of her two sons.
The singer was stripped of all her visitation rights back in February (08), after a stand-off with child services officials at her home in Los Angeles, and she has only just won back limited visits with Jayden James Sean Preston.
And now Brit Frost wants to help the single mother become a super mum.
She tells OK! magazine, “I do believe she (Spears) loves her children very much and I’d be more than happy to help her.
“To be able to put her on the right track and feel more empowered as a parent.
“It’s about Britney being in a place where she’s feeling secure and confident in herself, so that she is able to take care of her little ones and give them what they need from her, which is their mother around.”

Avril Lavigne has criticised paparazzi photographers for the way they treat Britney Spears.

The US singer claimed that she had problems with the press herself but nothing compared to the experiences of Spears.

In an interview with Maxim magazine, Lavigne said: “No one else has it as hard as Britney. I feel bad for her.

“How does she even think with all those flashbulbs? When I’m being followed, everything’s thrown off,” she said.

“They run lights. They cause accidents. She can’t even walk to her car.”

British actor Ewan McGregor also recently expressed sympathy for the way Britney Spears was hounded by the press.

He claimed the behaviour of the paparazzi made him “feel sick”.

“I feel sad for her because I look at those pictures of ambulances outside her house and there are hundreds of paparazzi photographers. It makes me feel sick,” he told the Sunday Herald.

Troubled star BRITNEY SPEARS has not lost her role in new movie MEMOIRS OF A MEDICATED CHILD, despite U.S. reports to the contrary. The Toxic hitmaker was reported to have been replaced by Canadian singer Samantha Falk in the movie after being dropped by producers.

But the film’s director Tommy Parker denies Spears was axed from the picture. He tells New York gossip column PageSix, “The rumours of Britney Spears not starring in the movie are false. We still are in negotiations and the possibility of Britney still being in the movie remains the same. “Samantha has been cast in the movie, but her involvement in the film does not affect the part we would like Britney to play.” However, in a statement issued on Friday (18Jan08), Falk announced her intention to back out of the film and maintains Spears is not part of the project.

She says, “After reading some of the articles and interviews, I would like to say officially at this point that I am removing myself from all dealings with this film/project. I do not appreciate being misled by Tommy Parker in this manner. “To my knowledge Britney Spears is in no way attached to this film at this time. Tommy Parker can choose to say whatever he wants. However, myself along with my clients will not be a part of it!”

A top U.S. psychologist has declared BRITNEY SPEARS will be dead in six months if she doesn’t get the treatment she needs for chronic mood disorder cyclothymia. Dr. Lillian Glass has gone public with her diagnosis in the hope Spears will read her warning comments and seek medical aid.

The renowned Beverly Hills doctor tells America’s Globe, “Unless Britney is locked away or put into a treatment program, she is going to die in six months – or even sooner. “In my opinion, she suffers from cyclothymia, a chronic mood disorder in which short periods of mild depression are followed by short periods of hypomania. “That explains why one minute she (Spears) can appear perfectly sane and the next she’s exhibiting totally crazy behaviour.” Dr. Glass tells the publication, “She’s definitely a candidate for suicide if she isn’t treated immediately.” The diagnosis goes some way to explain why Spears suffered an apparent meltdown at her home on 4 January (08), when she locked herself and her baby son in a bathroom at the end of a visitation term and refused to come out for three hours.

The pop star was committed to hospital for a psychological evaluation after the stand-off with police and paramedics. Spears’ erratic behaviour continued this week (beg14Jan08) when she fled a Los Angeles courthouse after refusing to testify in a crucial custody hearing. As a result, she lost visitation rights to her two young sons until the next hearing on 19 February (08).

Singer Britney Spears has been photographed stealing a blue lighter from a gas station in California.

The Oops I Did It Again star, who is followed by paparazzi every day, had stopped at a convenience store to pick up some gum. She then picked up a blue lighter before leaving the shop and made her way to the exit without paying the $1.39 (£0.80) price for the item.

When photographers informed the millionaire pop princess she hadn’t paid for the menial product, Spears sarcastically admitted to nicking the lighter.

She said: “I stole something. Oh, I’m bad!”

The owner of the store, Jatinder Kaur, told People magazine the amount involved in the theft was too little to be reported, but said he hoped the star would pay for the item.

He said: “Yes, Britney stole a blue lighter here last night. The lighter is $1.39. I’m hoping maybe the next time she comes back she will pay for it.

“I know she can afford to pay for it, but I’m not planning to file a police report. It’s still not right for her to steal the lighter. I hope she will do the right thing the next time she comes here,” he added.

Meanwhile, a photographer, Shane Partridge, has claimed he went back to the store to pay for the lighter on behalf of the celebrity. He told US magazine: “[The manager] didn’t want me to pay for it at first. I told him it was no bother. I just felt like I should, you know?”

Spears is currently involved in a child custody battle with her former spouse Kevin Federline over the time each parent spends with their two boys.

Britney Spears has reportedly found love with waiter Michael Marchand, who works at the popular Mirabelle resturant in Los Angeles, where the new couple had dinner together.

A source revealed; “Michael came in a little after midnight, and she came in right after wearing black and dark glasses. They were being discreet.

Forty-five minutes later, they left the restaurant together. He was charming, he made Britney laugh and looked at her with this secret smile. They left in separate cars.”

When the handsome man was asked about his recent romance with the pop star he replied; “I can’t talk about that right now.”

Britney reportedly fell instantly for Michael while dining at the exclusive resturant earlier this month.

A source revealed to Life & Style Weekly; “Their chemistry was immediate. He’s very attracted to her. They’re always texting each other.”

Meanwhile, Britney has been forced to step up her security in order to protect her children from the constant media frenzy that surrounds her every movement.

The troubled singer is worried her battle for custody of her two children, Sean Preston and Jayden James, is going to create more interest and in the end will but her kids at risk.

Sorrell Trope, who is Britney’s attorney, told People.com; “Recent aggressive actions by individuals who have followed (Spears) and blocked her access, with and without the children, have resulted in her decision to take certain security measures which she hopes will only be necessary temporarily, for the protection of the children.

Ms. Spears hopes that she and Mr. Federline will be able to reach an agreement as to all matters concerning their children.

She hopes that by not commenting on court proceedings the media attention in those proceedings will subside, which she requests for the safety and well being of the children”.

The lawyer representing BRITNEY SPEARS in her child custody battle is suing the estate of the late ANNA NICOLE SMITH for unpaid legal bills.

Sorrel Trope claims his firm is owed $160,000 (GBP80,000) in legal fees for work carried out for Smith, who died in February (07), between October 2006 and March 2007. In a creditor’s claim filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday (07Nov07), Trope alleges the unpaid work was to do with finding out the paternity of Smith’s baby daughter Dannielynn – which a DNA test proved to be Larry Birkhead. Trope is currently working for Spears as she battles her ex-husband Kevin Federline for the custody of their two sons.

BRITNEY SPEARS is under investigation after she ran over a Los Angeles County Sheriff deputy’s foot in her Mercedes Benz.

Days after the Toxic troublemaker accidentally drove over a photographer’s foot, Spears floored officer Stanley Mosk as she exited Los Angeles County Court following her custody hearing last week (26Oct07). Sheriff’s Department officials have filed a traffic collision complaint and now the LAPD is conducting an “active investigation” into the mishap, according to TMZ.com. Mosk has been hobbling around court on crutches since the accident, and his superiors have been forced to reassign him to light duty.

A police source reveals officials are looking at the incident with a view to filing another hit and run charge against Spears. The pop star narrowly escaped a hit and run conviction last month (Oct07) after agreeing to settle an August (07) parking lot accident out of court.