Britney Spears is making her comeback — again. First step: release a catchy single. And so, on Friday Britney’s song “Womanizer” finally hit airwaves, four days after its scheduled release and a week after a snippet was leaked.
    
The song is an upbeat if slightly repetitive electropop number lasting about 3:40. It comes off Spears’ album “Circus,” which is set to be released on her 27th birthday on Dec. 2. The song was produced by The Outsyders, a group based in Atlanta.
    
It has lyrics that include: “You say I’m crazy/ I got your crazy/You’re nothing but a womanizer” In the song’s chorus, Britney sings, “Boy, don’t try to front/I-I know just-just what you are/Womanizer, you’re a womanizer, baby.”
    
It remains to be seen what Britney’s fans think of the song, but it’s definitely catchy. In a snap judgment, the Los Angeles Times music blog Soundboard reached the conclusion that “Britney is back. She actually seems to be awake this time.”

Last year in late August, Britney released a song, “Gimme More,” which was also billed as a “comeback” tunes after months of Britney finding herself making headlines for erratic behavior. At that time, she was embroiled in a bitter custody battle over her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

She sang “Gimme More” at the MTV Video Music Awards in September ‘07, but was  panned by fans and critics. By January of this year, she found herself in a Los Angeles-area hospital under psychiatric evaluation.

But since February, after her father and lawyers took control of her affairs, Britney has seemed to be on the mend. In fact, at this year’s MTV VMAs, Britney won three awards for her song, “Piece of Me.”

So one wonders: could this “comeback” be the real deal.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

It appears the emotional scars from Britney Spears’ much maligned performance on MTV’s Video Music Awards last year haven’t healed quite yet. After weeks of ”will she or won’t she” speculation about whether Spears will perform again this year, her manager told Ryan Seacrest on Monday that she will not.

“Britney Spears will not be performing at the VMAs this year.  I’m telling you officially and unequivocally,” said manager Larry Rudolf on Seacrest’s KISS-FM morning radio show in Los Angeles.

Who could forget Britney, who used to steal the show with her song and dance performances, clumsily teetering around the stage last year with a bad hair weave and ill-fitting lingerie outfit? It was so bad, it was good. 

When Spears recently appeared in a series of tongue-in-cheek VMA promo commercials – complete with a 9,000-pound live elephant in the room-alongside this year’s host, British comedian Russell Brand – rumors swirled that she would seek redemption by performing again at the upcoming show on Sept. 7.

And while Rudolf’s words to radio and TV personality Seacrest seem to be firm, given Spears’ rollercoaster of a life this past year, anything could still happen. Rudolf could not be reached for comment or confirmation but Gina Orr, a spokeswoman for Spears’ label Jive Records would neither confirm or deny that Britney will be absent from the VMA’s stage.

Orr emailed us a statement saying only, “Contrary to media reports, Britney was never slated to perform on this year’s VMAs. She’s in the middle of recording her next album, which is going amazingly well, and her focus remains on the studio.”

But it doesn’t say she won’t perform and when pressed for a firm answer, Orr said the statement was all there was to be said. So, in the words of TV pitch people everywhere, “stay tuned.”

And would it be so bad to see Britney perform, anyway? A stellar act might redeem Britney’s image once and for all. If not, the memories of her dazed routine might be the publicity bomb that haunts her forever.

(Reporting by Jennifer Martinez)

Eleven months after her disastrous performance on the MTV Video Music Awards, pop star Britney Spears is back to promote this year’s show, appearing in a series of upcoming promotional ads shot with a real-life, 9,000-pound elephant literally in the room with her.

The 10- to 30-second promos were recorded earlier this week on the Paramount studio lot in Hollywood, site of this year’s show, featuring Spears giving tongue-in-cheek hosting advice to the new emcee, British comedian Russell Brand from the recent film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” An MTV spokeswoman says the mostly ad-libbed spots, in which the elephant poses in the background, will begin airing this coming weekend.

The 25th annual edition of the Video Music Awards, long considered a looser, hipper version of the Grammys, will be broadcast live on MTV on Sept. 7, returning to Los Angeles for the first time in a decade.

Spears, coming off two marriages, two children and two stints in rehab, sought to launch a comeback on last year’s show with a performance of the song “Gimme More.” Instead, she drew a torrent of ridicule for lumbering around on stage in an ill-fitting black bikini as she awkwardly lip-synced her way through the dance number. The incident proved a publicity bomb for Spears but a ratings boon for MTV.

With Spears said to be back in the recording studio this summer working on her next album, and her personal life more or less back in order, the big question is whether she would dare venture a return engagement on the Video Music Awards. Hence, the presence of the 9,000-pound pachyderm in the commercials she filmed this week.

MTV is making the most of the suspense for now, refusing to say whether Spears, 26, might appear as either a presenter or performer on next month’s show. She’s nominated for two awards — best female video and best pop video, both for the song “Piece of Me.”   

UPDATE: Since this was post on Monday, word comes from CBS that U.S. household viewership for “How I Met Your Mother” was up 9 percent for Britney’s appearance from one week before.  Monday’s show lured 10.6 million viewers overall, which was its highest total this year. Among adults 18- to 49-years-old and adults 25- to 54-years old, the show had its highest ratings in its three-hear history, CBS said.

MONDAY’S POST: Britney Spears’ latest attempt to bring some normalcy back into her life goes on full public display Monday night when she appears on U.S. television sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.” She plays a receptionist in a doctor’s office who has eyes for one of the show’s characters, Ted, portrayed by Josh Radnor.

A few video clips can be seen on the Web site of broadcast network CBS which airs the TV show. In one of them, Britney is holding a book titled, “The Power of Me,” and for awhile she certainly did have a lot of power in show business.

In fact Spears, 26, was named the most powerful celebrity in Hollywood by Forbes magazine in 2002 after earning $39.2 million in one, 12-month time frame. But ahh, how the mighty Britney has fallen.

Since her 2006 breakup with ex-husband Kevin Federline, Spears has spent time in rehab, lost custody of her two children and most recently was hospitalized twice for psychiatric evaluation.

Her father has now taken control of her personal and business affairs, and her life would seem to be back on track. Late last year she was frequently photographed in Los Angeles wearing pink wings and talking in a fake British accent. Now she is back to blonde and smiling brightly in the video clips on CBS.com.

Whether Britney’s fans will continue to support her remains a key question in her career. In late October, she released her most recent album, “Blackout,” and it quickly hit No. 2 on record charts. The first single, “Gimme More,” also was well-received. So, her fans do not appear to have abandoned her — yet.

Monday night’s “How I Met Your Mother” is the next test on her road to a Hollywood career recovery.