Britney Doesn't Do It Again...
...screw up big time, that is. No, as opposed to last year's televised public meltdown as she stumbled through a shambolic performance of Gimme More, a trim, toned, and tanned Britney, obviously in her right mind and ready to reinvent her image after what was arguably the year from hell, stole the show (and garnered three Moonman statuettes) as she not only opened the MTV Video Music Awards, but won three awards of her own:
Spears was resolutely careful, determined to set right her pop star image. She was, after all, returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak. At last year's VMAs — Britney Comeback 1.0 — her unpolished performance was roundly disparaged.In each acceptance speech Sunday, Spears spoke briefly, thanked God and dedicated the awards to her fans. Even while opening the show, she was all business, zipping through her few lines of introduction.
"Thank you so much," she said flatly as the crowd greeted her with a standing ovation. "Thank you for all the love."
All three awards were for her song and video Piece Of Me, off her CD Blackout...which, if you recall, was made while Britney was in the grips of what turned out to be a serious mental illness which ultimately resulted in hospitalizations, ambulance rides, very public breakdowns, and a total grilling in a largely critical press. I remember saying at the time that the lyrics about how she didn't see anything wrong with "working and being a mama" were pretty lame, seeing as how she could do neither at the time with any degree of success...however, now that she's starting to put the pieces of her life back together, perhaps she can be more of a success at both.
Speculation ran rampant that Brit was going to do some sort of musical number to open the show, but as it turns out all she did was walk out to the strains of Hit Me Baby (One More Time) (kind of apropos) and, with a slightly shaky voice, recite four lines:
Thank you so much. Thank you for all the love. I'm here tonight to celebrate a very important birthday, the 25th anniversary of the VMAs. This is the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards and it starts right now.
And y'know what? That's enough. It wasn't Oscar-worthy, it wasn't a huge dramatic performance, it wasn't even all that exciting. But it was enough. Just dip a toe into the water...no need to jump in all the way. She needed to know that her peers stand behind her after a horrid time in her life, and I believe she got what she needed. In any recovery situation, one of the key things to remember is baby steps, and as long as she takes little baby steps she'll be fine. She was with manager Larry Rudolph, whom she memorably fired a while back, and he kept a protective eye on her during the ceremony. Continued on the next page
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