TVSquad

We all know the story: Britney Spears got divorced, shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella, went to rehab for a little while, and generally acted in an unstable fashion in front of the paparazzi. Then, last year, she was supposed to put all of that behind her and reclaim her rightful crown as a pop princess by performing her new single, "Gimme More" at the MTV Video Music Awards.

So she opened the show--but her performance was more befitting a zombie stripper than a multi-platinum artist. Things continued to go downhill for a while, until her dad stepped in. After that, it was better extensions, visits with her kids and guest spots on How I Met Your Mother. It was good all around.

Now, after several months of relative stability, Britney may be ready for a comeback from her comeback. Along with VMA host Russell Brand, Spears is starring in a couple of promos for the VMAs. The videos are after the jump.

The promos are improvised and feature Brand and Spears just kind of chatting. She can't remember his name, he wants her to pinch him harder, she looks uncomfortable and keeps on scooting away. The joke? They don't talk about the elephant in the room--which in this case, is a literal elephant hanging out behind them.

It's actually pretty interesting just to hear her speak again. She's become such a tabloid fixture that outside of How I Met Your Mother, I think I've only really seen her in photographs for at least a year. The promos serve as a tentative test of the waters. It's Britney's way of saying, "hey, I'm here. I have my act together and I'm wearing more than ill-fitting underwear."

Of course, ever since it was announced that she would be doing these promos, people have been speculating that she's going to try to perform at the VMAs again this year. I'm kind of ambivalent about this. On one hand, she can't do any worse than she did last year, but on the other hand, baby steps are probably best at this point. She's appeared in the promos; perhaps the next step is just attending the awards, or maybe presenting one. Have her get up on stage, talk a little bit more, crack a lame joke and keep the dancing shoes in the closet. Then maybe next year, she can come back stronger than ever and people will actually remember why she's famous in the first place.