Bark + Bite

Britney Spears comes alive in X Factor promo

Oh, ok. So this Britney Spears as a singing judge thing might be real fun after all.

The latest spot for Spears' run on Simon Cowell's X Factor just aired and the producers smartly put together a reel of Britney sassin' contestants. Could it be? Is Britney finally back to normal or did they just knock down the dosage of her meds?

Whatever the reason, we like it. In the words of Britney, give us more.

Watch the promo for Britney on the X Factor below

This Swedish Britney Spears interview is awkward

Britney's interviews as of late have become dull, scripted, sterile exercises in futility, but somehow, a rogue roach slipped through the cracks of Team Britney's airtight vice grip.

While overseas in Europe doing a little bit of overdue promo for her album Femme Fatale, Britney was interview by a clumsy Swedish photographer who worked her last nerve. Britney's people ended up stepping in and ending things early, but the funniest parts were the side glances Britney kept throwing to her team. Her distraught eyes were crying out for help. They said, "Make it stop. Please. Now."

The sad thing is, this interviewer can't even be applauded for ruffling Britney's feathers because his questions weren't really probing. They were just plain ol' stupid. How do you feel when you look at old pictures of yourself? Do you sing songs on-demand in concert? Do you feel overprotected? This guy sure as hell ain't no Barbara Walters. Those questions were skin deep and senseless.

Watch Britney get a little testy in this clip below

Bruno Mars added to VMAs lineup, Britney to be honored in tribute

Bruno Mars made an appearance at last year's VMAs playing a feature role in B.o.B.'s set, but this year, Bruno's got his own slot at the 2011 VMAs. The singer was recently announced as a performer and Bruno was more than thrilled with the prospect of wowing audiences with his performance, given the history of the show.

"I grew up watching VMAs. I know every performance," singer, musician, songwriter and producer Mars recently told MTV News. "Ever since I was a kid, I've been watching MTV VMAs, and when we got the phone call saying that my video was up for Video of the Year, that's the big-boy award."

No word on what his set will consist of, but it's the VMAs, so let's keep our fingers crossed for an eye-popping surprise guest or any other watercooler moments from Mr. Mars.

Speaking of history, MTV is set to honor Britney's. The network announced a Britney Spears tribute at this year's VMAs with a promo video featuring the singer walking around a club with people dressed as her and her influences, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Madonna.

Concert Review: Britney Spears goes in for the kill in Washington D.C.

Photo: BreatheHeavy.com

Britney Spears arrived in Washington D.C. with a license to kill. Her opening number for her Femme Fatale tour, "Hold It Against Me," had all the makings of a lethal electric charge. Unfortunately, Britney's spark plugs aren't lighting like they used to.

Let's get this part out of the way early: Britney ain't the performer that she used to be. She's always been a lipsyncher, but she used to make up for it with sharp, snappy choreography and high energy. If you've seen any of her televised performances in the past few years, however, that's not the Britney we have on our hands now. At this point, she lazily walks through many of her dance steps and spends much of her time flipping her hair, in lieu of any sweat-breaking choreography.

And she doesn't really make up for her lack of dancing with personality either. Britney's never been a performer who engages in good stage banter, but the scripted shout outs in the show are noticeably detached. She obviously could care less and frankly, the audience is lucky if she remembers which city she's in.

But there's really no sense in bashing Britney over this because she's been this way for a while now, so anyone who buys a ticket to see her show knows what they're getting in to. And if the packed crowd at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. on July 31 is any indication, then Britney has nothing to worry about as far as drawing crowds. In fact, she should consider pulling out a sleeping bag and taking a nap on stage for her next tour. The same amount of people would still probably show up to fill the arena to see her.

Britney Spears is still humbled by the VMAs

There are few things about the music industry that appear to get Britney excited these days. In recent interviews, she sort of lives in a perpetual state of "huh," "what?" and "oh" when it comes to showbiz.

But Britney seemed to noticeably light up when she sat down with MTV to talk about her 2 VMA nominations for "Till The World Ends" in the Best Pop Video and Best Choreography categories.

Clearly, MTV wasn't paying attention to the body double controversy in that video when picking the nominees, but let's face it, they were going to nominate her for something to entice her to show up there anyway.

Watch Britney's bubbly and goofy reaction to being nominated for VMAs again

R.Kelly awkwardly forces himself on to Britney's "Till The World Ends"

When R.Kelly hooked up with Britney Spears to produce her almost single "Outrageous" for her 2004 album In The Zone, he was an in-demand songwriter and producer. He'd weathered the backlash of his underage sex scandal by cooking up irresistibly catchy ditties like "Ignition Part 2" and at the time, he was busy producing for people like Nick Cannon, B2K, Ciara, Michael Jackson and Ginuwine.

It was an odd pairing somewhat back then, but it worked. Britney was able to sell R.Kelly's freak song about an "outrageous" sex drive and shopping spree thanks to her naughty but nice persona.

Now, perhaps as the result of an itch for a reunion with the Britser, R.Kelly has unnecessarily jumped on a remix of Britney's latest hit, "Till The World Ends," and it's pretty awful. Like old-uncle-trying-to-do-the-dougie-at-your-graduation-party awkward.

R. Kelly might be able to genre hop between R&B and gospel music but he sure as hell can't touch dance-pop with a ten foot pole. Just because you put autotune on your voice and hop on a boom boom pow beat doesn't mean you're will.i.am. This dance thing ain't for everybody!

Listen to R.Kelly's head-scratching remix to Britney's song below

Britney Spears plays a game with the media in "I Wanna Go" video

Britney Jean Spears is approaching 30 this year, but you wouldn't be able to tell it by the video for her latest Femme Fatale single. The video seems more like something Avril Lavigne would've thought up 4 years ago. It's full of awful Hot Topic fashion, questionable hair coloring and Britney's trademarked exaggerated lipsynching. Wherever Britney wants to go, it's probably Never-Neverland cause she don't wanna grow up.

Watch the video for Britney's latest video from Femme Fatale below

4 Odd things about Britney's "I Wanna Go" teaser

Even though the "Till The World Ends" remix has been burning up the charts on radio and Billboard, Britney is moving forward with the next single, "I Wanna Go," in her Femme Fatale arsenal. As has become something of a habit for Britney this era, she's trying to build up hype for the new video by throwing out teasers before the video's formal release on Wednesday.

Late on Sunday evening, a 30-second teaser arrived, which featured Britney "rocking out" and throwing a really long CGI-rendered microphone around in slow motion. But there were a few things about the teaser and the video that seemed a wee bit off.