The MTV Video Music Awards began with the back of Britney Spears' head. The performance that followed was not much more inspiring.

Spears kicked off the VMAs Sunday night with the much-anticipated premiere performance of her new single, "Gimme More" which the singer hoped was the feeling felt by her legions of fans, many of whom have grown bewildered by her increasingly bizarre behavior.

Spears soon turned around to reveal herself clad in a sparkly black and white bikini and black boots. Not as fit as she was in her "...Baby One More Time" days, Spears still had the look of the young pop star though notably aged by motherhood and endless tabloid tension.

This was Spears' first step on the comeback trail, which will peak when her album comes out in November. Surrounded by a few dozen backup dancers several of whom gyrated on poles Spears seemed to feel the pressure.

She appeared to have lost her ability to hide her lip-synching. Playing it safe, she generally kept the dance moves simple and free of any potentially damaging mistakes. The tentative performance failed to cause the sensation that Spears managed with her famous lip-lock with Madonna in 2003, her last appearance at the VMAs.

She concluded: "I just want more." The question is: do her fans?

Host Sarah Silverman saw a punch line and jumped at the opportunity. She opened her monologue with the backhanded compliment that Spears, at 25, had already accomplished in her life everything she ever will.

For MTV, it was an awkward start to the VMAs, providing neither a memorably good nor infamously weird opening. Spears' desperation wasn't entirely separate from MTV's, which gambled by giving Spears top billing. Hoping to reverse dwindling ratings, the network moved the award show to the Palms Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas this year.

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