Britney Spears is 29 years old, which in MTV years is like, 74, therefore she is the perfect candidate for a tribute at August 28th's MTV Video Music Awards!
"Britney will be at the show and we'll be paying tribute to her," VMAs executive producer Amy Doyle confirmed to Billboard. "She was having an incredible year and she is so beloved by the MTV audience that we started to think what could we do that would be a different experience. Obviously everything from her choreography to her fashion to her videos will be [covered]. We said, 'Let's challenge ourselves to do something unique.' "
The very unconfirmed list of rumored performers for the Brit tribute posted on Pink Is the New Blog includes Selena Gomez, Katy Perry, Janet Jackson, Demi Lovato, Ke$ha and Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, and Spears herself, with Madonna listed as the presenter of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Believable? Yeah, actually. Spears penned a song for Gomez's recent album and Lovato is pushing new music. Ke$ha cowrote Spears' "Till the World Ends," and Minaj appears on the song's remix and is currently touring with Britney. Spears honored Jackson's brother Michael at a previous VMAs, Lady Gaga has publicly praised Spears, who sang a demo version of "Telephone," and Madonna of course has many ties to Britney -- she infamously kissed her onstage at the 2003 VMAs, did a cameo on Spears' "Me Against the Music," and asked Britney to appear in a video that ran during her own Sticky & Sweet Tour.
In the past, MTV has lured Spears to the VMAs by asking her to perform and giving her awards she really didn't deserve. Tributes are generally reserved for the dead and/or old -- that explains why Aaliyah and Joey Ramone got them in 2001, Michael Jackson earned one in 2009, and Amy Winehouse may receive one this year. Britney Spears is not dead, but she's sure good for MTV's numbers. In 2007, the year Brit did her very sad rendition of "Gimme More," ratings rose 23 percent. She showed up the following year to accept three prizes (her first-ever VMAs) for "Piece of Me" and ratings rose 15 percent in the key 18-34 demographic. (The 2009 awards were known for Kanye West's infamous Taylor Swift stage crash, and the 2010 ceremony was All Meat Dress Everything.)
This year Spears was nominated for two awards, which may not have been enough to get her to Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on the 28th alone. Smooth move, MTV, but what are you going to do next year... give Spears a Best Artist in the Universe trophy?
P.S. Here's a free idea, MTV: Consider a tribute to Justin Timberlake's singing career.
[Photo: Kevin Kane/WireImage.com]