Gimme more? MTV could bring Spears back

LOS ANGELES — MTV isn’t ruling out giving viewers more Britney Spears at this year’s Video Music Awards.

“Everyone deserves a second or third chance, right?” Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music Group, playfully told The Associated Press during a telephone interview Friday. When asked if he was just joking, Toffler said “sorta.”

“Who knows?” he said.

Spears’ out-of-it “Gimme More” comeback performance during last year’s MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas was one of the most-talked televised moments of 2007. The drama-filled VMAs drew 7.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. Another Spears redux could equal even more eyeballs.

“I’m not sure how we top Britney opening the show,” said Toffler. “We are working on it every minute of every day.”

This year’s MTV Video Music Awards will air live from Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles on Sept. 7. (MTV and Paramount are corporate cousins within Viacom Inc.)

Toffler said the award show’s performances will occur on the lot’s various sound stages, rooftops and faux city streets.

“The backlot gives us versatility,” said Toffler. “You can do street performances, on-top-of-building performances, on-the-side-of-a-building performances, inside-of-a-studio performances, so we’re pretty excited.”