In spite of her personal troubles which unfolded in a very public way, Britney Spears latest CD "Circus" is expected to top sales charts, estimated to have sold around 500, 000 copies in the first week of release, according to her label Jive Records.

Britney Spears took home awards for video of the year, best pop video and best female video at this year's MTV Video Music Awards.

Compared to previous VMAs, her performance at the awards show this past Sunday was decidedly un-Britney-like.

There were no snakes, no kisses, and no horribly mangled dance numbers. In fact, all she said was four sentences to open the show and a couple of thank yous when accepting the awards.

Here's what she said to open the VMAs,

"Thank you so much. Thank you for all the love. I'm here tonight to celebrate a very important birthday, the 25th anniversary of the VMAs. This is the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards and it starts right now."

Britney Spears is heading back to the MTV Video Music Awards, but this time, she won't be performing.

According to Reuters, Spears will open the award show, but in what capacity remains unknown.

"MTV has long played an important role in my career. How can I not be there to kick off their 25th VMAs? I'm excited to open the entire show, to say hi to my fans and to be nominated," Spears said in a statement.

She was widely ridiculed for her poor performance at the same award show last year, where it was evident she was unprepared. She was having a break down after all.

Since she doesn't have the burden of taking care of her estate (thanks dad!), Britney Spears can focus on getting her life back together and on her music.

July 31 is here and that means the court will once again try to determine whether or not Britney Spears is fit to take back control of her estate.

So what is the court's decision? Not quite yet, according to Reuters.

Britney Spears is still "not fit" to take over her estate, worth about $100 million, according to her lawyer. This means her dad, Jamie Spears, won't be able to return to his full-time job as a caterer and will have to look over her estate a while longer.