Other nominees announced Friday — Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Slipknot, Linkin Park and Foo Fighters — were in the category of best rock video.
This is Spears third nomination for this year's VMAs; earlier, fans nominated her for best pop video and best female video, both for "Piece of Me."
Spears' nominations are ironic considering neither the song nor the album from which it came, "Blackout," were significant hits; both were released amid Spears' spectacular public decline over the past year, and her performance at last year's VMAs in Las Vegas represented one of the lowlights of her fall from grace. She was universally ridiculed for her unkempt look and sloppy performance, which kicked off the VMAs and instantly became one of pop's classic moments.
In recent months, though, Spears has been on an upswing. Since her father James took over her personal and professional affairs after being appointed by a court as her conservator, her erratic behavior has virtually stopped; she settled her custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline over their two sons; and made appearances on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother," which were critical and ratings successes.
There's a possibility she get a chance to redeem last year's bad performance at this year's VMAs, to be held Sept. 7 in Los Angeles; MTV has confirmed they are in talks to have Spears appear in some capacity, and she's appearing in two video ads to promote the show.
Russell Brand has been selected to host this year's VMAs, which is to include performances from Kid Rock, Lil Wayne and the Jonas Brothers. Other nominees include Kanye West, Jordin Sparks, Madonna, Rihanna and Katy Perry.
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