POOR Britney. Her return to MTV at the Video Music Awards, which she kicked off with the highly anticipated premiere performance of her new “Gimme More” single, is almost too painful to watch.

I know she’s been through a lot, but if you’re going to try to make a comeback, do it with a bang instead of what looks like a half-hearted, barely rehearsed performance.

Check out this clip from SPIKE Powered by IFILM (don’t you just love saying that, heh. Ah, remember the good old days before MTV bought IFILM in 2005?) — you be the judge.