In less than 20 seconds, the troubled pop singer Britney Spears made a successful comeback today when she introduced the 25th MTV video music awards in Hollywood – and won her first ‘Moonman’ statuettes along the way.

After a pre-taped skit in which she joked around with US comedian and Superbad star Jonah Hill, Spears appeared on stage to a standing ovation as her hit 1998 single Baby One More Time blasted through the auditorium on the Paramount Pictures Studio Lot in Los Angeles.

Uttering just four short sentences, including the obligatory “thank you for all the love”, Spears managed successfully to get through the introduction without incident, unlike last year when she bumbled about on stage in a universally panned performance

Dressed in a vintage sparkly silver Versace mini-dress, Spears’s appearance today was deemed by some critics as too safe and anti-climatic, but her three wins – best female video, best pop video, and video of the year, for her paparazzi-mocking single Piece of Me – heralded a triumphant return for the pop princess.

Despite over a decade as an international pop star, 16 previous nominations and a long history with the awards – including another controversial appearance in 2003 during which she kissed Madonna on-stage – today was the first time Britney had actually won an MTV video music statuette.

Accepting her first ‘Moonman’ award, the 26-year-old said she wanted to: “thank God first and foremost for just blessing me like this”. She then went on to thank “my beautiful family, my two beautiful boys for just inspiring me every day and my fans, this is for you. Thank you so much”.

It was a far cry from her appearance at the awards 12 months ago when she bumbled about on stage, clearly unsteady and bewildered as she badly lip-synched and forgot her dance steps while performing her single Gimme More.

It capped a catastrophic period for the singer, which peaked when she shaved her head in front of paparazzi and was then admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward.

But the tabloid target seems to have avoided any calamities in recent months. While she puts her life back together, her ex-husband Kevin Federline has full custody of their two sons, and her father and a lawyer have taken control of her business affairs.

Awards host, British comedian Russell Brand, hailed the show the "launch of a very new Britney Spears era".

"Consider this the resurrection of Britney Spears," Brand said. "If there was a female Christ, it's Britney."

Brand is trying to break into America after gaining moderate exposure with his role in the recent comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

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