Binside TV: BRITNEY SPEARS RETURNS MTV VMA's MOST TALKED ABOUT MOMENTS BRITNEY, JONAH HILL, RUSSELL BRAND

Click here to watch some of the most talked about moments at the MTV VMA's. Britney returned and she looked really good. Britney Spears picked up three Video Music Awards after managing to release lackluster music videos to support her unsuccessful Blackout Album.

No Madonna kiss. No Michael Jackson cameo. No flying Howard Stern. Not even a Kanye tantrum. MTV has set a high standard for the unexpected at its Video Music Awards, but on the show's 25th anniversary, the network instead settled for throwing its full support behind Britney Spears' comeback. Spears won a leading three awards, including video of the year for "Piece of Me."

Any spontaneity was left to host Russell Brand, the British comic whose rock star style and outlandish candor gave the Los Angeles show a pulse. But at the end of the night Sunday, even the manic and mangy Brand — a confessed former sex addict — could only summon a comic semi-feud with the young Jonas Brothers over their premarital celibacy.

But while Brand was unpredictable, witty and offensive, Spears was resolutely careful, determined to set right her pop star image. She was, after all, returning to the scene of the crime, so to speak. At last year's VMAs — Britney Comeback 1.0 — her unpolished performance was roundly disparaged.

In each acceptance speech Sunday, Spears spoke briefly, thanked God and dedicated the awards to her fans. Even while opening the show, she was all business, zipping through her few lines of introduction.

"Thank you so much," she said flatly as the crowd greeted her with a standing ovation. "Thank you for all the love."

MTV has a habit of reengineering the VMAs every year, and, true to form, took this year's show to the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles. After last year's awards, splashed throughout a Las Vegas hotel, MTV re-centered the action to a more traditional main stage. source