Britney Spears: From Pop Princess to Tabloid Queen

Miss "American Dream Since She Was 17"--as she's referenced on her hit, "Piece of Me"--has truly come a long way to arrive at the mess she is at right now. While the waters do seem to have settled for now, one can only hope that she stays out of trouble.

Since when did the not-that-innocent teen with the sweet smile spiral into this seemingly out-of-control tabloid piñata?

Let's go all the way back to the triple kiss with Madonna and Christina Aguilera. That was perhaps the earliest example of her demand for attention. Well, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

This was around the time she was promoting her fourth album, In The Zone, on which she also drew attention for its lyrics. Stylistically and commercially, it indicated a slight departure from her Max Martin hey days, finishing off with just around three million units in the U.S. A more hip, club-friendly Britney was in the works.

It was the interim between this album and Blackout when the poor girl's life was hounded by the media.

I remember reading that she got injured during the filming of a promotional video for "Outrageous" with Snoop Dogg. She had already met Kevin Federline at this time, and he was there for her when she was recovering from the accident. Okay, innocent enough.

But when I read about their marriage in People Magazine, I knew immediately that it wouldn't work. In the inside, I wished her the best, but I knew from the first moment it was doomed to fail. So you're right if you guessed that I wasn't surprised when I heard news of the divorce.

But even up until now, she was still the Britney we knew. Just growing up. A marriage and two kids later, she was still a seemingly happy, sane human being.

After filing for divorce on November 2006, however, things spiraled out of control quickly. Before the settlement agreement, her aunt died of cancer, and she notoriously shaved her head. The head shaving may have marked the point of no return. America just saw the biggest girl in pop lose it. Completely.

Treatment and custody battles ensued, her little sister got pregnant (tabloid feast), and here we are today. The craze seems to be at a temporary cool, but they're still talking.

To be honest, I was hoping that the release of Blackout would finally project her out the mess she was in by shutting up the critics and allowing her to refocus on her music, taking the attention away from her life and into her hits. But Jamie Lynn got pregnant only a few months later and the media went nuts. Again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to point fingers at her her sister because Blackout-while earning surprisingly good reviews-didn't deliver in terms of sales. It's great that she made a critic's dance album, but it isn't living up to sales expectations.

So there you have it. Forget Rihanna, this is the real story of a good girl gone bad. But let's hope she can retool herself in the near future and focus on what she does best. Rather than land on tabloid covers, let's land some platinum albums and hot videos, shall we?