A&E Dispatch | "Circus," "For the Record" make this Britney Spears comeback the real thing

Some hot albums will be going head to head this week, pitting Britney Spears, Akon and Take That against each other.

Spears is surging ahead with her comeback. After going through a very public divorce and custody battle and the personal chaos that followed, Britney is on the rise again. According to her Web site (www.britneyspears.com), her performance on the U.K. music talent show "The X Factor" pulled in 12.8 million viewers — or more than half of the British viewing audience. And she's still the No. 1 name searched on Yahoo.

Her much-talked-about MTV documentary, "For the Record," aired last night, giving fans a glimpse into her world. In it she says, "You can see the cruelest part of the world and then on the other side you see the most beautiful. ... But they're worth it. ... I've been to both places."

Scenes from the documentary are on mtv.com, where you can also find more "For the Record" airtimes.

And you can hear her sixth album, "Circus," on New York station WKTU-FM (www.ktu.com/cc-common/news/sections/special/britneyspears2.html) or on amazon.com.

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825 or mliu@seattletimes.com