VMAs Add Kanye And Christina To The Mix

Hot on the heels of MTV’s announcement that the “new and improved” Britney Spears would open Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards, comes late word that Kanye West and Christina Aguilera have just been added to the growing list of performers for the VMAs.

As reported by MTV.com, Kanye and Christina will join an impressive list of performers that already includes the Jonas Brothers, Pink, Paramore, Lil Wayne, and Kid Rock.

Confirmed presenters for the broadcast will include Jamie Foxx, Ashlee Simpson, John Legend, Kobe Bryant, Leona Lewis, Paris Hilton, Slash, Taylor Swift, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Phelps, Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson, Ciara, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Christopher "McLovin" Mintz-Plasse, and the cast from "The Hills" — Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt.

If Britney Spears opening the show has raised a few eyebrows (unlike last year’s disaster, Britney is not actually scheduled to perform this time around), the addition of Kanye West is an outright shock. The notoriously mercurial rapper once famously vowed he would never set foot on a VMA stage again.

West also is hinting that he may have a new album out before the end of the year. As reported by Billboard.com, West is looking at a possible 2008 release for his fourth album, which may or may not be called Good Ass Job, following the storyline of earlier releases Late Registration and The Graduation. Rumors that he will perform a new song “Love Lockdown,” at the VMAs have been neither confirmed nor denied by West’s management or his label, Def Jam. “Love Lockdown” has been mentioned as a possible first single from West’s upcoming album.

Christina Aguilera meanwhile will perform one of her earliest singles, “Genie In A Bottle” on Sunday. Aguilera also has an upcoming new release to promote – a greatest hits set that will be distributed exclusively through mega-retailer Target. That album, Keeps Gettin' Better -- A Decade of Hits will also include two new songs, the title track and “Dynamite”, and is due out on November 11.