MTV opened up a portion of the nomination process for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards to the public this year and last night announced the first round of nominees for this year’s awards show. Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Rihanna and Chris Brown are among the folks nominated by the fans … here’s the report from MTVNews:

We asked for your help, and you did not disappoint. You voted in record numbers, whittling the list of Moonman hopefuls for Best Male Video and Best Female Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards down to the final five, as the nominees were revealed Friday (July 25). After thousands of votes on VMA.MTV.com (along with ballots from select industry insiders), two diverse battles are set. A pair of legendary pop icons will square off against two relative newcomers and one wily underdog in the fight for Best Female Video. Pop queen Britney Spears takes another step on the comeback trail as her “Piece of Me” grabs a nomination, while Mariah Carey will try to end her VMA dry spell with “Touch My Body.” “American Idol” champ Jordin Sparks scores a nomination for her Chris Brown collaboration “No Air,” and Rihanna is in the running as well with “Take a Bow.” Quirky long shot Katy Perry rounds out the Best Female race with her cheeky summer anthem “I Kissed a Girl.” Meanwhile, hip-hop’s hot streak continues in the Best Male Video category as two of the hottest MCs in the game face off against some of R&B’s leading men. Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” exploded this year, so it’s no surprise that he’s in the running, along with T.I., whose “No Matter What” chronicles his struggles over the past year. Chris Brown and Usher made the list with “With You” and “Love in This Club” respectively, and Flo Rida is in the mix with “Low.” Of course, when one door closes, another opens, my friends — voting in two other categories is now officially open at VMA.MTV.com. Hundreds of hopefuls will now duke it out in the Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Pop Video categories! The nominees will be announced on next Friday’s installment of “FNMTV.” After that, two more rounds of voting remain to determine the nominees for Best Dancing in a Video, Best New Artist, Best Rock Video and the highly coveted Video of the Year. The 25th VMAs will take place at the legendary Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood on September 7. The Jonas Brothers are confirmed to perform, and British funnyman and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” co-star Russell Brand was just announced as the show’s host.

Woot! This is great news for Britney Spears. She has a very good chance of racking up more nominations as the voting process continues. Slow and steady, this is the way she will properly pull off her comeback. I actually like this new brand of interactivity that allows the MTV viewers to chime in and have their say in the nomination process. In addition to Brit Brit, there are already a few artists that I <3 scoring noms for awards this year so it won't be an easy process rooting for my faves, especially since some of them are already in direct competition. I'm very hopeful that Britney will perform at this year’s MTV VMAs … she is in a much better position to put on a stunning performance (in a good way) than she was last year (in a bad way). I guess we’ll find out on September 7th.

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Earlier this month we learned that Britney Spears and Kevin Federline reached an agreement where the matter of child custody concerning their two young sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, would be settled. Yesterday, in LA County court, the agreement was finalized … signed, sealed and delivered — the case is closed:

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline’s custody settlement was signed Friday by a judge, officially ending their nearly two-year custody battle. In the deal reached last week, Federline retained sole custody of Preston, 2 1/2, and Jayden, 1 1/2. Spears – who is currently allowed two visits and one overnight per week – will get an additional sleepover by year’s end, barring any setbacks. “She’s thrilled,” the pop star’s attorney Laura Wasser told PEOPLE. “To have more time with her kids has been her motivation to get well. In light of her outstanding conservatorship, she couldn’t have asked for anything more.” Spears also agreed to increase Federline’s child support to $20,000 a month (a $5,000 increase) and pay off his $250,000 legal tab. Documents show the child support increase went into effect on July 15, and that Spears’s father, who remains in legal control of her affairs until a July 31 hearing, approved of the settlement terms. “This has been a long ordeal [for Kevin] and for it to be over makes him very happy,” his lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan previously said.

But wait … while this may seem like bad news for Britney, it may not necessarily be so, not in the long run — read on. After the jump, check out a couple of the official court documents from this settled case …

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Now that Levi Alves McConaughey made his official debut (reportedly to the tune of $3 million bucks) on the cover of this week’s issue of OK! magazine he is finally able to venture out into the world. Here are pictures of proud papa Matthew McConaughey and doting mother Camila Alves taking their little bundle of joy out for his very first stroll:

HMM … Levi was born on July 7th and this is the first time that he has been seen out in public since he was brought home from the hospital on July 10th. Something tells me that the parents were not allowed to take Levi out in public until after his OK! magazine debut hit the newsstands … which makes sense when the mag is paying so much moolah for the exclusive first photos of the baby. In any event, the deal has been done and now the family is free to go out in public as much as they please. After the jump, check out a couple photos of little Levi sleeping soundly inside his little stroller …

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