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American entertainer Britney Spears has released forty-two music videos, four home videos, two concert tour videos, one music video compilation, and two documentaries. She has also starred or appeared in several television shows, films, and commercials. She has played lead in one movie, Crossroads and has released a few documentaries, including For The Record, I Am The Femme Fatale, and I Am Britney Jean. She has also played guest roles on shows including How I Met Your Mother, Glee, Will and Grace, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
In 1999, Spears' first music video "...Baby One More Time", in which she chose to dress as a Catholic schoolgirl, propelled her to superstardom. It ranked number one on TRL's Final Countdown of the most iconic music videos. The music video for the lead single from Spears' second album, "Oops!... I Did It Again", was similarly successful. Set on Mars, Spears dons a tight-fitting red jumpsuit. The "Stronger" music video had a more sophisticated, adult feel to it. 2001's "I'm a Slave 4 U", from her eponymous third studio album, let Spears move further into a more mature territory, performing a complicated dance routine in a risqué outfit.
"Me Against the Music", which featured Madonna, was released in 2003 from her fourth studio release In the Zone. Spears came up with the storyline for "Toxic", directed by Joseph Kahn. Spears plays three different incarnations of herself and poisons her unfaithful lover. Throughout the video, there are scenes of Spears naked covered in diamonds. The music video for "Everytime", directed by famed photographer David LaChapelle, was notably darker than Spears' previous videos. Featuring many religious references, the music video was noted by contemporary critics for predicting Spears's future struggles with fame.
The music video for Spears' 2007 comeback single "Gimme More" displayed Spears as a stripper and featured a break from Spears's highly choreographed music videos. "Piece of Me" referenced Spears' life at the time, while "Break the Ice" was accompanied by an animated music video showing Spears as a superheroine.
2008's "Womanizer", from the album Circus, was seen as a return to form for Spears. Described as a sequel to "Toxic", the concept was again pitched to director Kahn by Spears. The video for "Circus" portrayed Spears as the ringmaster of a circus accompanied by different performers, and it is interspersed with scenes of Spears in different circus settings. "If U Seek Amy" saw Spears at a sex party that takes place at her house, before she transforms into a typical American housewife, while "Radar" pays tribute to Madonna's "Take a Bow". The clip for "3" was described as "simple" and "very, very minimal." The music videos from Spears' 7th and 8th studio albums, Femme Fatale and Britney Jean have all received acclaim from critics and fans alike.
Over the years, Spears has given some of the most controversial music videos of all time. At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, she was honored with the MTV Video Vanguard Award, presented to her by fellow pop star Lady Gaga, who said "the industry would not be the same without her". Spears ranked at #4 on VH1's "50 Greatest Women of the Video Era" show list, ahead of most of her contemporaries and behind only veterans like Madonna, Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston. Britney has eleven Vevo certified videos, including those for "...Baby One More Time", "Gimme More" and "Pretty Girls".