Britney Spears and her family have donated an autographed portrait of the singer for charity, with a starting bid of $10,000 on eBay.

The 5-by-4-foot oil painting of the pop star was given to the L.A.-based

Promises Foundation, which provides behavioral health services to low-income

women and their children.

“The Spears family gave us this painting out of their generosity,” says the

organization’s director, Lisa Rogg. “It was their idea for the auction.”

The eBay page shows several photos of Spears standing next to the artwork,

as well as a letter of authenticity from her father, Jamie, which

states: “I hereby verify that the portrait of my daughter, Britney, has been

in our home since it was completed by the Daniel Maltman Studio.”

Meet your cousins!

Jamie Lynn Spears brought two-month-old daughter

Maddie to Los Angeles Wednesday for the baby’s first ever play date

with Britney’s two sons.

The 17-year-old flew from Louisiana - along with her baby

and her mother Lynne (whose memoir comes out next week). The whole family

then headed to Britney’s Studio City house, where the singer was enjoying a regular visitation day with

her two boys, Preston, who turns 3 on Sunday, and Jayden, who turns 2 on Friday.

Reporting by Pernilla Cedenheim

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Lynne Spears says that even knowing what she knows now, she would still let her daughters Britney and Jamie Lynn pursue stardom.

“I think you have to let them follow their dreams,” she says in a new interview with PEOPLE. “I think it would be worse in the end if you didn’t.”

But she does express regrets about not listening to her “gut” at times: “Was I the perfect mom? No.”

In an exclusive excerpt from her new memoir, Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World, Lynne, 53, details the highs - and lows - of her family’s journey from Kentwood, La., to the harsh international spotlight. “Every mother makes mistakes,” she writes, “and I’m no different.”

What do her kids - Britney, 26, Jamie Lynn, 17, and Bryan, 31 - think of the book?

She says Britney and Bryan have yet to read it, but “Jamie Lynn loved the book. I started to cry because I told her, ‘I wanted so much for you to like it.’ And she got up and kissed me on the cheek and said, ‘Mama, thank you so much.’”

Lynne’s once-troubled relationship with Britney “has undergone tremendous healing,” she says. “We are back to four or five phone calls a day.”

These days Lynne is also a doting “Me Maw” to her grandsons Preston, 3, and Jayden, 2, and granddaughter Maddie Briann, 2 months. Of Britney’s boys, she says, “They are the cutest! The biggest personalities you’ve ever seen. Preston is the older brother and he’s protective, but Jayden is tough as nails.”

For more on this story, including Lynne’s memories of Britney’s early career and her hopes for Jamie Lynn’s wedding, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

Britney Spears will open the show at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, PEOPLE has learned.

“MTV has long played an important role in my career. How can I not be there to kick off their 25th VMAs?” Spears tells PEOPLE in a statement. “I’m excited to open the entire show, to say hi to my fans and to be nominated.”

Spears - who has been nominated 16 times and never won a Moon Man - is up for Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Video of the Year for “Piece of Me.”

It’s still not known how she’ll open the show. A source confirms that the opening segment will not feature a musical performance by Spears.

The VMAs air on MTV at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday from Los Angeles.

One week after her ex husband Kevin Federline headed to Las Vegas, it was now Britney Spears’s turn to hit Sin City this weekend.

Their visits to Vegas, however, couldn’t have been more different. While Federline bounced around from several clubs last weekend, Spears’s trip was more low-key, consisting mainly of relaxing by the pool and taking in a show over Labor Day weekend.

On Sunday, rather than staying by her private pool, Spears made her way to Bare Pool where she sipped Fiji bottled water and sunned in the VIP area.

“Her body looked great,” an onlooker said. “It looks like she’s getting her body back, back to the old Britney.”

Staying an hour and a half, Spears texted from her phone and rarely moved from her lounge chair, getting up only to take a quick dip in the pool. Wearing a bikini top and jean shorts, Spears hung out with a group of friends that included her hairstylist Kim Vo.

While Spears basked in the high Vegas heat, a familiar face meandered through the Mirage - her ex boyfriend, photographer Adnan Ghalib. The paparazzo and Spears did not see each other in public though they were within a few yards of each other several times.

After lounging by the pool, Spears made a quick run to Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and headed to her room for several hours. She later took in Cirque du Soleil’s Love show before calling it a night.

The singer, who recently appeared in ads for the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards, is rumored to make an appearance on the Sept. 7 show. Spears is nominated for three Moonmen this year - video of the year, best female video and best pop video for “Piece of Me.”

It’s still a week early for the MTV Video Music Awards. But Britney Spears, who is up for three awards - including top honors - has a supporter in the form of hip-hop heavyweight Pharrell Williams.

“She’s made her mark with her career,” Williams told PEOPLE at Wednesday’s Pepsi 500 Running Wide Open party in Hollywood, which he co-hosted. “She’s super-talented. She’s an entertainer.”

Williams, 35, collaborated with Spears on her hits “I’m a Slave 4 U” and “Boys.”

“It was cool, it was fun,” said Williams, who is currently working on new music with Common and Fall Out Boy.

While Williams is rooting for Spears, her musical success does not hinge on success at the awards show, he says.

“I’m not sure %26#91;if she will win%26#93;,” Williams said. “I don’t even know if it really matters whether she wins or not.”

Spears’s live MTV VMA performance of “Gimme More” last year was a notorious disaster. This year, Spears has appeared in taped VMA commercial segments with host Russell Brand, but is not scheduled to perform.

She competes with the Jonas Brothers, Chris Brown, the Pussycat Dolls and the Ting Tings, for video of the year.

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In Denver at the Democratic National Convention, Fall Out Boy band members are doing double duty: announcing the Nov. 4 release of their third Island album, Folie %26#225; Deux, and playing to a sold-out house Monday for Rock the Vote - aimed at getting youth involved in the political process.

Talking backstage to PEOPLE before their concert, bassist Pete Wentz and singer-guitarist Patrick Stump say they don’t want to preach from the stage, although Stump admits this is a “political record, but it’s never going to say outright ‘Vote for Obama.’ ”

In terms of their own leanings, Wentz, 29, says they are all “liberal democrats from the suburbs of Chicago,” adding that his parents met when they were both working on a Joe Biden campaign.

The two musicians were a bit more forthright on their choice in the VMA race, specifically why they voted for Britney Spears’s video in the MTV competition, to be held Sept. 7.

Supports Britney Spears

Wentz was there when Spears made a promo for the awards show. “I got to meet the elephant %26#91;in the video%26#93;,” he says. “It was awesome. Britney really proves how much the fans really matter, because the fans really want to see Britney win and turn it around.”

Even though the Fall Out Boys plan to attend the VMAs and have won in the past (and even hope to win again), they actually voted for videos oter than their own. “To be honest, I don’t think this is the Fall Out Boys’s year,” says Wentz.

And while he didn’t want to talk about the impending birth of a child with his wife, Ashlee Simpson, Wentz did admit he wants to live somewhere outside of Los Angeles, “because L.A. has become pretty boring to me.”

Ultimately he says, the Wentzes want to end up in Chicago. “But,” Pete insists, “we don’t have plans tomorrow.”

Britney Spears is back to making music - and that may just be the best medicine for the troubled singer, says her old friend JC Chasez.

“As far as Britney getting back in the studio, %26#91;it’s%26#93; obviously a good thing,” the former ‘N Sync star - and current judge on America’s Best Dance Crew - told PEOPLE after Thursday’s live season finale. “If she’s doing what she loves - because she’s had a love for music for such a long time - %26#91;then%26#93; I’m all for it.”

But Chasez says it’s not fair to judge Spears for her mistakes.

“I’m glad she’s pulling it together, because everybody falls down in life at one time or another,” he said. “The toughest part is, how do you pick yourself up again? It looks like she’s on the path to doing that - and it’s a good thing to see.”

Halle Berry and beau Gabriel Aubry left baby Nahla Ariela at home to celebrate Berry’s 42nd birthday at a star-studded Robin Thicke concert Thursday.

The Los Angeles House of Blues was packed with celebs (from

Britney Spears to Diddy), but all eyes were on the beaming Berry as the evening culminated with Thicke delivering an a cappella version of “Happy Birthday” to the smiling star.

Around 11 p.m., Thicke stopped the band and announced that there was a “very special lady in the audience tonight, who’s celebrating a birthday.” The crooner then busted out “Happy Birthday.” He finished the song imploring the crowd to, “Give it up for Halle Berry, everybody!”

The sold-out audience applauded madly as flashbulbs flashed. The lights where quickly dimmed, as Thicke moved into his hit, “Angels.”

At the end of the evening, Thicke’s wife Paula Patton (sitting with an energy-filled P-Diddy and his buddies who, says an onlooker, “were going crazy!”) gave Berry a big hug before Berry, leading her boy Gabriel by the hand, was led to a waiting black Escalade.

• Reporting by REAGAN ALEXANDER and JESSICA HERNDON

This was going to be it. The big moment. Britney’s triumphant comeback. But, after weeks of buzz, Britney Spears kicked off Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms in Las Vegas with a bad costume and a lackluster performance of her latest song “Gimme More,” that could have used a lot more rehearsal.

The singer, whose performance showed no signs of receiving help from illusionist Criss Angel, lip-synched the song as women cavorted on stripper poles amid a flashy red background. (Click here to see the performance.) The song comes in advance of Spears’s as-yet-untitled record due in stores Nov. 13.

The pop star has a history of dramatic performances at the VMAs - including kissing Madonna and dancing with a live snake - but this year’s performance, after a weekend of partying, seemed off if not less entertaining.

And at least one review was in almost immediately. Following Spears’s performance, comedian Sarah Silverman offered her sarcastic take. “Was that incredible? Britney Spears, everyone,” Silverman said. “Wow. She is amazing. She is 25 years old and she’s already accomplished everything she’s going to accomplish in her life. It’s mind blowing.”

Silverman even went after the pop star’s personal life, calling Spears’s sons Sean Preston and Jayden James “the most adorable mistakes you will ever see.”

Later backstage, hip-hop star Akon offered his reaction to Spears’s performance, telling PEOPLE: “That could have been better. She needed to focus more. She looked nervous and I think the pressure got to her.”

Similarly, Common told PEOPLE about Spears: “I think it didn’t seem like she wanted to be there. There wasn’t any spark, it didn’t feel like life was there.”

Before the show, many artists weighed in on her comeback. During MTV’s official pre-show, Mary J. Blige wished the beleaguered pop star all the best. “I absolutely think Britney could make the comeback,” Blige said on the telecast. “Someone who’s been through as much as she’s been through - you just want her to win. I know I want her to win.”

• Reporting by JENNIFER GARCIA