According to The Sun, the Britney Spears comeback train will officially make a stop in London this December. Brit is releasing her new album on her 27th birthday, December 2nd. Presumably she’ll be doing a good deal of press around that time – part of which will include Brit’s first performance in the UK in four years. Britney will sing her expected single “Womanizer” on X-Factor, the British version of American Idol.

BRITNEY Spears is returning to Britain to star on The X Factor.

The pop megastar, 26, will perform comeback single Womanizer on the show in December.

The appearance is her first visit here since her Onyx Hotel tour more than four years ago — and marks her continued recovery after a public meltdown last year.

An insider on Simon Cowell’s ITV1 hit said: “Everyone is thrilled. To have Britney involved is a massive coup. They expect ratings to go through the roof when her performance airs.”

[From the Sun]

While it’s always a good idea to be rather skeptical of British tabloids, the Sun has proven to be fairly reliable. X Factor is still huge in the UK, whereas it’s American Idol, its U.S. counterpart, has lost a good deal of popularity. Britney appearing on the show would be good for everyone involved, and it would possibly get her a lot of fawning/adoring press while she was there.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of press coverage her record company is aiming for this time around. Will they have her doing a lot of talking and giving interviews, or do their best to keep her quiet and performing? I wonder if she’ll address the chaos of the last few years or if everyone will do their best to gloss over it. Not that anyone’s close to forgotten about it. If I were on Britney’s PR team (because I know she’s curious how I feel about her career) I’d advise her to stick to the singing and dancing. It’ll remind everyone why she became famous in the first place, and probably convince people that’s she’s “back” more than a lot of probing interviews.

Britney Spears is shown out getting Starbucks on 9/15/08. Credit: Fame