By Robin Leach · November 28, 2008 · 5:02 PM

MTV

Britney Spears in the "Womanizer" video.

MTV

Britney Spears.

* Last-minute, down-to-the-wire negotiations for pop princess Britney Spears to perform on the Strip on New Year’s Eve are underway this weekend in London. Network TV officials flew to the British capital for her arrival tomorrow after debut performances in Germany last night and tonight in Paris.

Britney and her manager have tentatively given the “America’s Party” New Year’s Eve project a thumbs-up, but it’s the scary logistics of getting her in and out of the crowds on the busiest night of the year that are the greatest concern. She was surrounded by almost a 100-strong army of paparazzi as she checked in at Los Angeles International Airport for her flight to Frankfurt. Some of the crazed clickers are even following her throughout Europe, where even more frenzied photogs are shadowing her every step.

It would be exactly two years to the day when Britney collapsed at Pure at Caesars Palace and the tragic downward spiral of her troubled life first began. Now two years later, the divorces, visits to psychiatric wards, rehab clinics, child custody court battles and the disastrous performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in the Palms here are behind her, and she could be returning here to conquer the Strip once again.

I can exclusively reveal that Britney is planning to sing two songs on the live-for-East Coast-transmission two-hour show. She also would sit with host and "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson for a retrospective of her career. They would discuss her comeback, her world tour plans and the new album "Circus," featuring the huge hit “Womanizer” -- all engineered over the past 12 months by her mastermind manager, Larry Rudolph.

If all is resolved this weekend, I am told to expect an official press conference Dec. 8 to announce Britney’s participation and the remainder of the all-star lineup for the network special.

To date, the only announced venues for her new world tour include the Allstate Arena in Chicago on March 30 and two shows at the famed, prestigious 02 Arena in London on June 3 and 4. I’m told that two concert performances here in Las Vegas are currently being scheduled for the global gallivant -- but no firm date yet! A Los Angeles court judge gave approval for Britney to tour both here in the U.S. and overseas just last week because of the existing rulings about custody and visitation with her children in the proceedings with her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

N9NE Group

Michael Phelps and Playboy bunnies, shown during Phelps' visit to the Playboy Club in September.

* Multiple Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps has dived head-first into a full-blown romance with a Moon nightclub beauty from George Maloof’s Palms.

It’s been whispered for a couple of weeks now that he has been dating cocktail server Caroline Pal, who is nicknamed “Caz” on her MySpace page. My friend Mark Gray, reporting exclusively for People.com, says that Michael flew the sexy beauty to his home in Baltimore for yesterday’s Thanksgiving holiday. “It was the first time she was meeting his family,” Mark reported. Phelps has admitted that he’d also spent a lot of time here in Las Vegas recently learning poker and meeting with poker pros because he plans to compete in next year’s World Series of Poker.

*It’s a "True Blood" weekend at Prive inside Planet Hollywood this weekend. To celebrate the finale of the HBO hit series, He-Man hunk Ryan Kwanten promises to keep his shirt on to host his party tonight at the hot nightspot. Then tomorrow, "True Blood" vampire Alexander Skarsgard will host his co-star Kristin Bauer’s birthday celebration at Prive.