Britney Spears Pictures

For her relatively short six years in the public spotlight, Britney Spears has managed to generate more controversy than your average celebrity manages in a lifetime. From the outset, her sexually provocative image, aided by the slickest hit-making machine, has guaranteed non-stop headlines and constant media scrutiny.

It is all a long way from young Britney¡¯s first televised performance on StarSearch in 1990. This led to the eight year-old Spears auditioning for Disney¡¯s The Mickey Mouse Club. Initially she was deemed by producers as being ¡°too young¡± but, undeterred, she finally made the cut, aged eleven and appeared singing, dancing, even rapping her way through 110 appearances, alongside fellow Mouseketeers Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.

The show¡¯s cancellation in 1994 left Britney¡¯s future uncertain. Demo tapes led to an audition for Jive Records in which she performed 'Jesus Loves Me' and ¡°'I Have Nothing' by Whitney Houston, to amazed record executives, who signed her instantly