Poll: Will poor Britney Spears ever win a top Grammy?

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Now that Britney Spears is topping the music charts with her seventh studio album, ‘Femme Fatale,’ she’ll soon —uh-oh! — be back in the Grammy derby again.

That’s ominous news considering how Spears has fared at music’s top awards show in the past. While she’s won other major kudos (10 Billboard Awards, four MTV Music Video Awards), Britney’s only nabbed one Grammy, and she’s never been nominated in the top three categories: best album, record or song of the year. When she was nommed for Grammy’s fourth-highest honor -– best new artist -– in 2000, the result was catastrophic: She lost to rival diva Christina Aguilera.

Of eight past nominations, Britney’s only Grammy victory was for ‘Toxic’ as best dance recording of 2005. Does that mean that she’s a real femme fatale as far as the top Grammys are concerned?

The 29-year-old’s turbulent personal life appears to have quieted down. But just this week she stumbled into another PR bobble when Enrique Iglesias tried to ditch their joint concert plans. And now she’s been slapped with a sizable lawsuit related to her perfume line.

Of course, these PR and legal kerfuffles aren’t entirely Britney’s fault. But it’s possible Grammy voters will pick up on this news and decide they still don’t want to welcome her into their inner circle. Don’t forget -- showbiz trophies are first and foremost about hugs. Winners are typically those the awarding bodies feel good about embracing.

Don’t agree? Here are two shining examples: Eminem and Kanye West. Controversy follows them both as regularly as night follows day. West, especially, is prone to massive hissy fits when he feels disrespected. Grammy voters are happy to nominate both artists in genre categories and even for such marquee awards as album, record and song of the year. But despite critical and commercial praise, they never win those top trophies.

Dance-pop music is sizzling hot once again thanks to Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Katy Perry and Pink. And Spears has the technical wizardy of hitmaker Max Martin, among others, contributing to ‘Femme Fatale.’ It would seem she is a cinch for Grammy gongs in the dance and pop categories.

But will her reputation for unpredictability -- deserved or not -- continue to strike a sour note with music insiders?

-- Tom O’Neil