Mar 27, 2011 11:50 GMT  ·  By

Just as the release date for her latest album is drawing nearer, Britney Spears is keeping busy. On Friday night, at the Rain club in Las Vegas, the Princess of Pop popped in for a special, more or less surprise performance.

“Femme Fatale” comes out in music stores next week and, with it, a new MTV special. In fact, the Vegas performance was taped especially for this special, MTV News reports, which explains why footage of it is not available online in higher quality.

Admittedly, partygoers had no idea that Britney herself would show up on stage after a collage of her older videos was played on the big screen.

Yet this is precisely what she did. Britney danced to and performed three of the songs included on her upcoming album, including the leading single “Hold It Against Me,” which was actually the opening number.

She also did “Big Fat Bass,” a collaboration with Will.i.am and “Till the World Ends,” both of which have leaked in previous weeks in their finished versions.

In fact, as the video below will confirm, the songs are already hits with the fans, since they can be heard singing along throughout “Till the World Ends,” to the point that the music is barely heard anymore.

The dancing included lots of gyrating and whipping of the hair, but also more elaborate moves like dancing on a suspended platform, and walking and dancing on speakers.

“The stage was filled with ladders, LED lighting, dancers and Spears in a black latex bodysuit covered in red lights. She clearly was having a good time, smiling to her fans,” MTV News writes.

“The performance was being taped by MTV for a special airing next week. A teaser will debut Tuesday on MTV, the same day Spears’ latest album, Femme Fatale, hits stores,” says the same report.

Below is a fan-made video of Britney Spears’ performance of “Till the World Ends.” Snippets of the other songs are available on YouTube. Enjoy.