Kevin Federline, aka Mr. Britney Spears, has been pleading for months that people take him seriously as a rapper. After a surprisingly decent debut performance last night, as judged by critics and viewers, he may just get his wish.

Last night’s “2006 Teen Choice Awards” on Fox averaged a 2.6 adults 18-34 overnight rating, up 13 percent from last year’s 2.3 average. Last year’s special was shown on a Tuesday not a Sunday.

Yesterday’s overnights were delayed several hours due to Nielsen processing errors.

Fox had hyped Federline’s performance in advance, just as many bloggers ridiculed the rapper, who has been a fixture in the tabloids since marrying Spears more than a year ago.

“It wasn't genius but it wasn't half bad either,” proclaimed the Associated Press of Federline, whose performance was introduced by his very pregnant wife.

“Surprisingly, the show-capping performance seems to be mildly well-received, with semi-praise begrudgingly heaped on the rapper for not making the performance the train wreck critics imagined--and maybe hoped for,” writes E! Online’s Gina Serpe.

Also giving the show a boost were multiple awards for the summer’s top film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.” And a best actress win by Mischa Barton, who was killed off of Fox’s own “The O.C.” last May, also got the fans at the show excited.

Fox won the night among 18-34s, teens and women 18-34, though among the older set, 18-49s, the network ranked just fourth. The awards were up 5 percent year to year, from a 2.0 to a 2.1, in that demo.

CBS led for the night with a 2.5 rating and 7 share of adults 18-49, ahead of ABC at 2.4/7, NBC at 2.3/7, Fox at 1.9/5, Univision at 1.2/3 and WB at 0.7/2.

At 7 p.m., ABC was No. 1 at 2.4 for an "America's Funniest Home Videos" rerun, ahead of CBS at 2.3 for "60 Minutes," which included a four-minute overrun for the PGA Championship that bumped the network’s schedule back the entire night. NBC was next at 1.6 for the U.S. gymnastics championships, followed by Fox at 1.4 for a rerun of "The Simpsons" and the Teen Choice Awards pre-show, Univision at 0.8 for "Hora Pico" and WB at 0.6 for "Just Legal."

At 8 p.m., CBS led at 2.9 for "Big Brother 7: All-Stars," ahead of ABC at 2.7 for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," NBC at 2.5 for gymnastics and a "Sunday Night Football" exhibition game, Fox at 1.8 for “Teen Choice,” Univision at 1.1 for "Cantando por un Sueno" and WB at 0.8 for a "Charmed" rerun.

At 9 p.m., NBC was No. 1 at 2.8 for "SNF," ahead of CBS and Fox each at 2.4 for a "Cold Case" rerun and “Teen Choice,” ABC at 1.9 for a "Desperate Housewives" rerun, Univision at 1.3 for "Cantando," and the WB at 0.8 for a "Charmed" repeat.

At 10 p.m., ABC was No. 1 at 2.7 for a "Grey's Anatomy" rerun, ahead of CBS's 2.4 for "Without a Trace" repeat, NBC's 2.2 for "SNF" and Univision's 1.5 for "Cantando."

Among households, CBS led for the evening with a 6.6 rating and 11 share, ahead of NBC at 4.6/8, ABC at 4.4/8, Fox at 2.7/5, Univision at 1.5/3 and WB at 1.1/2.