Hannah Montana
Has Miley gone too far this time?
by MikeScholtes on Aug.13, 2009, under Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus
She is Hannah Montana, squeaky clean heroine of the wildly popular Disney Channel series and an idol to millions of little girls all over the world. But Miley Cyrus is in the eye of a storm of controversy again after her very adult performance at the Teen Choice Awards on Monday evening.
During a performance of her song “Party in the USA” Miley danced on top of an ice cream cart in very short shorts and coming out of the top of cart? A pole which she made good use of during her routine.
After the broadcast the Internet was buzzing as parents complained that the 16 year old’s singer and actress’s routine was far too risque for the prime time awards show. Over a quarter of the four million viewers were, according to Nielsen under eighteen and her act was a long way from the Hannah Montana character, for whose portrayal Cyrus picked up six awards.
Representatives from Disney have actually declined to make any comment about the performance, but as a viewer one could feel the network’s discomfort. The actual images of the teen straddling the pole were captured in still pictures and broadcast on YouTube but during much of the time that Miley was atop the ice cream cart the cameras were focused strictly at her face.
This is not the first time both Miley Cyrus and he manager dad, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus have been criticized for their questionable choices when promoting her image. In 2008 a Vanity Fair photo shoot caused a stir when the then 15 year old Miley was photographed by celebrity photographer Annie Liebowitz draped in a satin sheet with her shoulders and bare back exposed. The teen later said that the pictures “embarrassed” her.
She also used to date (or may still be dating) an underwear model, Justin Gaston who was 21 when he met her then 15 star, causing many to question Billy Ray Cyrus’ parenting style.
All teen stars have to grow up, but some do it more gracefully than the others. Later in the show Miley presented a special award to a performer that she described as “her idol”. The performer in question was Britney Spears, someone who is probably not the best example of how to grow up gracefully once the teen years is a thing of the past.
