Miley Cyrus overshadows her alter ego

By Nekesa Mumbi Moody

Published: July 25, 2008

NEW YORK — Hannah Montana may be the most potent phenomenon in Hollywood right now — bigger than Batman, bigger than Brangelina. Yet these days, the girl who truly fascinates is not Hannah, but Miley Cyrus.

The 15-year-old face of the billion-dollar Disney franchise is no longer a star for just the tween set. While "Hannah” is still very much a part of Miley, it does not solely define the singer/actress.

Nowhere is that clearer than with the release of Miley's latest album, "Breakout,” which came out Tuesday. While Miley has already sold millions of albums, it's always been with the "Hannah Montana” moniker attached (2006's "Hannah Montana” and 2007's "Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus”).

But there's no blonde wig to be found on the cover of this CD. Instead, there's a more mature sound that's already finding an older audience. The CD's first single, the rocker "7 Things,” is now No. 9 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and marks her biggest success in translating her music beyond the Radio Disney audience.

"To be played on these radio stations is awesome, to be able to rock out to it in your car without planning it, without it being just a kids channel,” says Miley, who with her deep voice and self-assured manner seems a decade older than 15.

"(I'm) making it a little more fun and edgy, and I think being able to step out of the ‘Hannah Montana' thing — not in a way where I'm forgetting her completely, but as my fans grow up, me growing up too and kind of having my own person.”

The "Hannah Montana thing” is familiar to millions of kids and adults alike. A movie is due out next year, the third season of the kitschy TV show starts filming in weeks, and the DVD of the blockbuster "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds” tour, which wrapped up earlier this year, is a lock to top the charts when it debuts later this summer.

But navigating her own celebrity path outside the confines of the famous character has proven to be difficult. With former teen phenoms like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears providing epic examples of bad behavior, tabloids have been eager to document a Miley implosion.

The first signs of potential concern came in the form of personal pictures that made their way onto the Internet, showing Miley dressed provocatively (though not obscenely) and setting the blogosphere abuzz.

A more serious firestorm erupted in April when Vanity Fair published a photo of Miley wrapped in a sheet, showing her bare back and shoulders. The photo caused outrage, and Miley and her father, country star Billy Ray Cyrus, said they regretted the result of the photo shoot. They also said she was never topless, as the photo suggested.

But Miley has learned she doesn't even have to bare a shoulder to cause a fuss — as when she revealed in an interview earlier this month that "Sex and the City” was one of her favorite shows.

"It just scared people because there was the word ‘sex' in the title, you know what I mean?” says Miley, brushing off her critics.

While allowing that she's made "mistakes,” she also feels that the media has been unforgiving in their scrutiny at times — and a bit unwilling to see that she's not a little kid anymore.

"It's kind of hard to let someone that was so young when they started kind of grow up,” reasons Miley, who was 13 when she debuted in the role. "You just have to realize that people make mistakes and that makes you almost a little more relatable.”

Hollywood Records A&R executive Jon Lind, who worked with Miley on the "Hannah Montana/Meet Miley Cyrus” album and her latest record, says such scrutiny is just a part of today's tabloid world.

He adds that he's seen a significant growth in Miley in just the past year: "The difference between being a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old in any tween or teenager's life is an extraordinary amount — it's like dog years.”

Much of that growth is reflected on her new CD.

Comments