In the tradition of teen pop princesses, Miley Cyrus, or Hannah Montana as her fans know her, is on top of the world. She has dolls, action figures, and a concert series all based on her hit Disney Channel show, Hannah Montana. While her music is not mainstream, it is extremely well-known and popular for her target demographic. If you’re under the age of twelve and female, you already know everything there is to know about Miley aka Hannah.
The Show
The show, Hannah Montana, features a young girl who is perfectly normal, perhaps even a bit awkward, by day, but at night, she sheds her boring persona and becomes a famous pop star – Hannah Montana. Of course this transformation is secret, and only her closest friends know Miley (Stewart on the show) is really a stage goddess. They do such a good job of keeping her secret, Miley’s enjoyed multiple seasons of success.
The Concerts
Miley/Hannah is fourteen and enthusiastic and Miley the actress is the daughter of country music star Billy Ray Cyrus. She is quite talented vocally, and when those vocals combine with the ruthless Disney promotion, Hannah Montana has become one of the absolute hottest stars around – at least for the elementary bunch.
Miley has been performing concerts for the last few years as both herself and Hannah. Her most recent tour features Miley singing both as herself as well as her Hannah Montana character. Many of the songs performed will be from her shows or albums, and young girls and their parents are desperate to get their hands on tickets.
Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough tickets to go around. As ticket sales open up at various locations around the United States, they are sold out in a matter of minutes. A few minutes after they are sold out, the tickets show up on eBay and other online sources for hugely inflated prices. But parents pay the price because Hannah Montana is what equates to a wholesome feminine hero – something hard to find in the entertainment world today.
The Hype
Many feel that Miley Cyrus is talented, but would never have been as successful as she is without serious amounts of hype and marketing from a company that practically invented marketing – Disney. There is the Hannah Montana show, Hannah Montana movies, Hannah Montana albums, Hannah Montana costumes, Hannah Montana dolls, and just about any other Hannah Montana merchandise you can imagine. Naturally Hannah anything is a must-have item for the holiday season.
The Truth?
Regardless of who’s pushing her, Miley is talented and knows how to put on a show. She’s benefited strongly from Disney’s backing, but has a fair shot at making it on her own if she uses the Hannah Montana spring board wisely. At the moment she is on top of her game. It will be a combination of fate, luck and skill that shows whether she will up with the Tiffany’s of the world, or be laughing all the way to the bank with LeAnn Rimes.
