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Miley Cyrus: World at Her Feet
By Elise (Norway)
She is perhaps the most popular contemporary teen idol - adored by young girls all over the world. Her name is Miley Cyrus, she is seventeen years old, and she has the world at her feet.
Miley as Hannah Montana
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Miley first rose to fame in 2006, with the premiere of Hannah Montana on Disney Channel – the soon to be hit tv series in which Miley had landed the lead. At that time she was 13, and she had originally auditioned for the supporting “best friend” role of Lilly Truscott. It was not until a little later, after being called back for further auditions, that Miley tried out for the lead role of Zoe Stewart – a girl who lived her life both as an average teenager and secretly as a famous popstar. Disney's executives were very impressed by Miley, they felt she had a natural enthusiasm and love for life and she reminded them of Hilary Duff with her “everyday relatability”. Thus, despite being younger than what had initially been the idea, she won the part. Her character's name was changed from Zoe to Miley – a name that was to be known worldwide in no time.
A young Miley with her Dad
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Miley was used to the limelight long before her life as Hannah began. Growing up with country singer Billy Ray Cyrus as a father, she was introduced to stages and screaming audiences at a very early age. Already at the age of 2 she loved coming to her dad's concerts, she loved to hang out backstage, and she loved it even more when she could join Billy Ray on stage. Despite crazy yelling crowds and fans, young Miley was not scared. She simply enjoyed the attention.
Miley wins Best Song From A Movie at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards
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However, as she grew older, she also experienced that being the daughter of someone famous had its fair share of difficulties as well. In E's Miley Cyrus Special she tells how she as a child was easily judged and often labeled as “Billy Ray Cyrus's daughter”. This made it harder for her to find her own identity and to make friends. Hence, school and classmates was not always fun – Miley says that what she has mostly learned from going to school is that kids can be really mean. Luckily, she never let those mean kids bring her down. According to Billy Ray, Miley always said that “When you get knocked down, you get back up”.
Smiley Miley - even when surrounded by paparazzi
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Over the years, she has most definitely gotten back up. Since the premiere of Hannah Montana, Miley has topped charts and won various awards, for both singing and acting. In the upcoming 2010 Kids Choice Awards she has received no less than four nominations. Her face is to be found on everything from sleeping bags to yogurts, and young girls across the planet wear blonde wigs while singing “This Is the Life” in front of the mirror. Last year, in 2009, Hannah Montana: The Movie was a huge success in cinemas all over the world. In July of this year, the fourth season of the tv-show will air. It has been confirmed to be the last one, but even so, Hannah will probably not be forgotten any time soon.
Miley has always been close with her family. "They keep her grounded. They are like any other family, only one of the daughters is really famous", says Miley's friend and dancer Mandy Jiroux.
From left to right- Miley with her dad Billy Ray - younger sister Noah - mom Tish - older sister Brandi
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Miley and Liam as Ronnie and Will in The Last Song
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Growing up is hard to do and being a teenager isn't always a joy. And when it happens in front of the entire world, it is probably even less of a joy. Miley has spent most of her adolescence being a celebrity, and she has truly gotten the best of both worlds. Because there have been ups, and downs. Especially two 'incidents' have received great attention: A photo, from her shoot with Vanity Fair in 2008, in which Miley exposes her bare back and covers her front with only a bed sheet, and her alleged pole-dancing at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. She was immensely criticized by parents who claimed both episodes were highly inappropriate. Miley's own parents, however, stand by her side no matter what goes on in the media, and are intent on keeping things real at home. “The only way that you can stay sane is being able to believe that you do still have a normal life”, Miley says to E!.With paparazzi following her wherever she goes, home is the one place she can be just like 'any other kid'.
Miley looked stunning at the 2010 Academy Awards
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Though really, she is not a kid anymore. Her first solo album was entitled Breakout, and perhaps that is what she has been doing the past year. With the end of filming Hannah Montana, comes moving on to other things – something she has already done. The Last Song is due this April. Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, Miley plays rebellious Ronnie who moves to Georgia to reconnect with her father. The film was shot over the summer, and according to February's issue of Harper's Bazaar Miley found herself crying with happiness to be getting out of L.A. Something else she found that summer was her current boyfriend, Liam Hemsworth.
Miley doing what she loves the most!
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Miley has experienced a lot so far in her seventeen year long life. Last year she published her autobiography called Miles To Go, in which she discusses her relationship with her father, her thoughts on the media, her love life and her future ambitions. Miley says to Harper's Bazaar that she is looking forward to “breaking out of the teenybopper scene”. She wants to be a role model, but she is still young and wishes to be able to make her own choices and mistakes without creating headlines in every tabloid – which quite recently happened when it was revealed that she had gotten a tattoo. Once again, moms and dads reacted, worrying that their children would want to copy Miley's latest act. But after years in the spotlight Miley has learned how to handle these situations, and she has come to terms with the fact that she can't always please everyone. As she puts it “My job isn't to be a parent and tell kids how to act or how not to act, because I am still figuring that out for myself”.
Currently Miley is working on another pop album. She is also involved in various projects for teenagers, such as geturgoodon.org – an online meeting place for kids who want to do good. Miley has stated that after releasing her next record she wants to take a break from recording music. “I want to come out with an album that's really who I am... and I don't know exactly who that is yet”, she says. What this album will be like is yet to be unveiled, as well as what else the future holds for her. But Miley has plenty of time to work that out. After all, the last five years of her life have been rather busy, and so if she now feels like pausing for a while, then she most certainly deserves to do so.
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