Cyrus performs on ABC's Good Morning America in New York, June 18, 2010.
Cyrus is trying to shake of the vestiges of �Hannah Montana�
Miley Cyrus� audition tape for the Disney Channel�s �HanID be found on YouTube. In it, the 12-year-old Cyrus is sporting frizzy hair, a big smile and, even then, her trademark whiskey drawl.
She displays the practiced poise of all child actors � a fearlessness when it comes to staring straight into the camera and reciting her lines � and her posture and mannerisms reveal that she knows this is a business opportunity and not a social call.
Flash-forward five years, and Cyrus� latest YouTube offering, her video for the title track of her album �Can�t Be Tamed,� involves a bird-cage set that doubles as a pole-dancing playground, writhing background dancers and an outfit notable for its feathers and d�colletage.
Like Disney teen idols Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake before her, Cyrus is making the often-murky transition into adult artist. The June 22 release of �Can�t Be Tamed� is the boldest statement in a years-long process of transitioning Cyrus away from the scrubbed cheeks and all-American girl charm of �Hannah Montana� to a modern pop diva.
�I�m just at a certain place where I�ve changed a lot as a person,� she says. �I�ve grown up a lot, which everyone does.�
Everyone does, but very few have to do it in the public spotlight with all the divisions of Miley Inc. � from film to TV shows to voice-over work to apparel � riding on the success of the transition.
It�s no secret that Cyrus has been publicly testing the waters of adulthood for the past few years � making dramatic displays like the bed-head Vanity Fair photos or the vaguely stripperish dance moves at Nickelodeon�s Teen Choice Awards � followed by an equally dramatic retreat.
Her music has followed a similar act of toeing the line between tween and adult, with singles �The Climb� and �Party in the USA� offering a far different message from earlier teeny-bopper tracks like �See You Again� and �7 Things.�
On the eve of the video debut of �Tamed� on May 4, Cyrus knows that it�s going to ruffle some feathers. �You�re going to, like, die when you see the bird cage in the video because it�s so crazy,� she says. Despite Cyrus� march into adulthood, she still talks like a teenager � all rapid-fire patter that, by a reporter�s transcribing tally, comes in at around 200 words per minute. �I�ve got, like, 30 dancers in there and a tree and a nest. Literally, it�s out of control. I�m definitely going to be doing a lot more stuff like that.�
�Miley�s transformation was inevitable � she�s been clawing herself out of that cage for a while,� says Suzanne Ross, executive producer of E!�s �True Hollywood Story� and �E! Investigates.� �I�m surprised it shocks people anymore. It�s an inevitable part of growing up Disney. It�s a formula, from what I�ve seen from past stars: Disney makes you a star, you make them an enormous amount of money, and then you either crash and burn or you go out and stake your claim in the real world.�
�Can�t Be Tamed� (Hollywood Records) is Cyrus� seventh studio album. Previous sets range from the four soundtracks she�s released under the �Hannah Montana� imprimatur to two as herself and one Walmart-exclusive EP.
While Cyrus is strenuously distancing herself from the days of �Hannah,� she still has the benefit of being a product of the giant Disney promotional machinery.
�We�re very fortunate that we have artists who have many, many levels to their careers, whether it�s film, TV, books or records,� Hollywood Records general manager Abbey Konowitch says. �The unfortunate news is that we�re fighting for minutes � not hours or weeks � for the artist�s availability.�
Cyrus began work on the album in December 2009, while she was touring in England, with a sold-out five-night stand at the O2 in London. Producer John Shanks � who worked with Cyrus on her single �The Climb� � reteamed with Cyrus for the album and racked up frequent-flier miles in the process.
�John spent quite a bit of time, God bless him, running over to England and catching her for parts of the day for recording and writing,� Hollywood Records head of A&R Jon Lind says. �He would come back to LA and work on the songs and tracks. He was really a soldier and a world traveller for going to do this creative thing in between Miley�s schedule.�
Besides Shanks, Cyrus worked with two familiar faces on the album: co-songwriters Tim James and Antonina Armato, who penned �7 Things� and �See You Again� and also wrote this album�s title-track first single with Cyrus.
�I call Antonina �Mommy� because she�s my second mom,� Cyrus says. �No one could ever understand the relationship we have. I�ve been working with her for four years, and every day I go into the studio and we just sit around and eat cupcakes and talk and I tell her everything about my life. I think that�s why we make good music together.�
Metal fan
Although several songs on the album throb with the kind of Euro-inspired dance beats heard on hits by David Guetta and the Black Eyed Peas, Cyrus says the sound is secondary to the personal lyrics.
�I listen to zero pop music, which is really weird for someone who makes pop music,� Cyrus says, noting that the first concert she ever went to was a show by Poison. (She covers the metal band�s �Every Rose Has Its Thorn� on the album, with Bret Michaels doing backing vocals.)
�My 13-year-old self would have beaten up my 17-year-old self because she would be like, �You�re a sell-out!� But that�s not what it is. It�s not dance music that�s just about, �Ooh, I�m in the club and everyone�s looking at me.� It means something. I�m not just sitting here trying to sell glitz and glamour ... because no one lives that life. A lot of (pop) songs are super shallow, but this music isn�t.�
As an example, Cyrus cites the album track �Liberty Walk,� about someone who finds the courage to leave an abusive relationship. She says she doesn�t have a formal process for song writing, instead preferring to take notes on her cell phone or in the journal she keeps on her computer.
�With anything � the clothes I wear or the way I want to look � I don�t plan it,� Cyrus says. �Even with the video (for �Can�t Be Tamed�) I had the treatment, but beyond that, it was whatever comes. We didn�t have all the choreography set in stone because I didn�t want it to end up looking fake and polished. Everything in life has to come naturally or I feel like it�s just been done.�
For Cyrus, being authentic may be the key to her success as she transitions to adulthood.
�The challenge is: How do these pop teen idols mature without alienating their fans � those that supported you on the way up, including the parents, who often shelled out the dough for the music and the concerts?� Ross asks. �Miley is in good company. After Britney (Spears) appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the infamous hot pants that created a boycott of her music and the release of �I�m a Slave 4 U,� she took a tremendous amount of heat. But as long as the audience perceives that the artist is in control of their image, they�re likely to be more forgiving. With Christina (Aguilera), when she put out �Dirrty,� that also created a media storm, but she reeled it back in when she reinvented herself with the torch songs and the ballads.�
�Hannah Montana,� the TV show that made Cyrus a household name, is coming to an end. (The fourth and final season of the series will air this summer.) For Cyrus, its conclusion comes with a mixture of exultation and relief. But it�s relief tinged with the knowledge that the end of the TV show just frees Cyrus for more work.
�It�s hard when you�re doing a show and you�re going to London for two days and then you come back and you�re doing the show again,� she says. �I can kind of bounce around everywhere and I don�t really have something that�s tying me back here.�
A big part of the appeal of �Hannah Montana� was seeing her flip between the two characters she portrayed on the show: schoolgirl by day, pop star by night. The same could be said of Cyrus, as she�s formed some teenage pop-culture opinions in her downtime from stardom. Lady Gaga gets a thumbs-up � �unlike a lot of artists, all her music does mean something to her personally� � and she can�t quite find it in herself to suspend her belief enough to watch �Glee,� even though the show featured her hit �The Climb� in a recent episode.
�Honestly, musicals? I just can�t. What if this was real life and I was just walking down the street on Rodeo Drive and all of a sudden I just burst into song about how much I love shoes?� She pauses for a second, and then laughs. �It would get hits on YouTube.�
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