Miley Cyrus: PR-princess Of American Show Business

2023 Author: Amber Richards | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-22 00:24

Growing up in front of the whole world is not easy, but Miley Cyrus is not the first and not the last artist to earn fame through her childhood roles. Baby Hannah Montana grew up like any normal teenager: she experienced crises, explored her own sexuality and, of course, rebelled. Perhaps this is no different from other celebrities raised under the wing of Disney: neither from Britney Spears, nor from Christina Aguilera, nor from Justin Timberlake. However, Miss Cyrus contrasts especially with the "Disney" people of her generation. At one time, for example, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato made a bet on sexuality, but Miley definitely went further, trying on not only the image of a diva, but also the image of a shocking starlet, whose concerts were not allowed to children under 16 years old.

However, today we see a completely different Miley: her latest album "Younger Now", which the singer presented last year, marks the girl's creative return to country roots. Here's how the single of the same name to him begins: “It seems that I just woke up, as if I had been sleeping all the time before. Even though I'm different now, I don't regret who I was before. " Pixies were replaced by romantic curls, mesh bodysuits gave way to dresses, promiscuous sexual relations came to an end along with a renewed relationship with Liam Hemsworth. Growing up?

Or something more?

Twerk marketing

Definitely, the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards was the new birthday for star Miley Cyrus. The single for her long-awaited Bangerz album "We Can't Stop" tore the charts and charts for the third month, and the controversial video for the same song continued to actively collect angry comments from critics and millions of views on YouTube. However, the appearance of Miley on the VM stage finally defined a new stage in her creative career: it became clear to everyone that a tongue sticking out, twerk and soft drugs were not an innocent experiment of the grown-up Hannah Montana, but a real declaration and a new reality for her fans (read also: “The most Miley Cyrus's provocative outfits ").

Almost five years have passed since that performance, and they still cannot forget it: a 20-year-old Disney star in latex underwear, with harnesses-horns on her head, sings that she can “kiss whoever he wants” and demonstrates invitingly frank poses paired with singer Robin Thicke. The performance raised a buzz from the first minute - and no, not only in the concert hall, but also on Twitter, where a record high user activity was registered at that time. Posts dedicated to Cyrus's performance appeared on social networks at a speed of (just think) 300 thousand per minute. VM2012's record was 98,000 posts every 60 seconds. Miley's success was so great that it came close to the hype that was observed on Twitter after the night of the 2012 US presidential election.

At the same time, the Google search engine recorded more than 10 million requests for Cyrus and her performance. Interestingly, the next day, "Syria" appeared in the top of the search engine - in connection with reports that the United States, presumably, is planning strikes on Damascus. But the possible war with Syria provided the search engine with only 100 thousand queries, while Miley's twerk - a hundred times more.

In a word, the performance with frank dances and teddy bears produced the effect of an exploding bomb. Naturally, not all of those 300 thousand tweets per minute were positive, but this was the case when quantity was more important than quality. Some Western columnists have even introduced the neologism "twerk marketing" into everyday life in order to illustrate how just a few minutes of active fifth point movements can ensure popularity for months, or even years to come.

However, someone who, and Miley Cyrus is definitely not a pioneer in the art of making money on shocking. So what really happened on that colorful scene in Brooklyn?

On screen and in life

A couple of days before Miss Cyrus finally unveils that provocative Bangerz album (and this happened a couple of months after the VMA), Opposing Views will write: “Like most Disney immigrants, Miley is a very mediocre singer, so she compensates for the lack of talent, like that of Ariana Grande (meaning vocal - ed.), with entertainment. " Meanwhile, if the girl's musical talents are still a subject for discussion, then the fact that in Miley's career the image always went a little ahead is obvious.

The story of the ascent of little Cyrus to the musical Olympus is in the slightest degree known to everyone who at least once had to spend more than 10 minutes on the Disney Channel. The series "Hannah Montana", where a very young Miley plays the main character, leading the double life of an ordinary schoolgirl and a pop star, is still considered one of the most popular and, importantly, profitable projects of Disney. Four seasons and two full-length films, Miley Cyrus lived in the role of obedient baby Miley Stewart for five whole years.

How the daughter of the famous country artist Billy Ray got into the project is also not a secret, at least in words. They say that she got the role of Miley, as it should be - having passed the casting and charmed the producers with her initiative and vocal abilities so much that they offered her the main role, despite the fact that Cyrus herself was much younger than her character. Legend also says that Miley originally auditioned for the role of Hannah's friend, but the girl's talent did not allow her to remain in the shadows. What is true and what is beautiful fiction still remains a mystery, but in any case, a good story about how a little girl, having seen the musical "MamMia!" the Disney show gained widespread notoriety. It is no coincidence that in 2009, at the age of 17, Miley will even write an autobiography,which will have unprecedented success with teenagers.

The story of young Destiny Hope (and this is the name the parents gave the baby initially - a nickname, and then the girl will take the official name "Miley" later) is generally like a script for a separate series. At least in her memoirs, the artist quite colorfully describes how her, a simple girl from Tennessee (Cyrus, by the way, was born in Nashville, the capital of country music), was offended by bullies at school and how she trusted all her experiences to music. In this sense, her role in "Hannah Montana" did the best in strengthening this image.

However, if you believe the same legend, the producers of the series themselves were looking for an actress with an impeccable reputation - one whose on-screen image of such a daddy's daughter, completely uncorrupted by the tests of fame, would completely coincide with the real image. Well, Miss Cyrus, who regularly went to church, had tutoring and wore a "chastity ring," was perfect for the role.

By the way, at some point, "chastity rings" - became one of the essential elements of the image of Disney children.

The trend was often ridiculed in the press, considering it to be another PR move of the company to sexually de-objectify its young artists. And yet, the rings have been worn by many stars (from Selena Gomez to The Jonas Brothers), because the Disney Channel model child is a mischievous and kind teenager, whose puberty should be very selectively covered.

In any case, Cyrus's work as Hannah Montana was a resounding success, largely due to the fact that it was really difficult to separate the actress from her on-screen image. It is interesting that initially the heroine of the series was not even called Miley - the creators of the project borrowed this name from their leading actress, who gladly allowed to use it, in fact, for commercial purposes. “Perhaps I was paid the least on this show,” Cyrus recalled in an interview with American Elle in 2016. - I just didn't know all the subtleties. I was glad that I got to Disney. My heroine was named Miley - but in those days it was just my nickname (the performer will officially change her name only in 2008 - ed.), We didn't even think about it (in a legal way - ed.). Only then did my mother begin to understand how they, in fact,benefit from me, so she quickly hired smart people who were able to defend my rights."

Hannah's father was played by Miley's father, and the girl herself at some point began performing with soundtracks from the series on a very real stage. Disney signed contracts with Cyrus for everything: for movies, for TV shows, for television, for music, and even for the production of goods. In the second half of the 2000s, it was difficult to enter a children's store and not find a product with the symbols of the project or with the face of a young star. The transition of Miley, the actress of the series, into Miley, the independent singer, was so smooth that the girl's first studio album combined both songs from "Hannah Montana" and compositions that she performed on her own behalf (the album, by the way, was called: “Hannah Montan2 / Meet Miley Cyrus”).

Given the girl's young age, it was a great business strategy and very Disney-like. The channel's management will try to implement a similar pattern with Demi Lovato, who played in the movie "Camp Rock: Musical Vacation", and with the stars of "High School Musical", but the effect of Miley will hardly be eclipsed. Hannah Montana became the embodiment of the hopes of millions of teenagers around the world, a story that unfolded not only on the screen, but also in life. And also, importantly, Miley Cyrus was an outlet for parents who were happy that their children finally had a really worthy role model (it's funny that when MTV invites her to host the next VMA in 2015, the first, who oppose this decision will be the parents, who once adored baby Miley themselves).

In July 2008, Miley Cyrus will release her first "independent" studio album, Breakout, immediately debuting at number one on the prestigious Billboard 200. In the same year, the American Forbes recognized her as the richest teenager in Hollywood.

From sex diva to enfant terrible

From that moment on, neither Miley nor her team needed to be explained how to make money. The Disney platform gave the artist a dizzying start, and from now on, all she had to do was to sing, try herself in other genres of cinema and voice acting for cartoons and go on tours. Cyrus grew up and gradually moved into the phase that all the wards of children's labels go through - attempts to break out of the shackles of their image. And, perhaps, the very "smart people" with whom, according to Miley, her mother once began to cooperate, would not receive their salary if the girl continued to live in the form of a sexual diva.

In the role of an adult girl who took shape, preparing to marry handsome Liam Hemsworth and flaunting in tight dresses, Miley lived for only a couple of years. Of course, like everyone else in her position, she had to face remarkable criticism. Public disgrace was, for example, her candid photo shoot for Vanity Fair in 2008, or her admission that she always liked the TV series "Sex and the City". However, these are all perfectly normal stages of the transformation of an artist from a teen idol to an adult celebrity.

But, as it turned out, this was not at all what Miley needed.

How exactly the Cyrus team, headed by the famous music manager Larry Rudolph in early 2013, came to the conclusion that from a sexual icon Miley should turn into an enfant terrible, is unknown. There may be many reasons for this, but, most likely, several factors have developed: firstly, the character of the girl herself, who is sincerely tired of the image of "daddy's daughter", and, secondly, the blatant stereotype of the strategy "from a child to a sex diva ". The latter is not so hard to believe: yes, the album "Can't Be Tamed" brought Miley a lot of money, however, according to critics, the young star had every chance to fade in a couple of years against the background of all those starlets that were released from Disney and Nickelodeon at the same time as her.

In any case, Rudolph himself commented on the controversial performance of his new ward at the VMA: “Her performance could not have gone better. The fans loved it. The rest, in the end, will also accept it. " Larry knew what he was talking about, because at one time it was he who was involved in the "transformation" of such children as Avril Lavigne or Britney Spears. Miley will be compared especially with the latter, but the manager himself will immediately emphasize that Cyrus is changing more original.

Miley lost the lion's share of public support - first of all, from angry adults, who from now on did not allow their children to listen to the songs of a scandalous girl promoting soft drugs and promiscuous sex. The singer's concerts as part of the tour in support of Bangerz received an age limit of 16+, as a result of which Miley said goodbye to a huge segment of her potential audience.

Miscalculation? As it turned out, no, because in fact, Miley's transformation was not intended for any of those whose loyalty she lost. The image change was designed for the very audience that grew up with Cyrus, hung out on Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr and promoted freedom from stereotypes. Two years later, Miley will pick up the trend for outright psychedelic, releasing the album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, which she, by the way, intentionally recorded for free online streaming on SoundCloud.

The art of metamorphosis

Since then, diversity has become Miley's main focus. The image really turned into her main weapon - the blessing, and Cyrus herself, who somehow admitted that her participation in Hannah Monatna had seriously shaken her psyche, was sincerely ready to transform in all directions. As part of the enfant terrible concept, she did it brilliantly. On the one hand, there is a star who violently revolts against conservative morality and lives on provocations, on the other, a philanthropist (her Happy Hippie Foundation supports oppressed youth) and, according to her own assurances, “just a good person”.

Miley Cyrus is actively “humanizing” her own brand, living all her ups and downs in public (show business loves drama, and the performer knows this for sure), communicating with her target audience via Twitter and non-target audience through the ultra-popular American show Voice. Her main strategy is to change so quickly that the audience can barely follow her metamorphosis. Her controversial antics embarrass and even outrage, while her touching performance with Ariana Grande at a charity concert in Manchester delights and breaks down to tears.

So now we see the updated, but still the same Miley, who still swears and defends her right to stick her tongue out in front of photographers, but who, according to her admission to Billboard magazine, no longer smokes marijuana and believes that “now is not the time to give a damn about people". Miss Cyrus is a master at playing on feelings of contradiction and does not give the world time to get used to her current image before she tries something else. And that certainly doesn't make her an innovator in PR and entertainment (although her talent for maximizing popularity should be noted), but it definitely gives her a strategic advantage over those who grow out of Disney according to the standard template.