Miley Cyrus, in the spotlight for twerking, sticking the tongue out or swinging naked on a disco ball, talks about being her happiest self and a cool underdog
Arguably, there is no one more discussed, tweeted or joked about than Miley Cyrus. The 20-year-old pop star and her ubiquitous tongue has been the talk of the town since her video We Can’t Stop, released in June, in which she cavorts in scantily clad outfits in an over-the-top sexually aggressive manner. There’s the twerking, a term which became a household name after her performance at the Video Music Awards when she danced around with a foam finger and spanked a midget. Immediately following, her video of Wrecking Ball, a song about her former fiancé, Liam Hemsworth, released worldwide in which she appears naked swinging on the ball. Distancing herself from the former good-girl image, she is more than making up for her squeaky clean now that her relationship with the Aussie hunk has ended amid reports that he was unimpressed with the new risqué Miley
ADVERTISEMENT
How are you dealing with all of the attention on you?
I’m having the best time ever and everything’s falling into place. I don’t want to say that I’m on top right now -- I feel like I’m kind of an underdog in a cool way. It’s almost punk rock to like me because it’s not the right thing to do. I think of everything that I did leading up to this moment and I think it was all just me training for this marathon that I’m in the middle of right now. I don’t even know how I’m still standing. I’m either a zero or a million.
So, you’re okay with the negative attention?
I don’t really care. I think everyone would have given anything to be me at that moment because I was being one hundred per cent true to myself. At the end of the day, I would say I’m a nice person, and I take pride in the fact that I treat everyone really well. I feel like I give so much as an entertainer, I want people to focus on that. It’s not really talking about my personal life when its people talking about VMAs or talking about my videos, that’s what I do as a job and I want people to talk about those things because it is keeping everyone watching.
What did you think about your VMA performance?
For me, when I used to watch MTV all the time it was really about music, but now it’s a bunch of TV shows, but this is a time in the year when it really brings it back to being focused on music. It’s supposed to be celebrating music videos. I don’t know why people were so shocked because if you’ve seen my music video or the ‘blurred lines’ music video. It was supposed to pay honour to that because it kind of brought music videos back into a different place. I had clothes on, but MTV threatened to dead air me, so I couldn’t come out in a birthday suit.
What about the more recent stunt in Amsterdam where you pulled out a joint on stage?
I was just walking out of my room and then I was like, ‘Oh, I have this in my bag. That will be really funny.’ And I didn’t say anything to anybody. I just did it because I knew the fans in Amsterdam would love it.
You’ve received a lot of backlash from celebrities and the public about how you dress and act.
I think I’m representing women in a cool way because people aren’t used to girls that are just like, ‘I genuinely don’t care what people think.’ And that’s what guys have always gotten to be, and especially in the rock industry. I’m someone that loves pop music and I love making mainstream music. I get to wear whatever I want and be whatever I want. I feel like I’m one of the biggest feminists in the world because I tell women to not be scared of anything.
How have you been since the split with Liam?
People spend more time thinking about it than I do because I believe when a chapter is done, you have to close it and start that new one.
So you’re happy these days?
I keep saying I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, and that’s not even a dig, that’s just me because I really am genuinely happy finally with myself. Sometimes it takes separating from someone else to really be happy with you are.
Any potential boyfriends?
I need to treat my music like a relationship -- give it my time and all the attention it deserves -- and that’s my main love right now. I’m not going to look back on it and be like, ‘I wish I hadn’t been dwelling over a breakup,’ you know? Because that’s not what God wants my life to be about right now.
How was working with Britney Spears?
She’s awesome. When I was younger my first record I went to buy was Britney Spears and right away I wanted her poster up. I think she represented a time when people had a different connection with their fans, not just about Twitter and all this but there was something about going and buying a record. I just kept telling her, “Britney you don’t really realise actually how dope [you are]. People tell me I represent their childhood, for me you represent my entire childhood, like you were the soundtrack to my life.”
What’s up your signature tongue look?
My mum hates it. My mum really gets mad about it, madder than any of these other parents that are really pissed. I really don’t like taking pictures, I feel really uncomfortable taking pictures, so it’s just a nervous habit. It just feels more comfortable. I care about what my fans think.
What are you trying to accomplish?
I started trying to take over the world. I was an adult when I was supposed to be a kid. So now I’m an adult and I’m acting like a kid. I’m really good at performing. I can’t do anything else, I can’t play sports and I’m not really good at anything except for what I do.
How important to you is your work?
All I do is work, so I eat to live and to keep going. People are impressed with me because I can sleep for just 45 minutes -- I’m used to it. I am a workhorse. I love being in the studio and when I take vacation I get so bored. I think of work as something I have to do. Because I work so much, I’m always on the road so I eat healthily. I have to give my body what it needs to keep going and if you don’t then you will crash and burn. I do yoga and 30 push-ups every day and try to get my mind right. I don’t have a normal life. I take a hiatus every now and again, but I’m not good at that.