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Little girls,
including my own, are growing up so fast. They go from
watching Playhouse Disney to watching concert movies
starring tween idol Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. In fact,
these same little girls probably asked their moms and
dads to get them tickets to see the dual personality
singer live in concert. After spending almost $400 on
seeing The Police in concert last year for my own
ticket, I wasn't about to spend double that amount or
more on Miley's tour. Sorry sweety, but daddy's got to
draw the line somewhere. The positive side to this is
that my daughter and her friends can still see
Hannah/Miley in concert.
"Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds:
2-Disc Extended Edition" is now available on DVD.
I took my daughter and two of her friends to see this
movie at the theater. The theater is equipped with
"Disney 3-D" projection, and for that so-called
privilege of seeing a movie in oversized high definition
television, it cost me nearly $65.00! I guess Disney and
the Cyrus clan will get money from me somehow. I could've
saved the money and spent $22.00 on the DVD, and it
comes with 3-D glasses. But being a good sport, I picked
up my jaw from the bricks in front of the box office and
took the girls to see the movie. And you know what? They
loved it.
"Best of Both Worlds" is pretty good for a concert film.
The songs, cinematography, editing and choreography give
the film a rapid pace. This isn't a quickly slapped
together production (at least it doesn't appear that
way) to capitalize on Miley's current popularity. The
camerawork is as good as any concert film camerawork
you'll see. Everyone who appears in the movie seems like
they're having a good time. The songs (and believe me,
I've heard them a millions times, and not by choice) are
pure pop and decently done. The girls were bouncing in
their seats during the theatrical showing and knew all
the songs.
As much as I make jokes to my wife about not liking how
Miley sings, the kid has something about her that kids
and some parents like. Her voice is too flat and hoarse
sounding, in my opinion. She dresses like '80s pop
princesses Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. But Miley has
moved beyond anything that those teen singers ever did.
No mall stages for Miley. This girl's singing in arenas.
I have to give credit to Miley, because the kid's got
chops. She may not sing all that well, but she knows how
to charm the kids in the audience. She's confident
on-stage and works the room.
Her songs are pretty standard pop fare. They're not as
sugary as Tiffany and Gibson's songs. Some even have a
slight edgy sound to them. "G.N.O. (Girls Night Out)"
starts girls out at an early age dumping their guys for
a night out on the town. "We Got the Party" is actually
an infectious tune along the lines of the singer Pink.
"Let's Dance" has a bit of Latin flavor to it. Miley
sings them with a lot of feeling and strength throughout
the movie.
Sometimes I have to step back from my adult
point-of-view and see the whole picture. Almost every
young generation has had some singer (or singers) that
they went crazy for. My parents had early rock stars
like Elvis Presley to idolize. My dad even bought an
Annette Funicello record in his youth. [Now there's a
singer who's singing voice wasn't all that great. But
with a production team behind her, she sold quite a few
records.] In the 1970s, my female classmates couldn't
get enough of Shawn Cassidy. In the 1980s, it was
Tiffany or Debbie Gibson who charmed the mallrats. In
the 1990s, it was N*Sync. Miley could be following in
their footsteps.
Miley is growing up, and so is her audience. It'll be
interesting to see if she can maintain her fan base over
the next couple of years. She's still very young and
doesn't have an extensive album catalog yet. So her
staying power remains to be seen. For now, Hannah
Montana/Miley Cyrus still rule the roost, at least until
Disney Channel finds their new hot hit. And in a sense
they have with the Jonas Bros.
Bill Kallay
Special thanks to Click Communications
Photos: © Disney. All rights reserved.
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