Allison Russo
News Editor
No longer the innocent girl in the blonde wig that plays normal girl by day and pop star by night, Miley Cyrus is back and doing whatever it takes to change her image. After her VMA performance featuring a certain foam finger and several giant dancing teddy bears, as well as a questionable move with Robin Thicke, the whole world has turned their eyes on Miley Cyrus, waiting anxiously to see what happens next.
Surely enough, this attention has become the fuel to Miley’s fire, as immediately after the controversial VMA performance, her newest single, “Wrecking Ball,” shot up to the 5th spot on the charts overnight. Since then, “Ball” has easily crept up to the number one spot after the release of its music video, which featured a fair amount of nudity and garnered up 19.3 million views within twenty four hours. This is Miley’s first and only single to ever hit the top of the charts. Additionally, this feat broke the record for total views within twenty four hours, which was set just months before at 10 million views by none other than Miley’s own “We Can’t Stop” video.
All the hype about Miley Cyrus’s new style seemed to kick off back in 2012 when she had her long, brown hair cut and dyed a platinum blonde. She tweeted “feeling so happy in my own skin” among other things, proving to the world that this new look came with a new attitude and a new Miley that would be here to stay.
Following her change in look, she signed a new record deal with RCA Records and began promotion for her first single from her album, Bangerz, “We Can’t Stop” in June 2013. The catchy song quickly shot up on the charts, eventually making it as high up as the number two spot. Soon after, her music video was released, featuring many interesting clips of giant dancing bears and, of course, her favorite move, the twerk.
This video was, quite possibly, the biggest turning point in her career in terms of her image. Miley was criticized for her new style, which included much more mature content. Her depiction of partying and sexuality was something quite alarming after her days as a Disney child star. In the end, however, the “We Can’t Stop” video proved to be a huge success as it raked in over 100 million views within thirty seven days, a second record set with just her first video.
Since her success with “Wrecking Ball,” Miley has most recently been recognized for collaborating on Wiz Khalifa’s “23,” even showing off her rapping skills. Other recent collaborations include Snoop Lion’s “Ashtrays and Heartbreaks,” and will.i.am’s “Fall Down.” This recent work seems to be an important part of showing off her new bad-girl persona.
Following the huge success of her two singles, it looks like Miley’s album Bangerz, which is set to be released in October, is going to be nothing short of a showstopper.
