Miley Cyrus’ 10 Wildest Awards Show Moments
Miley Cyrus has been touring the world and performing at awards shows since her early teens, so she's learned a thing or two about how to capture an audience's attention. From her start as a Disney pop princess to her twerk-heavy Bangerz era, the singer and actress has found effective ways to evolve, provoke and promote her talent. As we prepare us for the almost assured mayhem of her stint hosting the VMAs this Sunday, let's take a look back at some of her most iconic awards show moments.
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Teen Choice Awards, 2008
Best known for her double life on Disney's Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus catapulted from teen sensation to American pop phenomenon almost overnight. The Best of Both Worlds Tour had landed the 15-year-old her first hosting gig at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, sans father Billy Ray. Highlights included catcalling Zac Efron and introducing BFF Mandy Jiroux. But the most provocative moment of the night was Miley jamming out to her debut single "7 Things," alongside pal Selena Gomez. The Breakout song was rumored to be about Cyrus's ex-boyfriend Nick Jonas, who had accompanied the star on her tour earlier that year. Jonas had supposedly rebounded with Gomez, the two secretly dating. The teenage drama was but a sign of much more scandalous things to come.
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Billboard Music Awards, 2014
After a stint dabbling in the world of hip-hop, Cyrus exposed her more psychedelic side during a surreal, glitter-drenched performance of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" with close friends and frequent collaborators the Flaming Lips. That fall, the rock band had released a Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band tribute album, which featured Cyrus' cover of the classic tune.
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American Music Awards, 2008
By 2008, Cyrus had become a superstar. As teen superstars do, she celebrated her 16th birthday by performing at the American Music Awards and making fun of her fun in the process. After her dad Billy Ray introduced her by listing her record-breaking accomplishments, the Disney star narrowly escaped dancing paparazzi as she launched into her performance. Later, Cyrus was presented with a birthday cake backstage and blew out her candles with Taylor Swift, Jordin Sparks, Julianne Hough, Ashley Tisdale and mom Tish Cyrus by her side. A sweet 16 indeed.
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Grammy Awards, 2009
Years before Cyrus called out the media's role-model double standard that makes Taylor Swift a hero with her violent revenge video "Bad Blood" and Cyrus a villain for her nudity, the pop singers called each other "best friends." The pair shared the Grammy stage in 2009 to present the award for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and, earlier in the evening, to perform Swift's acoustic hit "Fifteen." As Swift strummed her guitar, Cyrus belted out her BFF's track, showing off her soaring, emotive vocals.
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American Music Awards, 2013
With guest appearances on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Cyrus was all the rage late into 2013. The twerking pop star embraced a feline theme while performing her ballad "Wrecking Ball" at the American Music Awards, taking to the stage without choreography and in front of projected graphics — specifically, a gigantic cat lip-syncing the words to the hit. Somewhere after the second chorus, the gigantic cat sheds some tears while traveling through space. Naturally, Cyrus wore a matching cat-adorned leotard.
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Video Music Awards, 2014
A year after she twerked all over the VMAs, Cyrus' return was a bit more subdued. She hung back in the audience, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Katy Perry and Sam Smith and didn't make much of a splash until she won the Video of the Year award for "Wrecking Ball." Even then, she stayed near her seat and let a 22-year-old man named Jesse Helt accept the award on the behalf of Cyrus and the 1.6 million homeless youth across the U.S. The camera panned to the singer as she cried during Helt's speech, which delved into his own experiences as a young homeless runaway and addressed the issue at large. As poignant as it was, Helt's appearance caused him to get into trouble with the law, as it brought to light the fact that he had violated his probation in Oregon, for breaking into an apartment in 2010, by moving to L.A. Last October, he was arrested and sentenced to six months in jail for the violation. As for Cyrus, earlier this year she continued to show support to homeless and at-risk youth by launching her Happy Hippie Foundation.
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MuchMusic Video Awards, 2010
As an 18-year-old, Cyrus was definitely ready to shed her goody-two shoes image and step out full force into the spotlight. With four seasons of Hannah Montana under her belt and her Last Song's co-star Liam Hemsworth on her arm, she was an obvious choice to host the 2010 Canadian MuchMusic Awards. Cyrus received the International Video of the Year award for "Party in the U.S.A.," which she performed, along with the title track from her third album, Can't Be Tamed. The pop star seemed euphoric throughout and was dressed to impress, first as a biker chick and later as a mummy in barely-there, tattered shreds.
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MTV Europe Music Awards, 2013
Following her performance at the 2013 VMAs, Cyrus had a reputation to uphold as pop's leading provocateur. She kept things simple and direct — even blunt, you might say — when she showed up at the MTV EMAs in Amsterdam, promptly pulling a joint out of her purse, lighting up and taking a puff while accepting an award. Over the course of the night, the singer performed her two hit singles "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball" in separate performances, but it was her onstage toke that made headlines.
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Teen Choice Awards, 2009
Long before the 2013 VMAs, the singer first raised award-show eyebrows at the Teen Choice Awards when she was 16. Following a huge sweep across the TV, film and music categories, Cyrus thanked her fans with the debut performance of her song "Party in the U.S.A." She exited a trailer in short shorts and made her way to an ice cream cart, where she included the cart's pole in her moves. Outrage ensued, with conservative audience members claiming that her pole-dancing routine was too risqué for TV. Also notable from her appearance: She swaps out "Jay Z" for "Michael Jackson" in the lyrics and does some light twerking while "moving her hips like yeah."
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Video Music Awards, 2013
From the moment she stepped on stage with tongue out and an army of dancers in bear costumes behind her, Cyrus singlehandedly revived the Video Music Awards after a few lackluster, uncontroversial years. She also solidified the relaunch of her career as pop's resident weirdo. After performing her single "We Can't Stop," the set became an intoxicating mess as she welcomed Robin Thicke, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar to join her for Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and "Give It 2 U." She stripped down to a nude, latex bikini and twerked all over the much older R&B singer. Though she is set to return as host of the VMAs this year, rumors have swirled that Cyrus was banned from performing on MTV after causing this spectacle.