Gossip mag OK! posted an item yesterday claiming that pop star Miley Cyrus used a body double in concert. A clip posted on YouTube in December from user "cweez1978" claims to have captured the switch on a cellphone camera.
Cyrus runs off-stage at about the 2:26 mark, and re-emerges seconds later wearing sunglasses.
Take a peak here (UPDATE: The below video has been taken off of YouTube):
The Disney star recorded sellouts at virtually all the 49 shows she played in 2007, according to industry trade mag Pollstar, and finished among the year's top 20 highest-growing concerts. A label spokesperson for Cyrus provided a statement that confirms that Cyrus does briefly use a body double:
To help speed the transition from Hannah to Miley, there is a production element during the performance of "We Got the Party" incorporating a body double for Miley. After Hannah has completed the featured verse on the duet with the Jonas Brothers, a body double appears approximately 1 - 2 minutes prior to the end of the song in order to allow Miley to remove the Hannah wig and costume and transform into Miley for her solo set. Other than during this very brief transitional moment in the show, Miley performs live during the entirety of both the Hannah and Miley segments of the concert.
Quick take: Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus is all about spectacle. Her live show is divided into two parts, and is set up at a pace to mimic a sugar rush. While it may be distressing to some that one of today's biggest teen stars uses a body double at a concert, a sort of gleeful momentum is at the heart of Cyrus' success, and a body double is apparently preferable to any slow-down in the show. As it stands, pop spectacles of this sort are about as honest as "High School Musical" is real, and the revelation, which promoters do not go out of their way to conceal, doesn't do much to diminish Cyrus' entertainment factor.
