“I FEEL like I’m on a game show,’’ Miley Cyrus said as press con host and MYX VJ Nikki Gil picked questions for her out of a fishbowl.
It was the day before her concert at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds and Miley was sitting inside Martinis in Mandarin Oriental for a quick press conference. “I’m a little thrown off `coz of the time difference but it’s awesome,’’ Miley said.
The concert is part of her Corazon Gitano (Gypsy Heart) tour and the Philippines is the tour’s only stop in Asia.
“It’s my first time here but my brother’s been here before and he told me that the crowd is awesome.”
After Manila, Miley is off to Australia for a few shows before heading back to the US for a break.
Miley gamely answered questions from the press, speaking very fast and talking with her hands. She comes off smart and strong, opinionated and in control. She leaves you with no doubt that her days as Hannah Montana are long over—she’s all grown up now.
She even has a grown up way of dealing with fame and the persistent paparazzi. “I deserve respect, I’m a person. You just draw boundaries, respect other people and you do it in a way that is sweet and they don’t want to be mean to you or write bad things. If you demand respect, you get it.”
Although she’s lived with fame for almost half her life, Miley seems level-headed and well-adjusted. And unlike a lot of celebrities her age, she refuses to turn herself into an internet reality show. “People don’t have to know what I eat everyday or what time I’m going to sleep or what I’m doing every second.”
After the press con, MCA Music Inc. presented her with a platinum award for her albums “Can’t Be Tamed,” “The Time Of Our Lives and “Breakout,” she said, “Thank you. This is definitely going up in my house,” she said.
Miley says she’s learned to live with “creepy dudes hiding in bushes,” rumors and misconceptions about her – because in the end, it’s her work that matters. “If I’m creating, I’m happy.”
How are you liking Manila so far? Have you had the chance to explore?
The fans have been amazing. I went to a show this morning and saw some fans there and they’re all super stoked, they all had their signs. I just think it’s great when people are excited. I think it helps when it’s your first time coming somewhere. I haven’t gotten too much time to explore because we got in so late last night. But after this, we’re just gonna go explore. My mom the first thing she wants to do is go shopping of course so we’ll probably end up doing that later.
What was your most memorable concert or gig?
Probably playing with Joan Jett. I was on Oprah for one of her final shows. It was “Women Who Rock.” It was amazing just to be there with women who have been around and who have made women rockers possible.
How does it feel to travel around the world and sing your songs to people who don’t even speak the same language?
I think it’s amazing. I was really nervous the first time I was in South America. What keeps me going and gives me the energy is the fans singing along and relating. And I find it totally incredible that they sing along even when you don’t think that they could and I see people getting really emotional, you see people laugh, you see people cry during the songs. They totally get it. It’s more a spiritual connection. We’re not necessarily speaking the same language because I let my music speak for itself. It’s kind of hard too because I like talking to the fans… but when you tell people to stand up and get loud, everyone knows that. Everyone gets up.
If you weren’t in the entertainment industry, what would you be doing now?
I love photography and I love to travel. I love being able to share pictures with fans who may never get to go to these places. I love that and I love fashion so I’d like to take pictures and be involved in the fashion industry too. I know the pictures I like to take, any kind of art, I like super natural and more hippie styles and bringing back the 70s, that’s kind of the style I like also.
What was your childhood dream?
This, always this. I was always excited to learn about every aspect of this industry. I always wanted to be a singer, I always wanted to act, I always wanted to produce, I always wanted to write. I always wanted to create things even if not for me as an artist but for other artists. And performing has always been my main one. I always wanted to perform.
What is love?
Love is someone who doesn’t always try to give you answers. Sometimes love is just listening. That’s something that I’ve learned a lot, sometimes that’s the thing you need the most, to just have someone to listen. Friendship has to be the core of whatever kind of love that you’re looking for. Just trust and honesty. Trust is our glue.
Is there anyone in particular…
…that I’m in love with? You know… you know… who knows? Maybe.
You left Twitter but came back when you started this new tour. What’s changed about your tweeting style?
I shut my Twitter off just when I was home in LA for a few weeks after South America and before coming here. Everything is okay in moderation. I think it’s really good for artists especially musicians because we get a completely different connection with our fans and you feel like you really know them. But you don’t have to tweet every single thing you’re doing, you don’t have to tweet about your private life because it’s not private anymore and it’s not personal. I don’t really care what someone is doing 24/7. I don’t think anyone cares what I’m doing 24/7, so I think just using it when it’s that time to connect with your fans and you stop using it when it’s time to disconnect and just be real for a little bit.
And by the way, once it’s deleted, there’s another Twitter page that is only the deleted tweets so something is never really deleted. So really read it twenty times before you put it out because it’s never gone forever. And it’s kind of scaring me, putting something on the internet, especially I just got a million followers. To know that a million people are right away gonna read something, even something that I didn’t double check, I think that it’s really safer to reread your stuff and know that you can stand by whatever statement you make.
Will you still be tweeting after the tour?
I’ve got a few things coming up after my break. I think it’s good to keep the fans informed of what’s going on and of causes that are important to me and things that are going on in the world that are important to me. You can say a lot of things, you can reach a lot of people and it’s nice to be able to share your opinion.
How do you deal with fame? Do you still get alone time with your family and friends?
It’s super important to have that. No matter what, there’s always gonna be paparazzi in LA but you make limits. Here’s my limit, this is my family time, this is my friend time, this is for me personally and nobody else and if they don’t follow the rules then they get into some problems. If you demand respect, you get it. I don’t love weird creepy dudes hiding in bushes and taking pictures of me in my bathing suit and then someone judging me on who looks better in the same bathing suit as me. It’s stupid, it’s ignorant, it’s such a waste of space. There’s so many great things out there to read and you spend your time reading that… I don’t know. I just block that out especially if you’re in my position because it sucks.
Do you ever get stressed? Have you ever wanted to take a break from it all?
I don’t really get stressed from my work. I think life in general is harder than what I do because constantly I’m just creating and if I’m creating, I’m happy. There’s always gonna be times when you don’t understand why things are said about you or sometimes people just don’t get it. But as an artist, it’s our job to create what we love and what we want to say. It’s life, just the silly things in life. You shouldn’t sweat the small stuff and I couldn’t do that sometimes and I have to remind myself that I’ve dealt with so many bigger challenges and this is not as important.
So you’ve never reached a breaking point and said, “this isn’t worth it anymore”?
When I’m performing, I just remember that feeling and I know it’s worth it. And also sometimes I get stressed, “What am I doing with my life?” I know there are bigger things I should be doing in life even though people think I’m already doing the greatest thing that there can be – that people know me and I’m selling records – but I know there are greater things. You have to take everything and say, I can use this. If I wanna take time and just go do charity work, I can. And I can take my family on good vacations and shut it down for a little while and not feel like I constantly have to work or do things that I don’t enjoy. I’m not a new kid in LA. I’ve worked hard, I can take time to take a break.
Have you ever disappointed your parents?
If anyone says they haven’t disappointed their parents, they’re lying. I think the worst time I made them really really upset was when my little sister was born and my brother and I were kind of jealous of the new baby. We went down and we broke a window. And my dad was like, “You vandalized! And not only did you vandalize, you vandalized your own home! How dumb are you?” We had a tree house and we hid in our tree house for a few hours but then we needed snacks so we had to go home. Usually my dad just gives us talks and we move on and try to learn from it.
What about as a grownup?
Now my mom does the adult choice talking to. There are always times when they’re not excited about your choices but me and my family, we’re all different. My brother just got his entire face tattooed, I wish he didn’t have that on his face but my mom was like, this is who he is and this is his DNA and this is what I created and this is the person he’s become. She just loves us for who we are and I have the greatest parents just because of that.
What is the biggest conception about Miley Cyrus?
There’s lots of things that people have made up about me. But the most is how people could think that I do the things I do for shock value or for attention. I never do. My dad always says, “If everything you comes from a place of love, you will always succeed no matter what.” (They think that) I do love the paparazzi, I do love the media, I do love the rumors because I don’t. Quite frankly I think it’s the worst part of the industry but it’s never gonna change. You just have to take it all in and love it. Some days you’re not gonna be totally happy with how things turn out but that’s probably the biggest misconception—that people think I want that kind of attention. No one wants to be talked negatively about. I don’t know who would in their right mind.