Performances of Miley Cyrus

In his review of the Best of Both Worlds tour, J. Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post described the concert as "a nearly 90-minute blast of pop in which the charismatic Cyrus – who complained that she wasn't feeling well – commanded the stage with confidence, performing with a particular swagger." The performances featured on Cyrus' Wonder World Tour showed more dramatic performances; at one point, Cyrus performed on top of moving scaffolding.  When performing a cover of "I Love Rock & Roll" on the tour, Cyrus performed the song suspended in the air atop of a Harley-Davidson Dyna Fat Bob FXDF 2010 that traveled through the air. Beginning with the release of The Time of Our Lives, Cyrus' performances became somewhat more explicit and controversial in nature. Cyrus's performance of "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards incited a media uproar, with some viewers criticizing Cyrus's provocative outfit and inclusion of a brief pole dance as inappropriate for her age, then sixteen, and for her young fans. Conversely, Newsday reported that her sexualization "has been coming for some time." Ian Drew, senior editor of US Weekly, said, "She already has this risque image, so it really wasn't much of a stretch. That's how Britney [Spears] took off. She was the good girl gone bad, and it looks to be working for Miley as well."Her performance of Can't Be Tamed on Britain's Got Talent garnered much controversy. Midway through the performance, Cyrus grabbed a female backup dancer, dipping her low, and simulated a kiss. The performance was met with negative reactions from the media and caused her to release a statement in which Cyrus promised she did not kiss the backup dancer. Cyrus wrote, "It is ridiculous that two entertainers can’t even rock out with each other without the media making it some type of story. I really hope my fans are not disappointed in me because the truth is I did nothing wrong. I got up there and did my job which is to perform to the best of my ability."

In August 2013, Cyrus was the subject of widespread media attention and public scrutiny following a controversial performance and duet with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance began with Cyrus performing "We Can't Stop" in teddy bear-themed attire. Following this, Thicke entered the stage singing "Blurred Lines" alternatively with Cyrus, who stripped down to a skin-colored, latex two-piece outfit. Cyrus subsequently touched Thicke's crotch area with a giant foam finger and twerked against his crotch. An article published in The Hollywood Reporter described the performance as "crass" and "reminiscent of a bad acid trip". Media attention of the performance largely overshadowed the attention that was given to other major events of the night, such as the reunion of 'N Sync and performances by Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. Cyrus' performance was described by XXL critic B. J. Steiner as a "trainwreck in the classic sense of the word as the audience reaction seemed to be a mix of confusion, dismay and horror in a cocktail of embarrassment",  while the BBC said she stole the show with a "raunchy performance". The performance also became the most tweeted about event in history, with Twitter users generating 360,000 tweets about the event per minute; breaking the previous record held by Beyonce's Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance six months earlier. News and social media sites featured numerous articles about parental concerns with the performance's impact on children. Her performance was reported to contribute towards the dehumanization of black women by mimicking "ratchet culture" and using them as living props, swatting one on the backside. Reacting to the controversy, Cyrus stated about her critics: "They’re overthinking it. You’re thinking about it more than I thought about it when I did it."