News

Pop icons perform a raucous mashup of ‘Don’t Tell Me’ and ‘We Can’t Stop’ for ‘MTV Unplugged,’ airing Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.

Oh. Your favorite star didn’t kick off her “MTV Unplugged” by running onto a hoedown-themed set — decked in a blonde bob wig, gingham bodysuit, and carrying a purse — and back that ass up into a two-man horse? That’s cute, because Miley Cyrus did.

The biggest, best and country-est party in the U.S.A. on Tuesday night (January 28) was inside studio 15 of the Sunset Gower Studios, where Miley barnstormed her “Unplugged” set, complete with Amazon Ashley, Little Britney, a full strings section, a vintage Leslie, a Hammond organ, a two-man twerking horse, oh yeah, and Madonna. And if you weren’t there, worry not: it all airs Wednesday night (January 28) at 9 p.m. E.T./P.T. on MTV.

If Miley Cyrus’ “Unplugged” performance had a lyrical blueprint, it’d be that of her second song of the set, “Do My Thang”: “I’m a Southern Belle crazier than hell, getting wild up in here, getting live up in here burning up, up in here, turnt up, up in here.” Miley got live, got down, but she also got really real and really raw. “I can’t believe you let me of all people do an ‘Unplugged,’ ” she said. “That was brave.” But how could we not?

And a few thoughts on bravery: Beyond the feel-good, Salt ‘N Pepa-referencing party jams like “Bangerz” and #Getitright” — which saw a truly turnt up Miley dancing in a bikini top, grabbing her crotch and b-boy posing, her omnipresent tongue waving in between bars, and adorable stage banter (“MTV’s paying me today in ones so we can all go to the strip club after this,” she joked) — Miley put everything on the line. You could feel it in every song, everywhere in the room, from the minute she bounded out on the stage, down to her final flawless note of the night.

Miley’s staggering vocal prowess — brace yourself for a voice that’s thick and rich like molasses, metallic and fluid like liquid mercury — and vulnerability during slow songs reveal a strong yet not undamaged human heart caged in a spiritual sanctuary. Beyond the partying and the tongue selfies and weed jokes, there’s honest-to-God pain and sorrow, love and loss, and Miley reached down and let the audience — and the light — in.

Miley Cyrus Does Sequined Double Denim For ‘Unplugged’ Madonna Mashup

Nowhere was that raw emotion more apparent than during “Drive” and the minor falls and major lifts of a stripped-down version of “Wrecking Ball,” which Miley prefaced saying “I think everyone knows what it’s like to feel their life crumbling down,” before taking the room to church with a version of the smash that felt as much like a hymnal as a pop song.

The emotional peak of the “Unplugged” set was “Adore You” — “My favorite song on my record,” Miley told the “Unplugged” audience. Awash in the deep, dusty rose light of an illuminated wagon wheel, Miley launched into a country love ballad so deeply forlorn that for one beautiful minute, the L.A. set felt more like the scene of a furtive slow dance between two lovers on a peanut-shell-covered floor beneath the neon lights of flickering beer signs in any whiskey-soaked bar off of I-75.

But it wasn’t all about emotional wreckage (by which I mean me, watching “Wrecking Ball” live). Don’t get it twisted — Miley came to throw down.

Specifically with Madonna, who, as you’ve likely heard by now, had been quietly hiding in plain sight, rising from the audience in a bedazzled cowgirl uniform to join Miley on a mashup of “Don’t Tell Me” and “We Can’t Stop.” While trading off and exchanging lyrics of both hits, Miley grinded on Madonna, Madonna grinded on Miley, they both box-stopped and turned line dancing into dirty dancing, and yet another legendary pop music moment was made.

“That was pretty f—ing cool you guys. It was one of those days that was pretty easy to get out of bed. I get to perform with Madonna in bedazzled cowboy boots. I can’t really complain about anything,” Miley effused as Madonna two-stepped off the stage. “Well, I can’t perform when I’m stoned. That’s one thing to complain I guess,” Miley teased before impersonating “Saturday Night Live”‘s Vanessa Bayer’s cheeky impression of her, capping off the unforgettable duet by confirming it was “pretty cool.”

Miley Cyrus may be known for her endlessly entertaining antics (who remembers twerking or sparking up at the EMAs?), but stripping down to her Southern roots was a firm, intentional reminder that all else aside, this girl can wail to the rafters. Her fans (and fans — including this writer — of her “Backyard Sessions”) could’ve told you that beneath the party girl is a real country girl, capable of vocal detonation, a boot-scootin hoedown, or holding her own beside the legendary a Queen of pop.

Miley Cyrus’ MTV “Unplugged” performance proves once and for all that beyond the headlines and the tongue pics and the endless media circus lies a heart and a voice. It’s the voice of an artist, and it’s one of the biggest, boldest, and most important voices in music.

MTV

Miley Cyrus: Unplugged will air tomorrow on US MTV at 9pm and will be repeated at 01:02am.

No Dutch air date known at this time, but we will keep you updated, it shouldn’t be long!

Get ready for the pop music world to implode!

I can exclusively reveal that Miley Cyrus’ surprise guest performer for her upcoming MTV Unplugged special is none other than Madonna!
Yes, Miley and Madonna singing together!

Sources tell me that the two were on a Hollywood soundstage yesterday rehearsing the collaboration.

No word on what exactly they’ll be performing, but does it really matter? They could read the telephone book together and the world would watch and listen.
Miley Cyrus: MTV Unplugged tapes this afternoon (I’ll be there!) and will air on the music network tomorrow night at 9 p.m.
“The performance will showcase a more intimate side of Cyrus and feature surprise guests for an unexpected re-invention of the songs that have defined her career, including several from her #1 critically acclaimed album, Bangerz,” MTV said in a press release last week. “Miley and her fans have always had an intimate and direct connection through her music, personality and no-holds-barred attitude and the Unplugged stage will serve as the perfect platform for her to show viewers what inspires and ignites her music and her passions.”

Since its debut in 1989, Unplugged has showcased Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey, Adele and Florence + The Machine.
Madonna most recently teamed up with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at the Grammys for the hip-hop duo’s performance of “Same Love.” Cyrus kicks off her 38-city Bangerz tour on Feb. 14 in Vancouver, Canada.

Cyrus actually compared herself to Madge shortly after her infamous performance with Robin Thicke (and her foam finger) at MTV’s Video Music Awards last month.

“Last night, I was talking about some Madonna performances, and I said, ‘At some point, everything becomes irrelevant.’ Like, no one even thinks about when she did ‘Like a Virgin’ at the VMAs,” the former Disney darling told the New York Times. “That just becomes a standard, where it’s just like, ‘Oh, that’s her thing.’ So, I feel like now that I did the VMAs, that just kind of became a standard for me, and then anytime I do anything else, they’re like, ‘Miley kept it tame tonight.'”

E