Billy Ray Cyrus and I are from the same place, a little area tucked away in the northeast corner of Kentucky—the same place that produced the Judds and Chuck Woolery, you’re welcome—but I can’t speak for him. I’m not sure where Destiny Hope lives these days, or if she ever hangs out in Flatwoods at all. Destiny Hope is Miley’s real name, just so it’s clear Dad and Disney sold her out from the beginning. The hearing to legally change her name, according Wikipedia, is today, actually.

When the now infamous Annie Leibovitz photo of Destiny Hope appeared in Vanity Fair, the world lost its mind. I was hipped to the controversy because the Today show insisted on showing me what was, by the way it was described, something nearly pornographic.

And gasp, they even showed it unedited right there on national television in broad Eastern Time zone daylight: a 15 year-old girl’s back. I blinked and went about my morning business, thinking it the latest in network "news," and pausing only to wonder how that was different from every trip to a beach or swimming pool growing up, or how it was different from seeing my stepson’s prom date in her backless prom dress on Saturday. She was only 16. Does that make it okay to see someone’s back?

But Destiny was covered by a sheet, not a bikini top or chiffon (or whatever fabric they wear to prom). And that means…what, exactly?

Something dirty, it would seem, even if that dirtiness never crossed my mind (heck, I barely noticed) until every news website, entertainment blog, splog, and "news" channel in the world dubbed the photo a "topless" one of Miley Cyrus. It was dirty because the media sold it as dirty.

And the audience bit, big time, and swooped in for the feast. Rewind the clock at Google Hot Trends to Monday’s top gainers and you’ll notice a theme—a saturation of search query variants for the photos. I’m not sure when the photo was posted online, but the spike seems to correlate with television coverage, which is the norm for search query bursts. By Tuesday and Wednesday, searchers had forgotten about it and had refocused their swarming around American Idol and a rumored Jimi Hendrix sex tape.

Hitwise reports today that VanityFair.com traffic spiked by a factor of 20, that searches for the Leibovitz photos doubled the searches for Lindsay Lohan’s for-real topless pics in New York Magazine. Hitwise Director of Research Heather Dougherty says 98% of Vanity Fair’s traffic was comprised of visitors who had never visited the site before.

From a publicist’s standpoint, from the standpoint of anybody in the business of creating pop starlets or selling magazines, the photo shoot, through some nice manufactured outrage, was a smash success. TV ratings, web traffic, and buzz were all up, up, up. And one day, when the seemingly insatiable public is actually satiated, they’ll pick another girl to use up, up, up.

Just like they told us on South Park.

Destiny Miley said she was embarrassed in the aftermath. Of course she was. What teenage girl wouldn’t be embarrassed about everybody making such a fuss about pictures she thought the day before were "pretty, natural and artsy?" If anybody should be embarrassed, it’s Billy Ray for allowing his daughter to be the next Hollywood virgin to be sacrificed, and the media for creating smut where previously there was none.

Sometimes the word "billions" can cloud your judgment, I guess.

Though undoubtedly good for the franchise in the long term, Disney joined in with feigned shock. It’s the appropriate PR move in this situation, and unfortunate timing given certain billboards popping up in Beijing.

But in the end I have to ask you which is dirtier: a teenage girl’s back or cashing in on it?

Online ticket sellers Fandango.com and MovieTickets.com said the digital 3D concert film accounted for more than three-quarters of their ticket sales as of Wednesday morning. The film opens at midnight in 684 theaters.

Fandango.com said "Hannah Montana" was the site’s highest-selling concert film on record, selling out over 1,000 showings and accounting for 91 percent of sales as of Wednesday morning.

MovieTickets.com said the film was ranked eighth on its all-time presale list and was responsible for close to 90 percent of sales on Wednesday.

The Hannah Montana character got its start on a Disney Channel television series of the same name and has been extremely popular with "tween" girls.

"Miley is one of the most exciting and talented performers of her generation, and watching her on the concert stage is a genuine thrill," said Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, in a statement.

"As soon as she committed to the Best of Both Worlds tour last winter, we wanted to find some special way to let all of her fans share the excitement and fun of this live event, and filming the concert in 3D seemed like an ideal way to do that. This is going to be an exciting 3D motion picture event experience for everyone who loves Hannah Montana."
 

Hannah Montana Leads TV Costume Searches

In general, if originality is your goal, you should stay away from characters you see on TV – always prime sources for popular costumes. And, according to Yahoo, it doesn’t necessarily have to be TV from this decade.

The Flintstones make three appearances in Yahoo’s top 20 list, one appearance at number 5; the Addams Family still gets some love, as does "I Love Lucie," "I Dream of Jeannie," Scooby Doo, Star Trek and Charlie’s Angels.

Well, Star Trek shouldn’t be all that surprising, with all the fanatics out there. Star Wars was never a TV show, but if so, Google Trends says Star Wars costumes kick the Spock-ears off of Star Trek costume searches.

Nonetheless, your top 10 Halloween costume searches are as follows:

1.    Hannah Montana Costume
2.    High School Musical Costumes
3.    Sharpay Costume
4.    Dog the Bounty Hunter Costume
5.    Flintstones Costumes
6.    Reno 911 Costumes
7.    Scooby Doo Costumes
8.    GEICO Caveman Costumes
9.    Power Ranger Costumes
10.    Addams Family Costumes

Could be a biased sample as Google Trends has High School musical way outpacing Hannah Montana. If Dog the Bounty Hunter is popular, hopefully someone will buck the trend and go as his wife. Supplies: wig, tank top, shorts, two large balloons. 

I usually like to work in puns and expressions myself. "Green with envy," for example, requires a green jumpsuit, some face-paint, and cardboard "NV" on your chest. For the ladies, "Tickled Pink" is always a fun one.