Word: montanas
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...Cyrus stars as Miley Stewart in Hannah Montana, the cable channel's live-action show about a girl who leads a normal life by day but at night dons a blonde wig to perform as a famous pop star (Hannah). It's a role that has turned Cyrus into a real-life TV star and Hannah Montana into a monster hit among a generation of tweens too young for Degrassi and too old for Dora the Explorer. "In Miley we found the perfect girl to carry off this part," says executive producer Michael Poryes. "She has a kind of strength...
...That's what Disney is counting on. Having just celebrated her 14th birthday, Cyrus is at the center of a synergistic whirlwind of guest appearances, concert dates and recording sessions aimed at hyping Hannah Montana. She's performing in several cities as opening act for The Cheetah Girls - a made-by-Disney tween-targeted girl group - on their 40-city tour. She rode a celebrity float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade before returning to Los Angeles to start production on the series' second season...
...Since its March debut - which drew 54 million viewers and was the biggest premiere in the cable channel's 23-year history - Hannah Montana has become the most popular show on television among pre-teen girls ages 9 to 14 and is consistently watched by more kids ages 6 to 11 than any other TV series. The Hannah Montana soundtrack, which features Cyrus performing eight songs, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 chart several weeks ago and is still holding its own in the top five. There are Hannah Montana fan clubs, web sites, mobile phone clips...
...think the success of Hannah Montana is due solely to Cyrus' charm and talent, you've been watching too many Disney movies. Like her predecessors, Hillary Duff (Lizzie McGuire) and Raven Symone (That's So Raven), the twangy-voiced Cyrus was plucked from the ranks of minor actors by Disney and anointed to be its newest star. While she certainly has musical talent and charisma, she's also the product of a winning formula for creating shows that tweens love and make stars out of its leads...
...well-known standardized test skeptic Alfie Kohn: "These recent problems with implementation pale beside the appalling effects of NCLB itself. It's when this law is working 'properly' - with all the tests given, the numbers obediently reported, and the attendant punitive consequences enforced - that we really need to worry." Montana may not be sweating out its scores; last year, 92% of its schools made adequate yearly progress, one of the highest percentages in the nation. The state can only be grateful that speedy tabulation isn't part of the ranking system...