Just Miley Cyrus

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Taylor Momsen has revealed that she is glad she lost out to Miley Cyrus for the lead role in Hannah Montana.

The Gossip Girl actress was aged 9 when she and Cyrus both made the final three in auditions for the Disney part.

While Cyrus went on to bag the role, Momsen has now admitted that she would have found it difficult to conform to the expectations of a family-friendly teen idol.

She told The Times: “Honestly, if I’d have ended up as Hannah Montana, I don’t know if the show would have gone as well. I probably would have told them all to go f**k themselves by the time I hit 11. And I don’t know how that would have gone down.

“It’s great for Miley, but I really like where I am right now and I feel really fortunate to be able to really be myself.”

The pester power of young girls appears to be recession-proof. Disney said today that Hannah Montana, its television series featuring a girl who lives a double life as a rock star, shipped over a million albums, TV and movie soundtracks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) last year as the series, already hugely popular in the US, was boosted by a new film.

The series has already made Miley Cyrus, its star and the daughter of the US country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, a multimillionaire at the age of 17.

Spin-offs from the series have helped boost Disney’s coffers. Close to 50 million Hannah Montana books and almost six million sticker packets have been sold around the world as the company uses its marketing power to move its stars across its platforms.

A dedicated mini Hannah Montana website is one of Disney’s most popular to date, receiving an average of 1.25 million unique visitors per month across the EMEA region.

The film Hannah Montana: The Movie, which was launched across EMEA in April 2009, took $53 million in the region and more than $150 million worldwide.

At the same time, Disney’s theme parks have suffered during the recession as consumers around the world count their pennies. It is also worried about the future of DVD sales. The company has been on the offensive with acquisitions, and has bought the animation studio Pixar and the comic book company Marvel in the past couple of years to help to boost its revenues.

Nicoletta Gelli, vice-president of brand marketing for Disney Channels EMEA, said: “As we have successfully seen with High School Musical and Camp Rock, which first burst onto the scene as Disney Channel programming, Hannah Montana has likewise gone on to spawn popular consumer products, soundtracks and a spin-off feature movie, proving that television is critical in creating a number one teen franchise. Disney is committed to the long-term growth of the franchise across the region with further launches and the much anticipated premiere of season four in 2010.”

MILEY Cyrus says her “dream job” was to be a wedding planner.

The Hannah Montana star, 17, admits she didn’t set out to become a singer or an actress.

“My dream job was to become a wedding planner. I like the idea of putting a great event together,” she dished.

“But I am terrible with time schedules. I don’t even have a watch.”

Miley — who’s currently dating Aussie actor Liam Hemsworth and has previously been romanced by singer Nick Jonas and model Justin Gaston — recently revealed that she likes to date spontaneous men.

“I like spontaneous men, guys who go with the flow, appreciate the outdoors,” she said.

“I’m not the kind of person who gets all warm and fuzzy over a candlelit dinner — that’s a little too mushy for my taste. I like the beach. I like to get out and do things.”

Simon Cowell is arguably the most powerful man in the music industry today. So it is no surprise that his call for performers on a recording of R.E.M.’s classic “Everybody Hurts” to benefit Haiti earthquake victims is resulting in a star-studded cast featuring many of the top names in pop. The latest additions reportedly include Mariah Carey and Miley Cyrus The recording of the song kicked off this past weekend in London with performances by Simon Cowell’s fellow X Factor judge Cheryl Cole and boy band JLS. The full list of expected participants thus far is below.

• James Blunt
• Jon Bon Jovi
• Michael Buble
• Alexandra Burke
• Susan Boyle
• Cheryl Cole
• Miley Cyrus
• Leona Lewis
• Mika
• James Morrison
• Rod Stewart
• Take That
• Westlife