By Kevin Sullivan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER 16 years, the rapid rise of child 7 Cyrus has given the adoles recognition in film, television, , fashion and even rap songs Irties most musicians don't over the course of their entire ;h Cyrus' music is associated at a teenage audience, an •owd is noticing the young iair. .oncert tonight at the Bryce 'enter will prove just that when r,s her "party" to Penn State. Punt, director of sales and tg for the Bryce Jordan Center, gig has definite crossover ith college students. Some stu right around the same age as Punt said, and those older could • her teenage accessibility as Ch. ..ine Hardos (sophomore-geog raphy) is excited to attend and thinks music as straightforward as Cyrus' - works to the pop star's advantage. "She's a teenager, and like anyone Vie, makes music people can relate too," Hardos said. "Some people think s weird, but I don't see a problem with it. Her music is really good it's upbeat and makes you want to dance." As Cyrus has grown over the away her Hannah Montana persona in favor of Miley Cyrus, Hardos said, she has become even more relatable to an even wider audience. Stephanie Viggiano (junior-German) is another student attending the con cert. Though she's more into indie rock and electronic, she still likes the broad appeal of pop music like Miley Cyrus'. "I haven't been to a pop concert since I was 13 and saw Britney Spears, so I want to kind of relive my childhood," Viggiano said. "To me, that kind of music reflects a background of having a good time. It helps us remember the good old days when we were younger and watched 'Hey Arnold.' " Viggiano said she knows many other students who play Miley Cyrus songs at parties, especially "Party in the U.S.A." She is interested in what kind of a show the singer puts on and how she is cur rently trying to brand herself. Cyrus is still young but is starting to make the change from teen idol to seri ous performer, Viggiano said. Though the performer has run into a degree of controversy with some of her more provocative actions, Viggiano said it's a natural outgrowth of a performer trying to reach out to as wide an audience as possible. "She's 16 and in the spotlight and had to mature faster, so I can empathize for her as a musician trying to come into her own," Viggiano said. "There's business aspect no matter ears, so what kind of music you make, and musi cians try to engage as many people as possible to sell records." Cyrus' dual personalities probably contribute somewhat to these reactions, Viggiano said. Having two audiences and saying different things to both makes it difficult to separate, she said. "I think she's starting to mirror these other artists that came through Disney and matured into sex symbols, like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake," Viggiano said. "She's trying to explore her older age range, but she still has a lot of the younger Hannah Montana fans, so maybe she should hold onto that a little longer." Much like other Disney artists before her, Cyrus' tour is selling extremely well. Cyrus is part of a new wave of teen superstars that was around when stu dents were about 10 years old, Punt said. `N Sync, 0-Town, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys all performed at the BJC, and they all sold out the venue, he said, including two consecutive nights by the Backstreet Boys. "When 'N Sync came, we had to, for the first time, turn down a long line of people who couldn't get in, which wasn't an easy thing to do," Punt said. "We could have easily had a second night." Though students are definitely a part of the ticket-buying masses, Punt said fans are coming from many far-away places. People boug neighboring states as Quebec, he said. Metro Station, W older brother Trace ing the concert California to tour Though Metro S with bands like Fall er Blake Healy S. Cyrus puts on a gr; a bit different fro used to. "At first, I didn't Healy said. "It's When I watch her. only 16 she defin into it." Healy said the biggest Metro Sta though the demogr the group, he thin received. Seeing young chi ents at shows is ou Metro Station, Heal to perform in front a great opportunity "It's not weird b: records really grea said. "I have a lo music she makes a she puts on." Metro Station, lik ed performing whe still young, so H empathize. While H.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers