You Can Take The Girl Out Of The Trailer Park …

Cyrus walked away from the award show with six awards but it seemed like the interwebs could care less about how many surfboard-shaped trophies she took home – the buzz was all about her performance of “Party in the USA.”

The 16-year-old singer/actress kicked off the song by swinging upon the door of a trailer set up on the stage of L.A.’s Gibson Amphitheatre. And what outfit did she choose to go along with the trailer backdrop? A somewhat risqué getup consisting of Daisy Dukes, a Wife beater and biker boots. Duh. It’s only logical!

In the middle of the song, Cyrus upped the scandalous factor by doing a few dance moves on top of an ice-cream pushcart that featured a stripper pole. MTV.com described it as a “stripper-like pole” but what else can you really call a metal pole that is used for dancing? (Ok, fine, there’s dancing around a Maypole but I don’t think Miley was celebrating May Day.)

Seriously though – what was she thinking?! Was she auditioning for the Disney musical version of “Showgirls”?

The Teen Choice Awards took place Sunday night and the broadcast aired Monday night on Fox.

Here’s what Disney, producers of Cyrus’ “Hannah Montana” TV show, said about Cyrus’ choice of dance moves/props, according to Newsday.com:

“Disney Channel won’t be commenting on that performance, although parents can rest assured that all content presented on the Disney Channel is age-appropriate for our audience – kids 6-14 – and consistent with what our brand values are.”

As if a trailer, short shorts and pole dancing weren’t bad enough, “Party in the USA” also features Miley giving a shout out to Britney Spears as she sang, “That’s when the DJ dropped my favorite tune and a Britney song was on.” Sheesh.  After the performance, Cyrus presented Spears with the “Ultimate Choice Award.”

Us magazine senior editor Ian Drew said he thought Cyrus’ pole dancing made sense considering she’s following in Britney’s footsteps in the transition from tween audience to a more adult crowd.

“She already has this risque image, so it really wasn’t much of a stretch,” Drew said, according to Newsday.com. “That’s how Britney took off. She was the good girl gone bad, and it looks to be working for Miley as well.”

Not exactly sure what Drew means about Miley already having a risque image. There was the Annie Leibovitz semi-nude Vanity Fair photo, but other than that Miley seems to mind her Ps and Qs.

And what did Miley herself have to say about the performance?

“Tonight I’m performing ‘Party in the U.S.A.,’ which is my new single and which I’m super-excited about,” Miley told MTV News prior to her performance. “[My] performance tonight is funny, but I wanted it to be about [something more]. ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ is an all-American song, and so I come out tonight and I’m literally in a trailer park. It’s a blinged-out trailer park. I’m like, ‘This is to represent where I am from. I’m so proud of it.’ … I love it. It’s about my roots.”

Ok, first of all, I don’t think Miley’s roots have anything to do with pole dancing. Also, I don’t think she grew up living in a trailer. She was born in 1992, the same year dad Billy Ray Cyrus was rolling in the dough with his top-10 hit “Achy Breaky Heart.” Pretty sure the Cyrus family could afford a place a little bit nicer than a trailer. Just saying.

Miley obviously can’t pander to the tween crowd forever but I don’t think pole dancing is the classiest way to make her exit from the Disney world. Sure she’s growing up, but she’s still only 16. And the fact that the stripper pole was on an ice-cream push cart almost makes the whole thing grosser. An ice-cream cart is supposed to be about innocent summer fun, not a pole dancing location. Ew.

What do you think? Was Miley’s performance out of line?

Click here for the MTV.com article.

Click here for the Newsday.com article.