Twerking Is the Tip of the Iceberg

5 outrageous things to expect at Miley Cyrus' Dallas concert

When Miley Cyrus drops by American Airlines Center on March 12 as part of her Bangerz tour, she'll be armed with a truckload of buzz and controversy. Since the tour started in Vancouver on Valentine's Day, Cyrus' wild antics have thrilled — or shocked, depending on your age — audiences in 13 cities.

So what can Dallas expect from the artist formerly known as Hannah Montana?

1. Revealing outfits — and lots of them
It shouldn't come as any surprise to anybody who's been watching Cyrus the last six months or so, but her public outfits tend to be on the minimalist side. She takes it to another level on the tour, working her way through multiple costume changes, each one seemingly skimpier than the next. She even "forgot" to make a costume change at a recent concert, forcing her to perform in her underwear.

2. Unusual backup dancers
Oh, sure, Cyrus has the usual array of model-esque backup dancers. But other supporters have included a little person, a huge — as in tall — woman, a rapper with a gigantic and eerily realistic fake head, and a guy wearing a Bill Clinton mask. Speaking of that guy ...

3. Unrestrained sexuality
The man — or woman? — in the Bill Clinton mask was the recipient of a simulated act of fellatio during Cyrus' first concert, and other pictures have shown her performing all manner of provocative acts, including touching herself repeatedly, humping a gold car and straddling a giant hot dog. She kissed Katy Perry when she visited LA, which is both meta and appropriate given everything else she does.

4. Ear-piercing levels of screaming girls
Fans of Cyrus' milder days on the Disney Channel haven't shunned her new image; they've embraced it with gusto. The vast majority of audience members have been girls in the 16-24 range, and given their sustained shrieking and singing throughout, it's obvious that they share an ineffable kinship with Cyrus that adults can't hope to understand.

5. Great music
You could be forgiven, given all the extraneous distractions going on during the show, for thinking that Cyrus was trying to cover up a singing deficiency. But Bangerz was actually well-reviewed. And when Cyrus hits the glory notes in "Wrecking Ball" or throws down on the ubiquitous "We Can't Stop," even she can't hide the fact that her ability to entertain is beyond skin deep.

Car humping is just one of many outrageous things Miley Cyrus will probably do at her concert at American Airlines Center on March 12.

Photo by Rob Sinclair

Car humping is just one of many outrageous things Miley Cyrus will probably do at her concert at American Airlines Center on March 12.

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Wicked News

Wizard of Oz ruby slippers bought by mystery bidder for $28 million

Heritage Auctions

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A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction on December 7.

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum.

Including the auction house fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million.

Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.

The sparkly red heels were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn’t publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.

The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”

As Rhys Thomas, author of The Ruby Slippers of Oz, put it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”

Over 800 people had been tracking the slippers, and the company’s webpage for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the auction house.

Among those bidding to bring the slippers home was the Judy Garland Museum, which posted on Facebook shortly after that it did not place the winning bid. The museum had campaigned for donations to supplement money raised by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland festival and the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.

After the slippers sold, the auctioneer told bidders and spectators in the room and watching online that the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million, for the white dress Marilyn Monroe famously wore atop a windy subway grate.

The auction also included other memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West. That item went for $2.4 million, or a total final cost to the buyer of $2.93 million.

The Wizard of Oz story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movieWicked, an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.

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