Outrage, inquiries, panic over teen idol's concerts

There's been parental panic in Portland, severe tropical depression in Tampa, Fla., and a mad scramble in Minneapolis. There was so much outrage among families in Little Rock, Ark., that the state's attorney general promised a swift investigation, as did his counterpart in Missouri after seeing the dust-up in Kansas City.

Across the country, little girls are crying that they want — "they need?" — tickets to see their idol, Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana), 14, in concert, and from coast-to-coast that has pushed mommies and daddies to extreme measures. That's why some scalpers and brokers are asking as much as $4,500 for a ticket, politicians have been staging news conferences and Ticketmaster officials have been ducking for cover.

"Hell hath no fury like the parent of a child throwing a tantrum," said a weary Joe Freeman, vice president of Ticketmaster. "People who have been in this business for a long time are watching what's happening, and they say there hasn't been a demand of this level or intensity since the Beatles or Elvis."

Those reasons include parents who are out of practice when it comes to buying concert tickets and their children who, apparently, are unaccustomed to disappointment.

Then there are all the scalpers who used sophisticated software to scoop up thousands of seats in minutes, essentially "cutting the line" in front of ordinary fans trying to buy a few tickets. That's why the 54-date arena tour by Cyrus, star of the Disney Channel hit show "Hannah Montana," has parents calculating how much it will cost not to break their daughters' hearts.

Jennifer Cox, of Raleigh, N.C., has tried — and failed — to get her 9-year-old daughter into any Cyrus show she can find in five states.

"Greensboro, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, Baltimore — they were all sold out," Cox said Friday. "It would be as close to her dream coming true as possible. It's unfortunate that a lot of investors bought these tickets to turn around and make a huge profit off them. There are huge Miley Cyrus fans that would love to go, but they've made the tickets unaffordable."

Some buyers are at wits' end; take this Internet posting by a frazzled aunt in San Antonio, who sounded as if she were negotiating with kidnappers, not ticket brokers: "I will meet you at a neutral location. I will pay you cash. Do not ask me for my best offer or what I am willing to pay ... this is for two little girls who are [being] ripped off by people who are taking advantage of the loyal fans for their own personal gain."

That type of anger has prompted action by politicians such as Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, who pounced on the issue by filing lawsuits against three out-of-state ticket brokers selling seats to the Kansas City show.

"It's a blatant rip-off of the consumer," Nixon said Thursday as he also announced that he had reached an agreement with promoters and Ticketmaster to release an extra 2,000 seats at a pair of shows in his state.

Officials close to the tour disputed that characterization (they said tickets would have been released anyway), but Nixon likely scored points with some exasperated parents in the Show-Me State.

If all this fuss sounds startling, you probably don't have a daughter who dances in front of the mirror singing "Nobody's Perfect," "The Other Side of Me" or other glossy, Disney-safe hits by Cyrus, one of the biggest brand names with middle-school America.

Cyrus has two albums. Both debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts and sold a combined 4.4 million copies in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan. More than that, her TV show has been a weekly advertisement for the tour. That makes her famous with little ones even if adults are scratching their heads.

"Hannah Montana, to me, she's not a big star," said April Martin, of Carrollton, Texas, who is facing the prospect of breaking her promise to her little sister about taking her to see her hero.

"She understands that I don't make a whole lot of money. It's very hard to say no to a kid. ... If kids really want something, it's really important, you want to give it to them."

The tour kicks off in St. Louis on Oct. 18. The resale frenzy is making other top touring acts this year — the Police, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen and Beyoncé — seem "so" last century. On Stubhub.com, the leading online marketplace for ticket transactions, the average selling price for a Cyrus ticket was $214, more than the Police ($209) or Beyoncé ($212), for instance. And the starting face value of a Cyrus ticket ($29-$66) is notably less than the older stars. StubHub officials called Cyrus sales "astounding" and noted that, by volume, her sales topped all others this year.

Those numbers haven't escaped the notice of the tour promoter, AEG Live. Randy Phillips, the company's president and chief executive, said one obvious solution to the unrequited consumer love is to add more shows.

"I would like to have 100 more shows," he said. "I am a capitalist, right? Every ticket we've put out, we've sold. I think, to be honest, we were surprised at the size and the extent of the momentum. I would love to have more tickets to sell."

It's not that easy. There are some child-labor issues involved in some states, but an even bigger problem is Disney's other plan for their starlet: A script is in the final stages for a "Hannah Montana" feature film, and spring has been circled as the optimum filming time.

Overall, the U.S. market share represented by children's music has tripled in the past 10 years, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. At the fore of the scene is Disney, which has a long history of shaping the careers of young music stars, among them Annette Funciello, Hayley Mills, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and Hilary Duff.

With the current success, though, the model that fits might be Ricky Nelson, a heartthrob who came into homes in the sitcom setting of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" and connected through stories and songs.

The premise of "Hannah Montana" centers on an unassuming, girl-next-door type named Miley who seems to have a normal life in Southern California but has a secret identity as the world-famous pop star Hannah Montana, a sort of "Prince and the Pauper" storyline for the YouTube generation.

Her real-life dad, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, also plays her father on the show. On her "Best of Both Worlds" tour, Cyrus will perform two sets, one as herself and the other as her TV alter ego.