~~ Billy Ray Cyrus: 'Miley's still my little girl' ~~

She’s the artist everyone’s talking about, and her performance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards will go down in history, but was Miley Cyrus’ raunchy display a step too far?

Her father, country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus, has defended the former child star.

“She's still my little girl and I'm still her dad regardless how this circus we call show business plays out,” the 52-year-old star told Entertainment Tonight.

“Of course I'll always be here for Miley. Can't wait to see her when she gets home,” he said.

The Parents Television Council has slammed Miley’s sexy performance saying: “MTV has once again succeeded in marketing sexually charged messages to young children using former child stars.”

They continued, “The Miley Cyrus/Robin Thicke performance simply substituted talent with sex”.

Ironically Billy Ray is listed as a member of the advisory board that dubbed Miley’s performance “unacceptable”.

Robin Thicke, who dueted with Miley on Blurred Lines, described his performance with the 20-year-old as “dope”, a euphemism for cool, but his mother was less than impressed.

Gloria Loring confessed to Yahoo she was shocked by Miley’s dance moves. She said: “I was not expecting her to be putting her butt that close to my son. The problem is now I can never 'unsee' it.

“I just keep thinking of her mother and father watching this. Oh, Lord, have mercy.”

And it seems Hollywood’s A-listers are split on whether Miley’s performance went too far. Selena Gomez, another former child star, defended the We Can’t Stop singer. Selena told E! News: “I really thought the collaboration with Miley was amazing. I loved it.”
Hollywood hunk Justin Timberlake told an American radio station: “I like Miley... I like Miley a lot. I think she's young. She's letting everybody know she's growing up.”

Former American Idol Adam Lambert also defended the Nashville-born singer. The pop star tweeted: “Hey, she’s doing something right. We all talking.”

But it wasn’t all good news for the bleach blonde singer. Kelly Osbourne was typically outspoken on her TV show Fashion Police: “Look, Miley's my friend and I love her, and I have her back no matter what, but as her friend I'm going to tell her - put your tongue in your mouth!”

Miley hasn’t spoken out to defend her performance yet, but we’re sure the feisty star will have something to say to her critics.