Billy Ray Cyrus on his daughter: 'That's still my Miley'

She might have had the world talking after her controversial appearance at MTV's Video Music Awards last month, but to at least one person, Miley Cyrus is still just who she is.

"She's just Miley," her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, told CNN's "Piers Morgan Live."

"She's an artist. She's real. I think that what's happened over the years, Miley has been reinventing her sound. She's evolving as an artist herself. I think that all of what everyone is calling controversy now, that's still my Miley," he said.

Billy Ray Cyrus spoke at length Thursday night about his daughter's performance at the VMAs.

The performance was a far cry from her Disney days as "Hannah Montana."

Billy Ray Cyrus said he had known his daughter planned to do "something really special" at the VMAs to get everyone talking.

"Miley's smart enough to know that to come out of the shadows of 'Hannah Montana,' it really takes something extremely drastic, which when you go to that level, it creates passion, and passion is either love or hate. But there's no middle of the road for passion," he said, adding that the performance pushed his daughter to new heights.

"She has risen to a whole new level. I thought I had seen it all -- until these last couple of weeks," he told CNN's Morgan.

Selena Gomez Not Allowed Into Russia Because She Supports Gay Rights

While most of Europe welcomed Selena with open arms when she traveled the continent on her ‘Stars Dance’ tour, Russia was not so eager to greet her. Sel was set to perform two concerts in the former communist nation in September, but Russian officials have turned down her visa request, apparently because Selena supports gay rights. How shocking!

Selena Gomez may be America’s sweetheart, but Russia is not too fond of the 21-year-old actress and singer. Organizers for the two concerts Selena had scheduled at St. Petersburg’s Ice Palace on Sept. 23 and Moscow’s Olimiisky stadium on Sept. 25 told The Moscow Times that Russian officials denied Sel’s request to enter the country under its new anti-gay law. Read on for more details.

Selena Gomez: Russia Banned Selly For Gay Rights Stance — Concert Cancelled

Poor Selena had to cancel both of the tour stops and she is no longer going to Russia, her rep tells E! News. U.S. gay rights activist John Becker, who started a Change.org petition asking Selena to speak out for gay Russians when she performed in the country, tells E! News in a statement:

This cancellation of Selena Gomez’s visa shows that the Russian government is sensitive and on the defense, and shows that the pressure from people all around the world and the backlash against these laws is strong. They’re afraid to have someone like Selena Gomez come in and potentially use her platform to advance LGBT rights.

Wow! It’s hard to believe Russia could be afraid of innocent little Selena — especially when she is only trying to send a positive message to the world. It’s so sad that her Russian fans won’t get to see her because of this.

Big Weekend For Taylor Swift in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Country Music Superstar Taylor Swift is taking center stage in Nashville for three days straight.  She is wrapping up the North American leg of her "RED" tour here in Music City.

Thursday night she performed the first of three sold out concerts at the Bridgestone Arena.

Taylor's "RED" tour has played to sold-out crowds across the U-S and Canada since March including 36 arenas and 9 stadiums. 

The shows in Nashville Thursday, Friday and Saturday end a record-breaking run where she played 58 shows in 45 cities.  

Taylor's buddy from the United Kingdom, Ed Sherran, is opening up all three shows here.  

Earlier Thursday Swift was presented with a plaque commemorating $4 million in sales for her album "RED" in the U-K. The album has sold six million copies worldwide.  

The singer said she wanted to save Nashville as the last city in the North American leg of  her tour.

Next,  Taylor Swift will travel down under to entertain crowds in Australia.

Jamie Campbell Bower challenges Rupert Grint to shave off all his hair

The cheeky Mortal Instruments actor, 24, shares a Harry Potter filming credit (they were both in The Deathly Hallows) with 25-year-old Grint and took delight in challenging his former co-star to shave off his ginger locks.

‘Here’s my dare for Rupert Grint – shave all of your hair off. All of it,’ the blonde London lad said.

‘Eyebrows, head… the lot! That is my dare to you Rupert Grint. If you do that, I will do the same,’ he went on, talking to Hunger magazine for the I Dare You video section of their website

Emma Watson Models Custom-Made Green Gowns For 'The Edit'

At 23, Emma Watson is a grown Muggle woman—and The Edit’s got the pictures to prove it. Polished, poised and far, FAR from Hermione, the actress and eco-activist was recently tapped by Green Carpet Challenge creator, Livia Firth, to star in an editorial spread that supports ethical fashion AND looks super pretty. BTW, if you’re scratching your head about the phrase “ethical fashion,” it’s not as cray as it may seem. And it’s not all tie-dye and Tevas and giant threads of harsh hemp made into a basket-weave bodice. (Although, if something like that exists, I would very much like to see it.)

Ethical fashion focuses on producing “something responsibly that explores sustainability,” says Burberry’s Christopher Bailey, who was one of five British-based designers involved in the project, along with Christopher Kane, Victoria Beckham, Erdem and Roland Mouret. And while it's not exactly an abundant alternative yet, that's something that Firth and Watson are hoping to change. "I’ve always had this huge problem," Emma confessed. "I would love to wear garments that are ethically sourced, but there aren’t enough options for me to be able to do that realistically."

ICYMI, Watson’s been involved in green fashion for a while now, so she was an obvious choice to showcase the spread. In 2010, she designed a collection for Fairtrade brand People Tree. Then in 2011, she teamed up with Alberta Ferretti to create a sustainably-produced capsule collection called Pure Threads. What now, Emma? A shoe made entirely from recycled Diet Coke cans?! Makeup made from compost remains?! *shudders, takes back suggestion* "It just seemed like [the project] was something I had to do, something I'd been waiting for," she says. "Livia's created a lobbying body to put pressure on governments and corporations to encourage them to have [ethical responsibility] as their baseline. It's quite awesome." Well, and Emma Watson, YOU'RE awesome.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe takes break from acting after West End stint

A lot of people who hadn’t seen The Cripple of Inishmaan bought into the stories that the play was making its star Daniel Radcliffe ill.

They were unware that the Harry Potter actor liked to make a quick exit from the Noël Coward Theatre after performances and often didn’t bother to remove his make-up. In his final scenes in the play, it scarcely made him look a picture of health, as his character, getting over TB, was badly beaten up.

Radcliffe now says the play left him only “slightly exhausted”, and that was because he was combining it with making a second series of Young Doctor’s Notebook. He plans to return to the rigours of the boards after a short break.