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SOUTH JORDAN -- A movie theater full of Hannah Montana fans got the surprise of a lifetime this Friday afternoon. It was opening day of the highly-anticipated "Hannah Montana: The Movie," and star Miley Cyrus made a surprise visit to one Utah showing.
Call it "Miley Mania." After a staged "technical glitch," at the 3:30 p.m. showing of "Hannah Montana: The Movie" at The District in South Jordan, the movie suddenly stopped and out strolled the pop princess, with her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, at her side. Once the shock set in, the screams started.
"We're so excited to see you guys," Miley told the crowd. "This is part of Disney's opening weekend surprise, so thank you so much! We're having so much fun, so thank you so much!"
In anticipation of the movie's premiere, Disney had promised Miley would make surprise visits to several showings across the country; Utah was the second stop on the schedule.
Miley told us there was a specific reason she and her dad selected Salt Lake City. "I think because it's somewhere no one expected. We originally were in Knoxville, which is in Tennessee, so that was cool because that was where the movie was shot, but this was somewhere no one would expect," she said.
"It's a blast to be here," Billy Ray told us. "We started the film almost a year and half ago, so to have this day finally here and see the passion and enthusiasm from the fans, it's just amazing."
The daddy-daughter duo mingled with the crowd, even posed for a few pictures, leaving star-struck fans with some Miley memorabilia and a piece of Hannah history.
Two girls, Taylor and Alexis, were a bit luckier than most. Before the appearance, Miley's manager pulled them aside. They got to take pictures with Miley and her dad, then spent 10 minutes with them. "She's way nice and way pretty," they told us.
You can imagine, word spread pretty quickly that Miley was in town. By the time she left the theater, a crowd of about 500 people had gathered at the back door to send her off.
"Hannah Montana: The Movie" is a spin-off of the popular Disney television show. The series portrays a normal girl who leads a double life as a famous pop singer.
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Story compiled with contributions from Brooke Walker and Andrew Adams.
