Holy Hannah!

It was reported this week that one single ticket for the "Best of Both Worlds Tour" sold on the resell market in Charolotte NC for $2565.00. Given that the tickets were initially retailing for $27.00, that's one heck of a profit!

Oh, by the way, this is for the tour of Miley Cyrus, daughter of country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who plays Hannah Montana in the popular Disney Channel show. The tour follows up her double album release "Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus" which has already sold more than 1 million copies since its release in June. Her first album last year, also a soundtrack from the show, sold more than 2 million copies.

Now, I must admit it - I am a Hannah Montana fan. We watch the show in our house quite often. I think its a cute comedy and a nice enough family show. The humor has some wink-wink nods that make fun of Billy Ray, etc. that adults my age will get (Billy Ray plays "Robby Ray Stewart" on the show, father of "Miley Stewart" who has a second secret life as pop-star "Hannah Montana"). I find the supporting actors - Jason Earles, Emily Osment, Mitchel Musso, Moises Arias, and Frances Callier - to all be funny too. There is a lot of outrageous physical humor that reminds me the classic I Love Lucy. And in the end, there are often great lessons about friendship and family that I think today's generation can benefit from.

But, as noted above, the show is also about the pop-music. Each episode features a snippet or more of a song off one of the albums. Is the show pushing the product? Is the product pushing the show? Most definitely. Does Radio Disney really hype their own stars with constant airplay of the songs? Absolutely. Is it infectious pop music? I tend to think so.

I have the music CDs in my collection - the ones with songs from the show as well as Miley's own release. The show songs are very familiar and Miley's original music shows a lot of varying musical styles to it. I will listen to the songs when I'm in a carefree sort of mood - usually in my car on the way home from work or something. Does it embarrass my son? Sometimes. Other times, I think he likes having the excuse of "my Dad is listening to it" so he can too. He doesn't have to admit he likes the music that way.

Still, as much of a fan that I am, I still think anyone paying thousands of dollars for a scalped concert ticket has to be a little crazy. I mean, I love my kid too, but when the only way you can get them to a concert they are begging about is to max out the credit limit on a card (or two) then I think it is time to sit down and have a serious family discussion about the value of money and economic realities.