NEW YORK -- Miley Cyrus' memorable moment at the MTV Video Music Awards may not have been good for her, but it was great for MTV and social media.
An estimated 10.1 million people watched the annual program Sunday night, up 66 per cent over last year for a show that is fueled by the buzz from talked-about moments, the Nielsen company said.
And few were talked about more than the former child star, who twerked, gyrated, stripped and swayed during her moment in the spotlight. Twitter said a new record for tweets per minute -- some 306,000 -- was set during Cyrus' medley of her own "We Can't Stop" and a duet with Robin Thicke on "Blurred Lines." It broke a record set by Beyonce during her Super Bowl halftime performance.
Cyrus eclipsed Lady Gaga's opening performance of her new single, Katy Perry's closing rendition of her latest hit and Kanye West's artsy set. The 20-year-old even grabbed more attention than Justin Timberlake's reunion with his 'N Sync band mates.
In her eye-popping performance, Cyrus stripped down to a nude bikini, grinded on Thicke and made suggestive moves with a foam hand. The wild child also slapped a girl's butt onstage.
With all the suggestive moves, MTV made one edit: censoring the lyric "Molly" in Cyrus' "We Can't Stop." That's considered a slang reference to the drug Ecstasy.
Within hours, the Buzzfeed site was posting the "15 Weirdest and Craziest Moments" from Cyrus' performance, which was aired live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
"Amazing. I thought it was awesome," fellow former child star Selena Gomez said backstage of Cyrus' performance. "I love Robin Thicke, too, so I like that they collab'd."
The watchdog group Parents Television Council, which lists Cyrus' dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, on its advisory board, criticized MTV for serving up sex to young viewers.
"How is this image of former child star Miley Cyrus appropriate for 14-year-olds?" said Dan Isett, public policy director for the PTC.
Artist to watch winner Austin Mahone also seemed to enjoy the performance: "I thought it was pretty creative. I thought it was pretty cool."
Brooke Shields, who played Cyrus' mom in a few episodes of "Hannah Montana" on the Disney Channel, took note of that on the "Today" show Monday: "I was Hannah Montana's mom! Where did I go wrong?"
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," co-host Mika Brzezinski said that the performance was "disgusting and embarrassing," and that people involved should be ashamed.
Though they were attention grabbers and nominated for four moonmen each, Thicke and Cyrus walked away empty-handed Sunday night.
Timberlake earned three awards, including video of the year and best male video for "Mirrors." Days ahead of the VMAs, his rumoured reunion with 'N Sync dominated headlines, and he and his former band mates delivered at the awards show.
As Timberlake performed a medley of his solo hits, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick emerged from the bottom of the stage in suits to sing some lines from their hits "Girlfriend" and "Bye, Bye, Bye." Gomez, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and possibly the entire venue were giddy as the members of the boy band danced like they did a decade ago. Even rappers Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J admitted on the red carpet they were excited to see 'N Sync hit the stage.
"Half of the moonmen I've ever won, I won with those four guys right there," Timberlake said of his band mates when he accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award. "So above all else, I'm going to share this -- we can keep it my house -- but I'm going to share this award with them."
Cyrus wasn't the only pop singer with edge at the VMAs. Swift also turned heads. The 23-year-old, who won best female video, appeared to utter an expletive to Gomez when Swift's rumoured ex, One Direction member Harry Styles, was onstage. The boy band also earned boos when it won best song of the summer for "Best Song Ever," beating out Gomez, Thicke, Cyrus, Daft Punk and Calvin Harris.
Rapper A$AP Rocky also provided an awkward moment Sunday when standing next to NBA player Jason Collins, who were both announcing Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' performance. Collins, who is the first active player in the NBA to say he was gay, spoke about coming out as A$AP Rocky looked uncomfortable.
"The next artist is a good friend of mine and he stands up for everything he believes in as far as everybody being equal, colour, homosexuality," the rapper said as he pointed to Collins in another awkward moment.
But that was followed with a touching performance of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' same-sex anthem "Same Love." It featured the song's original vocalist, Mary Lambert, as well as Jennifer Hudson. The video won best video with a social message, while their hit "Can't Hold Us" won best hip-hop video and best cinematography.
"I never dreamt I would be on a stage accepting an award, any of the awards, in particular for that song," Macklemore said of "Same Love" backstage. "It's much bigger than the music. It's equality, so that was the most special for me tonight, but all of them were incredible."
Bruno Mars, who won best male video and choreography for "Treasure," twirled with his two moonmen backstage, while Gomez admitted she thought Thicke's "Blurred Lines" should have won best pop video instead of her seductive "Come & Get It."
Lady Gaga kicked off the awards show in a less dramatic fashion compared with her past performances. She did change her clothes -- and hair -- various times onstage while dancing and singing her new hit, "Applause." She finished in a thong, revealing her toned body.
Katy Perry closed the VMAs under the Brooklyn bridge in a boxing ring, singing her smash hit "Roar."
