Megastar Miley adding sizzle to Stadium of Fire

Go ahead, try to overstate Hannah Montana's popularity.

Here, let's give it a go.

Miley Cyrus and her Hannah Montana alter-ego are a pop-culture meteor.

Duh. Come on, try harder.

This girl is burning as brightly as the Beatles or Elvis, though they had longer runs and older fans.

OK. Getting there.

She might just be bigger than Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Tom Brady — combined. At the height of their powers. And you know Woods and Jordan are guys who made $100 million a year, right?

Now you're talking.

Miley Cyrus could be that kind of megastar, if the 15-year-old with the smoky Southern voice can maximize what could be a short window of opportunity and avoid the increasingly familiar crash-and-burn slides painfully produced by Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.

And she's coming to little ol' Provo, Utah, on the Fourth of July.

In March, she sold 72,000 tickets in less than a half-hour to a concert in a Houston football stadium. And last week she sold 58,500 tickets in even less time to the Stadium of Fire, the crown jewel of America's Freedom Festival at Provo.

For Stadium of Fire executive producer Brad Pelo, Miley mania is a godsend. Last year the event wasn't the usual sellout, chiefly because the Fourth of July fell on a dreaded Wednesday.

No such problem this year, and the date wouldn't have mattered. Only Tiger can rival Hannah Montana right now.

Pelo and the folks at the Stadium of Fire have pursued her for 18 months. They invited her to headline last year's show and courted her people for the past eight months.

Years of networking with agents and managers of other Disney talents helped, but Cyrus couldn't commit to Provo this year until she learned shooting on her movie would halt for a Fourth of July vacation.

Pelo said the Stadium of Fire had other talent lined up if the answer to prayers that is Cyrus hadn't materialized. Of course, Pelo said, "I think it's safe to say that Miley is the hottest ticket in town, so I can't imagine anyone selling out more quickly than she did."

Some looked at the Stadium of Fire prices and thought they were steep, but Pelo said the event has had a surplus only twice in recent years. When that happens, the money goes to support the free events staged by the Freedom Festival. Pelo is a volunteer, one of about 300 who are the heart of the event along with sponsors who pay much of the freight.