“Maybe. Stop it! It’s his job to look hot, like it’s my job to be funny. Someone had a sign that said, ‘I’ll fight you for Nick Jonas.’ I think she wanted to hit me.”

Guess what!? Walt Disney Records is releasing the Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds CD and DVD in March 2008! You can get it at Wal-Mart stores.

The CD and DVD features 14 songs from her concert tour with the Jonas Brothers.

I’m definitely getting a copy of this!

For much of last year, the hottest act on the pop music circuit wasn’t U2 or Bruce but Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old actress-singer who plays Hannah Montana on the eponymous Disney Channel series. Tickets to her 55-city “Best of Both Worlds” tour sold out as fast as they were printed. Parents of teens and tweens heard everything from prayers to tantrums when they tried to score seats. Enough of them succeeded to push the tour gross north of $36 million.

While her ongoing Hannah Montana tour and subsequent 3-D movie remain the hottest tickets in the country, Miley Cyrus’s new album didn’t quite have enough juice to claim the top position at this week’s Billboard charts.

The new Hannah Montana 2: Nonstop Dance Party sold 40,000 copies to open at number seven for the week. The new disc features remixes of the original HM2 soundtrack, which currently resides at number ten on the charts.

Alicia Keys returns to the top of the Billboard 200 with As I Am, making this her fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1. The album sold an estimated 61,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The 2008 Grammy Nominees collection also made a strong showing, selling 50,000 to open at number five. The album boasts tracks from this year’s biggest awards nominees, including Feist, Amy Winehouse, Maroon 5, Kanye West and Herbie Hancock.

Overall sales this week are up 4 percent from last week, but are nevertheless down 18.9 percent from the same week of 2007.

I knew something was up when two of my dear friends, Debbie and Kristi, both felt an urgent need to inform me about this teenage pop-culture icon. Not to give away anyone’s age, but Deb, Kristi and I haven’t been adolescents for … well, a long time.

That said, my two friends — neither of whom has children — find the Disney show, its star and its music appealing. Both kept telling me about the fun music with the positive lyrics and the two characters that Miley Cyrus portrays.

And now, in 3-D no less, here’s what I’ve been hearing about from my friends and reading about practically everywhere.

I couldn’t help but compare “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” to the new “U23D” concert film at the IMAX Theatre in Davenport. Both feature “you are there” screaming fans waving their hands in front of you in 3-D, and both provide better vantage points than actually being at a concert.

If you aren’t friends with Deb and Kristi, and you don’t have a daughter or granddaughter who’s raving about Miley, here’s the deal: Miley Cyrus, the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, stars in the Disney show as both Miley Stewart and alter ego Hannah Montana, a rock star.

The concert you’ll see in the movie showcases first Hannah, then Miley. When it doesn’t focus on the actual performance, which includes not only Miley herself but also the talented Jonas Brothers and a bevy of backup musicians and dancers, you’ll see a documentary about Miley’s fans. We see dads running in heels in order to win their daughters tickets to a concert, and we see young fans demonstrating how they plan to scream once they’re in the seats at a performance.

My favorite parts of the film were the documentary moments because it tickled me to see how enthusiastic girls are about their beloved teenage idol. But I also liked the bouncy pop tunes that carry positive, encouraging messages for girls. My favorite, not surprisingly, is “If We Were a Movie,” with lyrics that go: “You’d be the right guy and I’d be the best friend that you’d fall in love with …” Other tunes give support and encouragement for when things go wrong.

It’s upbeat, fun and downright cute. And even older — much older girls — will have a great time.

“Best of Both  Worlds Concert”

Last year, Cyrus took home the award for favorite television actress.

Considering that it runs a scant 74 minutes _ which includes numerous backstage scenes _ the film clearly is not presenting the entirety of the live show. But it should offer enough to please most audiences, and director Bruce Hendricks has filmed the fast-paced musical action in sufficiently breathless fashion. As with the recent U2 concert film, the 3-D aspect _ you’ll duck when the musicians throw guitar picks and drumsticks at the camera _ adds greatly to the experience.

The concert itself, conceived and produced by director-choreographer Kenny Ortega (the “High School Musical” telefilms), is a typically flashy affair featuring plenty of lavish visual, film and lighting effects and nonstop movement. Some of the film’s more amusing background scenes show the young star’s game attempts to handle such choreographic duties as manipulating her microphone stand with her foot and letting herself be hoisted in the air by several male backup dancers.

Besides the deafening concert footage featuring Cyrus performing as herself and her blond-wigged alter ego, the film also features a musical appearance by the Jonas Brothers, another youthful act catering to the same demographic. (It’s more than a little disconcerting when one of them introduces a number by saying, “This is for all the ladies in the house.”)

Cyrus’ proud pop, singer-actor Billy Ray Cyrus, makes a few appearances as well, at one point reassuring his daughter about the quality of her band: “And that’s coming from a guy who’s played every Indian casino between the Atlantic and the Pacific,” he says.

Montages of various crew members all wearing Hannah Montana wigs and a seemingly endless procession of screaming little girls add to the fun.

IS matinee idol the next frontier for Miley Cyrus? The tween queen’s new 3-D concert film, “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” shot during her 69-city winter tour, screens nationally for one week beginning Friday, and tickets are selling fast.

And that’s on top of already being a TV idol, thanks to her Disney Channel sitcom, “Hannah Montana,” which is among the top-rated kids’ shows of all time, and a pop music idol with two hit albums. The latest, “Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus,” debuted at No. 1 in June and has sold 2.5 million copies.

The film is a high-energy romp that deftly re-creates the concert experience, with 3-D effects that make the show’s confetti, pyrotechnics and dance-move pop.

Behind-the-scenes footage shows Cyrus rehearsing and teaching her real-life dad and “Hannah Montana” costar, Billy Ray Cyrus, a song on guitar.

Also captured are the screams that greet her wherever she goes.

According to the 15-year-old singer-actress, there’s an abundance of unused footage, which will surely make for a special-edition DVD.

“It was kind of like a 3-D reality show,” she said last week. “It was wild, having them follow you around with their cameras, and, you know, me and someone would get in an argument or something bad would happen, and they would run up and be like, ‘Can I mike you?’ And it’s like, ‘Aw, come on.’ ”

What the film doesn’t show is the one sector where the Montana momentum is waning — with Cyrus herself. “Sometimes it’s hard,” she says. “In the middle of the show, you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I can do another song, because my body is just tired, and this song, I mean, come on, I’ve done it like a thousand times.’ ”

Phase two of her cinematic strategy is the inevitable Hannah Montana feature movie, which will begin production in late spring or early summer.

She hasn’t read the script, but she knows that the story draws on her experience of being homesick while maintaining the busy schedule of a successful entertainer.

She hopes to treat that homesickness by filming at least part of the movie in Nashville, not far from where she grew up before relocating to Los Angeles for her career.

FOR Miley Cyrus, going home means the chance to indulge at one of the restaurants she misses most.

“Cracker Barrel. It’s my favorite. I’m like scared to go back to Nashville, though, I’m going to come back and no one’s going to know who I am, I’m going to have eaten so much of that stuff.”

When it comes to her other favorites, Cyrus can’t easily choose between music and acting. She is eager to return to the recording studio, and she has already begun writing material for her new album.

“Me and my sister wrote some songs,” she says, referring to 20-year-old Brandi.

“We wrote some really, like kind of listen-to-it-and-cry songs, and then, at the end, smile songs, and some jump-on-your-bed-and-scream songs.”

While Miley Cyrus seems unstoppable now, it’s hard not to wonder what her future will hold, given the messy public meltdowns suffered by former teen stars Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.

Cyrus’ two recent controversies have been relatively mild. Fans grumbled about the revelation that she used a body double to keep the show rolling while she changed costumes during the tour, which wraps up tonight in Miami.

A hubbub also arose when somewhat racy photos surfaced, which showed Miley Cyrus and a female friend at a sleepover. Cyrus has said the photos were misinterpreted and is nonplused about the body-double controversy.

“There was no reason to be freaked out at all. [Tour producer] Kenny Ortega is a genius, and he wouldn’t put something in the show that wasn’t brilliant.”

And when it comes to maintaining longevity, she may have just the right role model — another singer who acts and who has been Cyrus’ favorite guest on her TV show.

“Dolly Parton. . . . She’s an amazing businesswoman, and actress, and musician, and singer. . . . She’s an amazing person.”