It was the brunette-tressed Cyrus who smiled hello, then proceeded to talk a mile a minute about the celebrity double life she leads – confusing only to adults without a young fan to explain it all. (Truth be told, Cyrus's real name is Destiny Hope. Miley is a nickname – shortened from Smiley – that's she has been called since childhood.)

She's a little young to be grasping the metaphysics of her fame, but not to recognize that she's one of Disney's hottest tickets at the moment. Hannah Montana is the highest-rated cable-TV series in the United States (it launched 18 months ago), and on network TV, for the tween audience, its numbers are second only to American Idol. In Canada, Family channel will only say it is one of its top shows, ranking consistently in the top three. There's a Hannah Montana feature film in the works, but it's the music sales that shock everyone: The Hannah Montana soundtrack, recorded when Cyrus was 13, went double-platinum in the U.S. last year and went gold in Canada. The next album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, has gone platinum in the U.S. and Canada. It's a two CD-set: One has songs she sings on the show as Hannah, the other has music written and sung by Cyrus as herself.

It's 24 hours before her Toronto concert, the only Canadian stop on her North American tour. The tour is sold out everywhere, with scalpers notoriously scooping the majority of tickets. In some U.S. cities, there are reports of parents paying up to $2,000 for tickets, or doing incredibly silly things to win contests – grown men racing in high heels or hanging onto a Hannah Montana statue in the middle of town for six days. (The Toronto concert – held during a raging snowstorm – didn't elicit outrageous prices. A pair of cheap seats could be had for $100, good ones for double that.) In Pittsburgh, one mother is suing Cyrus's fan club, as its membership fee promoted front-of-the-line ticket availability but she came up empty trying to secure tickets earlier this year.

But Cyrus isn't allowed to talk about that. Asked what she thought about scalpers scooping tickets before fans, her manager cut her off: "We want to skip that question." Under protest, however, he acquiesced and allowed Cyrus to comment on the outstanding demand for her tour tickets.

"It's certainly overwhelming," she said, "but having so many people after the tickets and so many people wanting to come, it shows how many people really support you and that's good to hear."

(Later, her manager explained his reaction: "It would be like me asking you about nuclear physics. She's only 15.") Yet she looks a decade older than her 15 years. Her makeup had been professionally applied and she was elegantly styled in a purple cowl-necked tunic over black leggings tucked into suede high-heeled boots. She doesn't look this put together on TV.

Miley's music is also more mature than Hannah's. She's inspired by "old rock 'n' roll," especially the stage antics of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, and she watched a few of their performance videos for inspiration before beginning her current Best of Both Worlds tour. "He [Mick] did this really cool slide [in Sympathy for the Devil], and I tried to do it, but got caught underneath the Plexiglas [onstage]," she said, laughing. "I cut my knee open."

The teenager reappears when, during a break in the interview, she ravenously reaches for the half-eaten doughnut on the coffee table. There are also two nearly empty Timbit boxes nearby. Cyrus loves Tim Hortons, a taste she acquired while living in Toronto seven years ago with her family while her musician/actor father Billy Ray Cyrus was filming the TV drama Doc.

The 46-year-old Cyrus may be a multiplatinum singer/songwriter (as infamous for his mullet as for the 1992 single Achy Breaky Heart), but it's fair to say Miley now has a higher profile than he does. (He also appears on Hannah Montana, playing Stewart's dad. When the series began, he was the bigger star.)

The TV show Hannah Montana is now being marketed as "a lifestyle brand," Disney has said. Not only are toy stores full of merchandise (CDs, DVDs, blankets, pillows, lamps, karaoke machines, 12-inch dolls), but Disney will be working the character into its theme parks.

Cyrus is mindful not let the fame go to her head, knowing full well the lore about other young stars who went off the rails once they graduated from the tween market. It has been reported that her father hands her stories of the out-of-control exploits of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears as a cautionary tale, but she likes setting an example: "I want to be that good role model and that sweet girl and staying true to that is what will help me." (Online reports that the Cyrus family asked Spears over for Thanksgiving dinner as a goodwill gesture were apparently exaggerated.)

Cyrus says her family is good at keeping her grounded. Plus, she has no reason to act out: "There's not much to rebel against. Everything that I've dreamed of has happened. What's gone wrong? I just try to be as thankful as I can."

At the concert, Disney's renowned code of conduct was noticeable: There was very little skin on display, just lots of sequins (one silvery pink tunic throbbed like a strobe light). Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana for the first 35 minutes, singing songs made famous by the TV show. Then opening act the Jonas Brothers returned to play again as Cyrus re-entered the stage under sky-high neon signs screaming "Meet Miley" for the second, more mature half of the show. One number, the salsa-influenced Let's Dance, went over the head of most girls in the audience, not to mention some of the lyrics in Girls' Night Out ("Hey boy, now don't you wish you could've been a good boy"). Yet, even dressed as herself, Cyrus's sexy outfits were toned down by an ever-present sparkling white tank, which took the bust out of her fuchsia bustier.

Before the concert, Cyrus said she was eager for fans to embrace her as much as they do Hannah, but isn't ready to ditch her alter ego's blond wig: " Hannah Montana is a TV show, so it only goes on for so long," she admitted, "but I'm definitely not going to throw it in the dirt because that's the reason why I'm here. So I definitely want to keep doing the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus thing."

If this concert tour is to introduce TV fans to the real Miley Cyrus – what's the verdict? By the end of the 70-minute Toronto show, 10-year-old Alexi Halket said, "I still like Hannah better." Heading back to Oshawa on the train, 12-year-old Brooke Gauchier smiled blissfully when asked about the concert. "I like both of them," she grinned, which is just as well. Her parents spent $500 buying tickets on eBay from someone in Ohio – not counting $100 or so on T-shirts, programs and glow sticks.

After the concert came a review Disney is also counting on: One incredulous father shouted into his cellphone, "It was great, seriously. Better than Bon Jovi."

Mo' Montana

If you couldn't get tickets to the concert, you can always catch the movie:

Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert, a 3-D film shot during the 71-city tour will air in select theatres in the first week of February. Tickets are now on sale.

Also coming Jan. 29 is Hannah Montana: One in a Million, a DVD of four popular episodes from the second season, including two music videos as bonus features.