Apple cider vinegar Is Pilates for you? 'Ambient gaslighting' 'Main character energy'
MUSIC
Hillary Clinton

Miley Cyrus on 'SNL': Twerktastic, or not?

Brian Mansfield
Special for USA TODAY
  • Cyrus portrayed Hillary Clinton and Michele Bachmann in sketches
  • She performed %27Wrecking Ball%27 and an acoustic version of %27We Can%27t Stop%27
  • Sorry%2C no twerking
Screen grab of opening skit from the Oct. 5, 2013, episode of NBC's 'Saturday Night Live,' featuring guest host and musical performer Miley Cyrus. Vanessa Bayer, left, played the "old" Miley.

If you expected twerking from Miley Cyrus during her Saturday Night Live gig, you were sorely disappointed.

"Now that white people are doing it, it seems kind of lame," Cyrus said during a monologue that addressed her performance on the MTV Video Music Awards and the fate of Hannah Montana ("She was murdered").

Other than an opening skit about her VMAs performance causing the end of America, Cyrus, who was both the show's host and musical guest, mostly steered clear of controversy, like last week's online exchange with Sinead O'Connor. She did, however, play a slutty Michele Bachmann in a We Can't Stop parody video about the government shutdown. Other sketches featured her as Hillary Clinton in an MTV miniseries, a hip-hop-obsessed high-school student, a sullen morning-show anchor and Scarlett Johansson doing a screen test for Fifty Shades of Grey.

Cyrus kept the commentary and controversy out of her two musical performances. She dressed much more conservatively for her powerhouse performance of Wrecking Ball than she did in her music video, wearing a sheer sports jersey that revealed a black two-piece when backlit. She switched into a white outfit — though still with see-through elements — for a poignant version of We Can't Stop, accompanied by three acoustic guitars.

Featured Weekly Ad