The "Best of Both Worlds" tour--featuring Miley Cyrus [ tickets ], her television alter-ego Hannah Montana [ tickets ], and Disney Channel regulars The Jonas Brothers--could easily be categorized as a marketing scheme designed to manipulate fans and their parents for the sake of the almighty buck.

Before the concert at Portland's Rose Garden arena, videos played exclusively from Disney shows. The advertisements scrolling around the venue promoted upcoming events such as Playhouse Disney Live and Disney On Ice: Princess Wishes. There was even an ad for Disney theme parks just before the music started.

So, for the cynical, there was plenty to berate. But, for the thousands of fans at the sold-out show who are too young to care about things like musical integrity, this concert was nearly perfect.

As the opening act, The Jonas Brothers, were lowered onto the stage, the crowd went wild, screaming as if it were the second coming of The Beatles. Looking like a cross between a boy band and an early '80s new-wave act, the boys broke in to their anthem, "Kids Of The Future."

If you didn't know better, you'd think Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas were seasoned headliners. Those boys are either very good, or they were great students in their "Arena Rock 101" class. Let's not misunderstand: their sound is definitely pop, but lead singer Joe, 18, has a stage presence reminiscent of Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger--and maybe a tad of Green Day thrown in for flavor. He strutted the ramp like an accomplished entertainer and his mic-stand antics made it obvious he knew how to work a stage. On the technical side, the sound was a bit harsh and the vocal mix didn't seem to gel, but no one seemed to mind, or notice for that matter.

As anticipation began building for Hannah Montana [ tickets ], glow sticks began waving throughout the arena. In total rock-star fashion, 14-year-old Cyrus, as Hannah, was lowered to the stage performing the appropriately titled song "Rockstar."

The TV star turned pop-idol obviously knew how to command the stage as she performed a handful of Hannah Montana songs. She really got the crowd going when she began "Pumpin' Up the Party," one of her nearly dozen songs that hit Billboard's Hot 100 chart in 2006. Then, she brought the The Jonas Brothers back on stage to help bridge the Hannah/Miley transformation.

The tour was obviously designed to focus on Cyrus rather than the character she plays on TV. The words, "Meet Miley" scrolled across the backdrops as the pyrotechnics began to burst. As the young performer rose up from the stage, the promise of a new star began to shine. Cyrus began her set with "Start All Over."

Cyrus's songs are less poppy than those she sings as Hannah. And some of the images on the backdrops during her set conveyed a more rockin' feel.

One highlight toward the end of the show came when Cyrus left the stage while her background singers began singing, "Oh, Miley, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind." It was almost an inside joke for the parents who remember Toni Basil in a cheer outfit singing, "Oh Mickey, you're so fine ..." Oblivious to the reference, the younger set, however, loved it when Cyrus returned to the stage in a costume that evoked schoolgirl days, with glittering argyle patterns on her clothes, bicycle riders and skate boarders crisscrossing the stage while dancers donned letterman's jackets and cheer outfits. Even the very young children, who were obviously getting tired, sprang back to life as Cyrus sang a fan favorite, "G.N.O.--Girls Night Out."

Cyrus then told the crowd she was bringing out a friend, and, with a bit of movie magic, Miley and Hannah sang a duet version of "Best of Both Worlds."

Cyrus closed the number with confetti and streamers shooting into the audience, driving the kids who had never seen such a thing wild. For her encore, she changed into a simple outfit, brought her guitar to the front of the ramp and performed a song she wrote for her late-grandfather, "I Miss You." It was nice to see that Cyrus could actually play the guitar while singing the tender song.

With a bit of vocal conditioning to match her excellent stage presence, Cyrus has the potential to grow into a substantial artist. However, if you weren't wowed by the celebrity of it all, you might have thought that Cyrus should have opened the show, with Hannah supporting The Jonas Brothers as headliners. Maybe it's simply the boy/girl thing that made the audience scream for the Brothers. It's tough to say with certainty that they stole the show, but it is very near the truth.