Shrewd Miley knew outrage would work

Upstaging Lady Gaga and Katy Perry is no mean feat.

I ran into Robin Thicke at a New York club after watching him perform his smash hit Blurred Lines.

He was telling me he’d be doing it again at the MTV Video Music Awards in a couple of days.

And he revealed he’d be doing something “a bit different” with Miley Cyrus.

To be honest, I didn’t even know she was performing. Well, I and the rest of the world definitely know she was there now. And it was certainly different!

Her outrageous “twerking” routine with Robin has been on every entertainment show here every day and I know it’s been all over the papers back home.

Before the VMAs all the talk was about Lady Gaga, who was opening the show, and Katy Perry, who was closing it.

Then there was chat about Justin Timberlake, who was going to get a bunch of awards, and the One Direction boys.

But, by the end, Miley was all EVERYONE was talking about. And I’m sure that’s absolutely what her people set out to do.

She’s being looked after by Britney Spears’s manager and I know the talk would have been about how to get eyeballs on Miley.

My pal Brooke Shields, who played Miley’s mum on Hannah Montana, said she thought it was a bit desperate.

It’s the old thing about having a “nice girl” image and shaking that off.

There has been endless talk about whether she has gone too far.

Personally, I think she did. But, although I might not agree with it, I can see why it was done upstaging Lady Gaga and Katy Perry is no mean feat.

The only thing is whether there will be a backlash and, if so, how long it will last.

Away from all the Miley mayhem, I got a chance to chat to a bunch of Brits at the VMAs.

Despite the fact that he’s absolutely massive over here and has probably earned more than One Direction in the past year, Ed Sheeran is just the most down-to-earth, lovely guy.

He was being sped across the red carpet by his American publicist but he spotted me and insisted on coming over, which was really lovely.

His attitude is that he thought it’d all be over for him a couple of years back so everything that comes now is “gravy”.

His dad said you couldn’t say you’d made it over here unless you’d sold out Madison Square Garden. Well, he just has TWICE.

Ed’s always been associated with wearing a green hoodie but he was looking really smart in a black leather Gucci jacket.

I joked that he was upping the stakes a bit only for him to say that it was borrowed and he had to give it back the next day!

Yes, rich pop stars like nice free stuff, even if it’s only borrowed.

Emeli Sande was there too and it’s the first time I’ve met her. I think she appreciated my shout of “Aberdeen’s in the house”!

In fact, I think a lot of the stars appreciate a reminder of home.

The VMAs are massive these days. I’d reckon they’re probably second only to the Grammys now and it’s a cool event stars dream of attending.

But they like to feel it’s not all totally alien.

Rita Ora who’s loved up with Dumfries’s finest Calvin Harris was looking absolutely sensational when she arrived in a long, flowing pale blue number.

She gave me a big hug and told me I smelled nice. I told her I’d just been jogging.

She walked away, realised what I’d said and gave me what I’d describe as a classic Dick Emery “Ooooh, you are awful” look. Then she gave me a playful slap.

But it wasn’t the only time I was in a bit of peril.

When Ellie Goulding came over to hug me she almost punctured me.

She was wearing a dress that had spikes sticking out and it came close to doing me a bit of a mischief.

There are some dresses you just shouldn’t hug in!