Steamy new Miley Cyrus video sets viewing record

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Miley Cyrus remained firmly in the U.S. show business spotlight Tuesday after her steamy new video set a viewing record on the Vevo.com website.

“Wrecking Ball,” featuring the erstwhile Disney teen idol swinging topless on a wrecking ball, drew 19.3 million views in its first 24 hours online, said Vevo via Twitter.

She handily broke the record previously held by the British boy band One Direction.

Cyrus, 20, with an album due out in October, provoked a national stir last month at the MTV Music Video Awards as she performed a raunchy duet with pop singer Robin Thicke.

“Unacceptable,” thundered the conservative Parents Television Council, whose board of advisors includes her father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

Thicke himself featured nude women ― but kept his own clothes on ― in the sexually charged video for his summer hit “Blurred Lines.”