Miley Cyrus Scores, Britney and Bieber Flop

It's been a busy week for young singers trying to promote their musical careers via TV, movies and videos. In one case the promotion has been largely successful, but in two others the results of the marketing efforts have been disappointing.

Last Sunday, "I Am Britney Jean" aired on E!, and very few people watched. The two-hour documentary special was meant to drum up interest in Britney Spears' upcoming long-term performance engagement in Las Vegas, but its drumming went mostly unheard; the broadcast drew just over 700,000 viewers, which, as Zap2It points out, is about a quarter million fewer viewers than watched "Squidbillies" on Adult Swim at 4:30 am on the previous Friday.

Surely, though, a younger, hotter music star like Justin Bieber is able to generate more excitement? Maybe not. The singer's "Believe" concert documentary opened on Christmas Day and took in about $1,200 per theater on its first day. At $8 per ticket, that means about 150 people showed up at each theater—which translates to a lot of empty seats.

Then there's Miley Cyrus. The ubiquitous and controversial star released a video for her new single, "Adore You," on the day after Christmas. In the video, the infamously provocative Cyrus writhes in her underwear and tries hard to be edgily sexy. It seems to have worked; as of the afternoon of Dec. 27, the video had raked in 10.5 million views on YouTube, making Cyrus the clear winner of the week's popularity contest.