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Miley Cyrus has an agenda for ‘Idol’ appearance

“This appearance is about showing Miley the young adult, not Miley the tween star,” said one person connected to the Cyrus camp.
/ Source: msnbc.com

Miley Cyrus is going to be the season’s first guest mentor this week on “American Idol,” but don’t tune in if you’re hoping for references to anything having to do with her Disney character, Hannah Montana.

“This appearance is about showing Miley the young adult, not Miley the tween star,” said one person connected to the Cyrus camp. “She’s in a tough situation though, because it’s going to be hard for a lot of ‘Idol’ fans to not draw that comparison. A lot of kids who watch ‘Idol’ also loved ‘Hannah Montana.’ ”

Shaking the Disney image will be all the more challenging, considering that she’ll be joined by her fellow Disney stars Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato for Wednesday’s results show.

Cyrus’ new movie, the Nicholas Sparks adaptation “The Last Song” (wherein Cyrus does not sing), hits theaters March 31.

Affleck launches project in the Congo

Celebrity Sightings

Slideshow  26 photos

Celebrity Sightings

Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. on the "Let's Be Cops," red carpet, Selena Gomez is immortalized in wax and more.

Actor Ben Affleck is kicking off a new project aimed at helping humanitarian causes in the Congo. The Eastern Congo Initiative will function as an advocacy group and a grant-making organization that will support local, community-based organizations in eastern Congo. Those organizations include groups that offer support for rape and sexual violence victims, the reintegration of child soldiers into the community and community-level peace programs.

“The situation in eastern Congo has been neglected for far too long — it is one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in the world,” said Affleck, who returned Monday from a five-day trip to the region. “Right now, the attention paid to this crisis doesn’t match the needs of those affected by it. We will raise that attention level, and work with the extraordinary Congolese people who are making a positive difference in their own communities.”

O Magazine celebrates 10 yearsOprah Winfrey is going to celebrate a decade of O magazine in New York over Mother’s Day weekend. On May 8, Winfrey will be on hand at the Javits Center, where some of her go-to experts (Martha Beck, Nate Berkus, Peter Walsh and Dr. Mehmet Oz) will be hosting “Lifeshops.”

That same evening, Winfrey will host a one-woman show at Radio City, and on Sunday, there’s a charity walk. The top 10 fundraisers will get to walk alongside Winfrey. Go to www.oprah.com/oturns10 for more details and tickets.

Courtney Hazlett delivers the Scoop Monday through Friday on msnbc.com. Follow Scoop on Twitter @courtneyatmsnbc.