OMG! It's Miley Cyrus!

Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus visits with Andrea Hernandez at Children's Hospital. (Geoff Chesman - Imagelink Photography)
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By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Tom Cruise, Queen Elizabeth, Angelina Jolie -- they turned some heads when they came through D.C. But none sparked a frenzy like Miley Cyrus.

The Disney Channel star, who performed in her "Hannah Montana" persona at Verizon Center last night (see review), drew a mob to Morton's when word got out she was dining at the Georgetown eatery Sunday.

"I've never seen anything like it in D.C.," said a witness who's been on the VIP side of more than a few velvet ropes.

The half-dozen photographers who staked out the front door were joined by a crowd of young girls and their parents, some barging in to wait by the bar. All for a starlet few Americans over the age of 14 would recognize: "What's going on here?" asked a manager, seeing an explosion of flashes as he seated a young woman in a red dress.

"Sorry," said the girl, "it's me." Miley shared shrimp, steak and chocolate cake with two girls her age. Her bodyguard cleared an exit path to the SUV -- no autographs, a trail of paparazzi in pursuit.

Her visits earlier to Georgetown University Medical Center and Children's Hospital -- via Tracy's Kids, a nonprofit that promotes art therapy for sick kids -- were hush-hush, so as not to set off a stampede. The Georgetown stop still drew 100 parents and kids, albeit more orderly, lining up for photos and autographs, reports our colleague Jonathan Weisman. There was even a bout of shyness when Miley (snug black pants, a white tee with gold stars) asked if the kids had any questions.

Silence. Then one very young hand went up: "How old are you?"

"I'm 15," Miley said.

UPDATE

Busy weekend for Britney Spears: After that messy custody meltdown Thursday night, she was visited by Dr. Phil during her involuntary stint at L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai, checked out of the hospital Saturday and fled to Palm Desert on Sunday for mimosas with paparazzi plaything Adnan Ghalib. The troubled pop princess dodged a bullet when Dr. Phil postponed a planned show about Spears, calling the situation "too intense" at this time.

LOVE, ETC.

Engaged: Policy wonk-turned- reality-TV star Sara Albert, 24, to longtime boyfriend John Hallmark, 26, in a pre-Christmas proposal on the scenic Capitol Hill rooftop above Charlie Palmer Steak. She's the willowy blonde who caught the eye of casting agents at Pentagon City and zoomed to the final rounds of "America's Next Top Model" -- but gave up an L.A. modeling career to return to her D.C. sweetie and a paralegal job; now applying to law school. He's a staffer for Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), studying at Georgetown Law. The couple met as Hoya varsity athletes (she, volleyball; he, football); planning a summer wedding.

Expecting: Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, according to a statement yesterday from the actress's rep that ended the most frenzied tabloid baby-bump watch since J-Lo. The confirmation came hours after reports Kidman had dropped out of her next movie role, in "The Reader." No word on when the 40-year-old Oscar winner is due. It will be her first child with her country-singer husband, also 40, though she and ex Tom Cruise adopted two kids, now 12 and 15.

HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?

John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter playing hooky at the National Gallery of Art Friday. The Supremes arrived after lunch and spent a couple hours in the crowd at the J.M.W. Turner exhibit, which closed Sunday. Since they were in the neighborhood, Alito and Breyer swung by for a peek at the Edward Hopper paintings.

QUOTE

"Why not? Touch my muscles."

-- Hugo Chávez telling Naomi Campbell why he could pose shirtless, like Russia's Vladimir Putin. Fashion's bad girl interviewed Venezuela's president for the February issue of GQ's British edition. Uh . . . Naomi Campbell? "Even socialist dictators have an interest in gorgeous supermodels," explained Editor Dylan Jones.



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