DAILY DIRT: Miley Cyrus — The worst of the worst

On the day we make fun of Miley Cyrus, we also pay homage to the late, great Betty White … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 496 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s relatively easy to pick any sort of top list when you’re dealing the “best of” whatever category, but what about going the opposite direction?

Selecting the “worst of” is an entirely different game, but that’s our task today, and to be honest, singling out the worst is a lot more fun.

Here are the Daily Dirt picks for the worst actresses/female entertainers over the past 25 years or so. Our medal “winners” are:

Gold medal: Miley Cyrus. Maybe I’m no more than a solitary ship on the sea of public opinion in this regard, but for the life of me I cannot understand the continued publicity generated by the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus. A serious question here — if Miley had never taken her clothes off (make that repeatedly taken her clothes off), would she have been long forgotten? Neither her singing or acting ability is better than marginal. It’s difficult to even remember her as Hannah Montana. 

Silver medal: Jennifer Lopez. Who we have here is simply an older version of Miley Cyrus. At least J-Lo keeps (most of) her clothes on most of the time.

Bronze medal: Madonna. At one time — like the 1980s — Madonna was actually a fine entertainer and, yes, she could sing. She could never act, but she could at least stand in front of a microphone and sound pretty good. But as the years piled up and her voice was no longer wanted on mainstream radio, what did she do? Yep, she started disrobing on a more frequent basis. Someone needs to tell her that any self-respecting 64-year-old keeps her clothes on. Madonna has made a career of re-inventing herself every five years or so, but what she has not grasped is that we really don’t care anymore.

2. This week’s happy birthday wishes are headed toward:

• Shock jock Howard Stern will be 69 on Thursday, and, no, he will never grow up.
• Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, whose most famous role was “Elaine” on the classic “Seinfeld” series, will be 62 on Friday. 
• Former heavyweight boxing champ Joe Frazier would have been 79 on Thursday. Frazier, who was a champion when boxing was actually relevant, died in 2011.
• Many viewers do not realize longtime “NCIS: Los Angeles” star LL Cool J, who turns 55 on Saturday, initially rose to fame as a rapper.
• The legendary actress, Betty White, who died Dec. 31, 2021, would have been 101 on Tuesday. Her “Sue Ann” character on the old “Mary Tyler Moore” show is the stuff of legends. There will never be another Betty White.

3. Best cast addition to a major TV show this season?

Hands down, it’s Dawn Olivieri of “Yellowstone,” who portrays the scheming Sarah Atwood. She is a lawyer who works for Market Equities and is determined to bring down the Dutton family after John Dutton (Kevin Costner) is elected governor of Montana. She’s also the lover of the state attorney general and John’s adopted son, Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley).

When the series resumes at some point this summer, I can only imagine the showdown that’s coming between Atwood and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly). Despite Atwood’s obvious pluses, my money is on Beth if it comes down to a survival of the fittest/nastiest.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — If you haven’t guessed, Beth Dutton is my most favorite TV character in a long, long time.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. I’m guessing Yellowstone will be mentioned with the epic volume 500 of “Daily Dirt” hits this weekend.