A Whole New Miley? Cyrus Was Totally Different At VMAs

For the second year in a row, Miley Cyrus really stood out at the MTV Video Music Awards. But this year, the singer decided to spend her time in the spotlight a little differently when she won the coveted Video of the Year moonman.

JIMMY FALLON: "Miley Cyrus! 'Wrecking Ball!'"
JESSE: "Thank you all. My name is Jesse. And I'm accepting this award on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth in the United States."

Miley then ...

And now:

That was the beginning of a touching speech that brought an emotional Cyrus to tears as she watched from the side of the stage.

JESSE: "I've been an extra in your movies, I've been an extra in your life. Though I may have been invisible to you on the streets, I have a lot of the same dreams that brought many of you here tonight."

This was a drastically different Miley Cyrus than the one we've gotten used to seeing during the past year, starting with her shocking 2013 VMA performance with Robin Thicke.

Even during her appearance before the show, Cyrus seemed a little more subdued than her usual controversial self, opting to talk about her music rather than twerk up and down the red carpet.

MILEY CYRUS: "I'm more onto kinda like, you know, I'm making some music right now with the Flaming Lips. You know, I just live to be in the studio, that's my favorite part. It's not about twerking, it's about music."

Fans on Twitter definitely noticed, with most tweets praising Cyrus for her effort to raise awareness for homeless youth.

And so did several major media outlets, with People magazine calling the speech "one of the most arresting moments of the broadcast" and Billboard praising Cyrus for her "selfless, totally unexpected move."

And now, The New York Times asks the big question on our minds - Was this move an attempt to improve her controversial image? The paper admits, "It was hard to fully understand her motives on Sunday night. It certainly demonstrated a Madonna-level understanding of media manipulation."

But whatever her professional intention was here, Cyrus definitely garnered some support for homeless youth awareness.

Jesse ended his emotional acceptance speech by asking viewers to check out Cyrus' Facebook page.

She's posted information there about My Friend's Place, which is a homeless center for young people in Hollywood. The post got more than 19,000 shares Sunday night.

More from the VMAs:
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Miley sends golden-haired homeless boy named Jesse on stage to accept her award
Jennifer Lopez sports sexy cut-out gown at VMAs, shows tons of skin
The worst reactions at the 2014 MTV VMAs
VMAs 2014 awkward red carpet moments
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