"Supergirl" is a song by American recording artist and actress

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

, performing as

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...

– the

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

Miley Stewart Miley Ray Stewart is the fictional main character in the Disney Channel television series ''Hannah Montana'', portrayed by Miley Cyrus. She first appeared on television in the pilot episode "Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?" on March 24, 2 ...

– a character she played on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

television series ''

''. The song was written by

Kara DioGuardi Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi (; born December 9, 1970) is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales o ...

, in collaboration with Daniel James, and produced by Dreamlab. "Supergirl" was released on 2009, by

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...

as the second and final single from the series' third soundtrack, ''

Hannah Montana 3 ''Hannah Montana 3'' is the soundtrack album for the third season of the television series '' Hannah Montana''. Thirteen of its fourteen tracks are performed by the series' primary actress Miley Cyrus, and are credited to her titular characte ...

''. A

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

version is available in '' Disney's Karaoke Series: Hannah Montana 3''. The song is characterized by

dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and disco ...

elements in its musical composition and contains lyrics regarding the lows of pop stardom. The song received average to mixed reception from contemporary critics and garnered average commercial outcomes for Cyrus in several countries, compared to those of her previous efforts as Montana. In the United States, it peaked at number five on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

(Hot 100–105). It marked Cyrus' first entry as Montana in Austria; it peaked at number fifty-eight on the

Austrian Singles Chart Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Supergirl" was released, taken from footage of a concert performance.

Background

"Supergirl" was co-written by

, who composed a total of four songs on ''Hannah Montana 3'', and Dan James.''

'' liner notes D

(2009). A

version is available in '' Disney's Karaoke Series: Hannah Montana 3''. "Supergirl" leaked into the Internet in November 2008, along with six other songs from ''Hannah Montana 3''. The song first premiered on

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within the Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

on July 2, 2009, in order to promote the soundtrack and was afterward released as the second and final single from ''Hannah Montana 3'' on 2008.

Composition

"Supergirl" is pop song with a length of two minutes and fifty-five seconds. According to

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, the song contains

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

and

teen pop Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop" About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Teen pop incorporates different subgenres of pop music, as well as elements o ...

elements in its music, while Mikael Wood of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' cited rock music as its main influence. Peter Larsen of the ''

Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...

'' described the track as a bouncy dance-pop number also. The song is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and has a moderate rock tempo. It is written in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

and it follows the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

Am11–Fmaj7–C–G. Warren Truitt of

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

interpreted the lyrics of "Supergirl" to be about the lows of pop stardom. Larsen believed the line "You just wanna be like me" was a representation of Cyrus, "a super duper girl".

Reception

Critical reception

"Supergirl" received average to mixed reception from contemporary critics. Heather Phares of Allmusic said, "That feeling of familiarity extends to the songs that haven't appeared anywhere else. Whether it's the happy side of Hannah (' It's All Right Here,' 'Supergirl') ..they sound very much like what came before them." Warren Truitt of About.com agreed but stated, "

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

may be a little cookie-cutter, but at least the songwriters realize who their audience is and they deliver the goods". Mikael Wood of ''Entertainment Weekly'' compared the song's style to that of

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

. While reviewing a concert before the release of the soundtrack, Peter Larsen of the ''Orange County Register'' predicted it would be released as a single and become popular with children, yet "saturate arents'ears for a month or two".

Chart performance

On the week ending July 25, 2009, in the United States, "Supergirl" debuted at number five on ''

''s

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

Chart (Hot 100–105) upon ''Hannah Montana 3''s release. The song dropped from the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Chart in the following week. On the week ending September 11, 2009, "Supergirl" debuted and peaked at number fifty-eight on the

, marking Cyrus' first appearance in the country as Montana; it also dropped from the Austrian Singles Chart after one week. Along with its B-side, "Every Part of Me", the song peaked at number forty-two on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

Live performances

On October 10, 2008, Cyrus, dressed as Montana, premiered "Supergirl", along with eight other songs, at the concert taping for the third season of ''Hannah Montana'', which was set on October 10 in Irvine, California at the

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Verizon Wireless Amphitheater(re), Verizon Wireless Music Center(re), Verizon Wireless Theatre(er), and other variants may refer to: *The following venues were formerly known by the Verizon-sponsored names: **Verizon Wireless Music Center (Alabama) ...

. The performance began with Montana, dressed in a white and pink

tie-dye Tie-dye is a term used to describe a number of resist dyeing techniques and the resulting dyed products of these processes. The process of tie-dye typically consists of folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a garment, before binding ...

tee shirt, white pants, pink leather jacket, and large sunglasses. The performance begins with Cyrus sitting in a bench, facing a mirror, as backup dancers apply makeup on her and attend her. She stands up and roams around the stage to sing afterward. Peter Larsen of the ''Orange County Register'' called it one of "hits of the night". The performance was later premiered as the song's

on July 2, 2009, on

to promote ''Hannah Montana 3''.

Track listings

*U.S. / EU Vinyl CD Single / Digital Download #"Supergirl" (Album Version) – 2:55 #"Supergirl" (Instrumental) – 2:55 #"Every Part of Me" – 3:30 *EU 2-Track CD Single #"Supergirl" (Album Version) – 2:55 #"Every Part of Me" – 3:30

Charts

References

External links

{{good article 2009 singles Dance-pop songs Hannah Montana songs Songs from television series Songs written by Kara DioGuardi Songs written by Daniel James (record producer) Walt Disney Records singles 2009 songs