NEW YORK – It may not be a good thing for her, but Miley Cyrus had the most memorable moment at the MTV Video Music Awards.

The provocative pop singer was the hot topic at Sunday night's show: Cyrus eclipsed Lady Gaga's opening performance of her new single, Katy Perry's closing rendition of her latest hit and Kanye West's artsy set. The 20-year-old even grabbed more attention than Justin Timberlake's performance with his 'N Sync mates.

Cyrus jerked and gyrated, stripped and swayed. She sang, too. She had a helper at the VMAs: Robin Thicke. It was an eye-popping performance, much like the party she's having in her music video for "We Can't Stop," one of the most popular on YouTube.

Within hours, the BuzzFeed site was posting the "15 Weirdest and Craziest Moments" from Cyrus' performance, which was aired live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Brooke Shields, who played Cyrus' mom in a few episodes of "Hannah Montana" on the Disney Channel, took note of that on the "Today" show Monday: "I was Hannah Montana's mom! Where did I go wrong?" On MSNBC's "Morning Joe," co-host Mika Brzezinski said the performance was "disgusting and embarrassing," and that people involved should be ashamed. Twitter said early Monday that Cyrus was mentioned 4.5 million times on the social network site, ahead of Timberlake's 2.9 million mentions. Cyrus and Thicke's performance led in tweets per minute peaks with 306,100.

N.J. Powerball winner claims prize

A New Jersey man has claimed the final share of this month's $448 million Powerball jackpot. Mario Scarnici held one of the three winning tickets sold for the Aug. 7 drawing. New Jersey lottery officials say the South Brunswick man chose the cash option and will get about $62 million after taxes. Another winning ticket sold in New Jersey was held by a group of 16 Ocean County vehicle maintenance employees, while the third was won by Paul White of Ham Lake.

Lady Gaga had some pretty daring moves when she ­performed “Applause” at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, but nothing like Miley Cyrus’ performance.

'Let Freedom ring': Oprah Winfrey, Jamie Foxx and Forest Whitaker are among the celebrities joining three presidents this week to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Soledad O'Brien and Hill Harper will host the "Let Freedom Ring" commemoration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream speech on Wednesday. President Obama and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are also joining the tribute at the Lincoln Memorial. Musicians including LeAnn Rimes and BeBe Winans are scheduled to perform.

associated press