There are certain familiar faces who cannot help but give interviews, deliver performances or just generally behave without the earth parting into two-a Red Sea effect, if you will, of consequential publicity. The subjects of this week's column are our very own teen queens of pop music, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus.Taylor Swift was up as Saturday Night Live's host this week and, as expected, offered up a Saturday night's worth of cuteness. But additionally, the lanky blonde proved she had some chutzpah. Her opening monologue consisted of references to confrontation-fearing Joe Jonas, her namesake werewolf sweetheart (Taylor Lautner), and Mr. (Kanye) West, who was not in the building. She accomplished all this via a guitar ballad, titled "My Monologue Song (lalala)." Taylor's SNL performance will likely be a professional landmark for the teen star. The simple act of doubling as host and musical guest is a feat in and of itself, not to mention the surprising range-not awe-inspiring, but worthy of remarks that would inspire more than just an "aww"-she demonstrated.

Swift's country-pop counterpart Miley Cyrus was not so inspiring. Seated between two toddler twin girls in a tight-fitting Pocahontas costume, Ms. Cyrus proved she was just being Miley when, handler-less, the 16-year-old again offered up her unique gift of word vomit. When asked by an unassuming interviewer (who was the twins' father) backstage at MileyWood about her latest single, "Party in the USA," Miley responded to the man's innocuous questions with damaging information, mentioning, "I don't like pop music," and "I've never heard a Jay-Z song." Best part? Given absolutely no provocation, Miley admitted that she only picked the song as a single because she "needed something to go with her clothing line." The segment had the singer teetering on the line between career suicide and triumph, and though it seems like quite a silly series of things to say (and publicize on your own Web site), the consequence of the act remains to be seen. Who knows? Maybe this will grant Miley the professional freedom she's always wanted.