Miley Cyrus' raunchy bikini show at MTV VMAs was a shocker

Miley Cyrus did her best to shock the audience of the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, and according to most, she succeeded.

Miley gyrated on stage with Robin Thicke in a flesh-coloured bikini which exposed her complete body.

The singer performed suggestive dance moves as she sang 'Blurred Lines' with the 36-year-old star.

Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus (R) perform onstage. (AFP)

The 'We Can't Stop' singer has been delivering controversial performances of late, but her latest escapade left audience members including Will Smith stunned as she writhed around on stage in a skimpy latex bikini and cozied up to Robin while they performed his hit song 'Blurred Lines'.

The 20-year-old star shocked viewers by performing suggestive dance moves, such as pointing to her crotch with a foam finger while making sexual facial expressions, and at one point she even bent down in front of her 36-year-old collaborator - who is married to actress Paula Patton - in a salacious pose.

 Miley Cyrus perform onstage. (AFP)

Miley was clearly enjoying the attention as she wagged her tongue and smirked in the two-piece latex bikini, which matched her skin tone, giving the impression she was nude.

The skimpy outfit left little to the imagination as surprised audience members including Rihanna and One Direction caught an eyeful of her derriere.

Earlier in the evening, Miley - who is engaged to hunky actor Liam Hemsworth - gave a performance of her own hit song, 'We Can't Stop', sporting a teddy bear-themed leotard while her troupe of backing dancers performed with teddy bears strapped to their backs.

Miley Cyrus arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2013, at the Barclays Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP)

Media shocked:

Media reaction to Cyrus' bump-and-grind veered between disgust and sadness.

On MSNBC, "Morning Joe" co-anchor Mika Brzezinski was not amused by the performance at all. After showing a clip of the performance coming out of a commercial, Joe Scarborough and the other panelists were joking about it, but not Brzezinski, who called it "really, really disturbing."

Rolling Stone said: But not all of the night's performances were winners. Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke did a haphazard (and at times cringe-worthy) mash-up of "We Can't Stop" and "Blurred Lines" that featured giant dancing teddy bears and Cyrus twerking and groping Thicke.

Time said, caustically: Cyrus twerked and gyrated, stripped and swayed. She sang, too.

The New York Times was scathing: this was a banner year for clumsy white appropriation of black culture - the shambolic, trickster-esque performance by Ms. Cyrus, to whom no one has apparently said "no" for the last six months or so, which included plenty of lewdness and a molestation of Robin Thicke.

The crew on "Fox & Friends" also trashed the performance, with guest co-host Anna Kooiman commenting on the performance: "This was just raunchy. This wasn't sexy. There wasn't any talent."

At the red carpet:

What was former Disney star Miley Cyrus thinking? Sporting two top-knots on her head and a bedazzled crop top and matching pants.

Cyrus was a big draw on the carpet sporting a pair of high waist black leggings embellished with colourful beading and a cropped top showing off the star's toned stomach.

Dressed in a vintage two-piece ensemble by Dolce & Gabbana Cyrus gave some of the biggest names in the music industry a tough fight to be the most outrageously dressed on the MTV VMAs red carpet.

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