Miley Cyrus became a household name for families when her Disney Channel television show, "Hannah Montana," premiered in 2006. Cyrus, now 20, quickly rose to pop star fame and has been changing her appearance ever since. Here the singer attends a July 12 event in Los Angeles. 
The future pop star with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, in October 1994 in Memphis, Tennessee. 
The father and daughter team make a New York appearance for the Disney Channel in February 2006. 
Cyrus performs during the Radio Disney Totally 10 Birthday Concert in July 2006 in Anaheim, California. 
Cyrus chats with VJ Susie Castillo during an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live in February 2007 at MTV Studios in New York City. 
Cyrus starred with Emily Osmand in an episode of "Hannah Montana" in June 2007. 
Cyrus appears at the 2007 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. 
The actress arrives at the Teen Vogue Young Hollywood Party at Vibiana in September 2007 in Los Angeles. 
Cyrus arrives at a film premiere in Hollywood in January 2008. 
Cyrus performs for ABC's "Good Morning America" at New York's Bryant Park in July 2008. 
Cyrus appears at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Westwood, California, in 2009. 
Cyrus performs during her "Wonder World" tour at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in November 2009 in Uniondale, New York. 
Cyrus and her mother, Tish Cyrus, at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in January 2010 in Los Angeles. 
Cyrus impersonates singer Justin Bieber in a Saturday Night Live skit with Vanessa Bayer in March 2011. 
Cyrus performs at a music festival in June 2010 in Arganda del Rey, Spain. 
Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth arrive at the 2012 People's Choice Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in January 2012 in Los Angeles. 
The singer arrives at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas in May 2012. 
Cyrus poses on the red carpet for the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles in September 2012. 
The grown-up Cyrus performs during the "VH1 Divas" concert in Los Angeles in December 2012. 
Cyrus attends the Costume Institute Gala for the "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6 in New York City. 
Cyrus winks during an interview at a radio station in Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt, Germany, on July 22. 
Cyrus shows off her moves with Robin Thicke during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday, August 25. 
Cyrus is seen leaving her London hotel on September 11. 
Cyrus performs onstage during the iHeart Radio Music Festival Village on September 21 in Las Vegas. 
Taran Killam and Cyrus pose in a promo for her upcoming "Saturday Night Live" episode on October 5. 
Bobby Moynihan, left to right, Vanessa Bayer and Cyrus perform a skit on "Saturday Night Live" on October 5, in which they mock Cyrus' VMA performance. 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
- LZ Granderson: "Diva" once applied to people with long records of achievement
- He says the term now is used for many who are famous for being famous or early in their careers
- LZ: True divas are people like Leontyne Price, Barbara Streisand, Meryl Streep
- Kanye West calling himself a "creative genius" rules him out of the diva category, LZ says
(CNN) -- In the third act of the opera "Aida," there is an aria, "O Patria Mia," that begins, "Oh, my country, I shall never see you again."
On January 3, 1985, after Leontyne Price sang those words, the audience at the Metropolitan Opera House stopped her with a four-minute ovation. Price first performed at the Met 24 years earlier, and this night, this performance would be her last on an opera stage.
During the curtain call, she was showered with flowers and confetti as the audience applauded her performance, and career, for 25 minutes. She stood there, beautiful, gracious, mouthing the words "thank you" to admirers who clearly did not want to see her go.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is what a diva looks like.
I'm not sure when the meaning of the word went from someone with the talent and life journey of Price to the cast of "The Real Housewives of (insert city here)," but I know its erosion epitomizes all that is wrong with pop culture today: Oscar nominations surrendered to actors for carrying a tune, singing competitions judged by people who can't really sing, celebrities who are famous for being famous.
Kanye West is "a creative genius," but the fact that he repeatedly needs to tell people that makes him more of an anti-diva. True divas don't need to self-promote. That's what their loyal subjects are for.
Price didn't request a 25-minute ovation. Her moment commanded one.
"I'm trying to exhibit good taste," Price said of her goodbye. "I prefer to leave standing up, like a well-mannered guest at a party."
I long for the day when phrases such as "good taste" or "well-mannered" are uttered, let alone displayed, by the people we refer to as divas today.
We've always had bubble gum and fluff and raunch, but we used to recognize those things for what they were. If being a talentless bad girl is what pays the bills, fine ... but we never used to refer to these train wrecks as "divas."
If it sounds as if I'm blowing things out of proportion, consider this: There is a reality TV show called "R&B Divas" with a cast filled with one-hit wonders. It's as if eye-rolling has become the only qualification to be considered a precious gem.
The reality is, today's "divas" are more likely to be pieces of charcoal: mass-produced, quick to flame out and apt to leave behind a filthy residue on everything they touch.
The reason why the notion of a "diva" was reserved for the main female singer in an opera company, like a Price or Jessye Norman -- who sings in German, French and Italian and served as the inspiration for the 1982 film "Diva" -- is because the level of talent these women possess was thought of as rare and thus made their demanding personalities tolerable. Their recordings, treasured; their presence, captivating; their performances, transcending all others.
Think Streisand, Houston, Streep.
Today, we use the word so frequently, hardly anyone knows what it means anymore.
For example, after this year's Grammys, Buzzfeed listed its 16 greatest divas moments and included the pitch-challenged Taylor Swift -- twice.
An ABCNews.com headline actually read: "Kim Kardashian's Diva Delivery."
Entertainment Weekly once named Rihanna "Diva of the Year."
The very existence of such an honor should provoke nausea, because there are not enough true divas in the world to sustain such an annual award.
Bit by bit, we have replaced art that is meant to be slow-cooked art with that which is microwavable (and forgettable). Thus our movie theaters are dominated by remakes and sequels, best-selling authors plagiarize, belching is considered witty.
VH1 Divas is a fundraiser music showcase created to support the Save the Music Foundation. The nonprofit was designed to help restore instrumental music programs in public schools after so many were lost due to budget cuts. In the beginning, the "divas" who performed were along the lines of Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey ... voices that were iconic, even if you didn't particularly care for their music.
In the latest installment of the series, Miley Cyrus was among the headliners.
Miley Cyrus. Diva.
No, I don't think I'm overreacting.
Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter .
Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion .
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.
