Cyrus shocks with an on-stage 'Lewinsky'

Miley Cyrus has continued her campaign of shock and awe for the start of her latest tour, lewdly cavorting onstage with a Bill Clinton impersonator.

Cyrus, 21, dropped to her knees in front of a male dancer wearing a tuxedo and a mask of the 46th US President while performing her song 'Party In The USA' on Friday evening in Vancouver, Canada.

The performance, the first in her Bangerz tour, featured 12 costume changes including a very tight leotard that was emblazoned with marijuana leaves.

Cyrus first appeared on stage riding a giant tongue protruding from a three-storey-tall image of her own head.

Later she rode a giant hotdog while wearing a yellow feather jacket, but the biggest shock came as Cyrus, as TMZ put it, "pulled a Monica Lewinsky" and simulated a sex act on the Clinton lookalike.

The Hannah Montanna star, wearing a red and blue USA-themed outfit with cowboy boots and hat, got down on one knee in front of the male dancer who was wearing an untucked tuxedo suit.

Local entertainment reviewer Stuart Derdeyn said the show was "relentless on the senses". "Videos, a giant inflatable dog, gratuitous audience makeout shots (extra cheers for the same-sex couples, by the way Mr Putin) and real live singing in a lot of spots with very mixed results," Derdeyn wrote in The Province.

Last month Cyrus told MTV she hoped to open her fans' minds "and they look at my tour as something that I do feel is educational for kids".

"Because I think a lot of people aren't exposed to art enough and that's something that I had to learn about."

Sources: TMZ, The Province, YouTube.