Miley Cyrus on the Hollywood Bowl stage: with a candle and a gift from Dolly Parton she asked for a sign while playing "Jolene" - and the hallway lights started to flicker

Miley Cyrus is playing the concerts for her album Bass Persuades at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and part of the show is dedicated to Dolly Parton - with a performance of "Jolene", one of the country music legend's best-known songs. At one of the concerts Cyrus shared something you rarely hear from a stage: a paranormal experience.

According to her description, she performed a small ritual. Next to a lit candle and a flower, she placed an object Parton had given her one Christmas - a mannequin. While she was playing "Jolene", she quietly asked for a sign. The hallway lights started to flicker. Cyrus says her partner, musician Maxx Morando, saw it too.

Her interpretation is simple: Dolly was with her and always will be. Cyrus admitted she is still struggling with emotions she is afraid of, but that Parton's presence helps her bear them. Two days earlier, again from the Hollywood Bowl stage, she said: "Dolly and I are eternal. Nothing in this life can separate us."

The bond between them is older than Miley herself. Parton began touring with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, back in 1992, later became Miley's godmother, and was something like an aunt to her. Dolly Parton died at 80. There is speculation that she may have left Cyrus among her heirs, but that has not been confirmed.

The sceptic will say - bad wiring. Maybe. But who has lost someone close and never looked for a sign, in a candle, in a song, in a flickering light? In the Balkans, grief has its own rituals, from the lit candle to the fortieth-day memorial. Miley just did it in front of an audience.