On the Disney Channel hit show, "Hannah Montana," Emily Osment plays the sidekick to the show's title character, but Saturday at Rockvale Outlets, she was the main event.

Thousands of Emily Osment fans came to the outlet center to get Emily's autograph, and to spend a fleeting few seconds with the girl who plays the lovable, zany Lilly on television.

Lilly is the best friend of Miley Cyrus' character on "Hannah Montana," and like Miley/Hannah, Lilly leads a double life; her wig-wearing alter ego is called Lola.

Saturday, Emily cheerfully described Lilly as a "big dork," a not-so-girly girl who can be "just crazy."

Wearing jeans, a long white-and-gold T-shirt, a black vest and Converse sneakers adorned with cartoons, Emily was as hip as her young fans might have expected - and every bit as polite as her fans' parents could have hoped.

Hers was the first of two appearances by Disney Channel stars at Rockvale this weekend. Today, from 1 to 4 p.m., "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens will hold a CD-signing session at Rockvale, near the mall's Disney Store.

Saturday, though, the local tween scene was ruled by Emily Osment.

Some 400 people had VIP vouchers, which granted access to a special line. To get the vouchers, they had to spend $100 in Rockvale stores (the vouchers are sold out for today's event with Vanessa Hudgens). Thousands more took their chances in a regular line.

Sign of the times

For three hours, the 16-year-old Emily sat at a table, on a stage inside a tent. She started off signing her first and last names, and then, as the line of waiting fans showed no signs of dwindling, she signed a simple "E" and a heart.

She said later she wanted to be sure that everyone got to see her - and everyone who was in line did. She signed an estimated 4,000 autographs.

She signed posters, purses, dollar bills, T-shirts, and all manner of "Hannah Montana" merchandise, including dolls made in her image. ("It was pretty strange, signing my own back," she said later.)

She signed belts, girls' hands, a girl's Croc, a hot-pink electric guitar, a leg cast, and the bottom of a onesie-clad baby.

Two or so hours into the autograph-signing session, Emily's hairdo - a funky twist on a bun - began to slip, but her smile didn't waver.

This was no Hollywood diva, deigning to be among the little people. Fans, parents and those putting on the event noted Emily's easy manner, and marveled about how grounded she seemed.

"The kids are so cute - they're so cute," Emily said in an interview, after she was whisked through a crowd of screaming girls, into a nearby hotel. "How can you not be nice? You see these faces. ... They just want to say hi."

Among the questions she got: "Can I have your necklace? Can I have your phone number? Can you tell Miley I said hi?"

Just ask dad

Eugene Osment, Emily's father and manager - her "dadager," she calls him - accompanies her to her public appearances.

They flew a red-eye from California Friday night, after Emily finished taping an episode for the third season of "Hannah Montana." After another public appearance today in Atlanta, they will return to Los Angeles for a table reading tomorrow of another new "Hannah Montana" episode.

Eugene Osment said he and his wife vowed when Emily and her older brother, Haley Joel Osment, went into show business that they were not going to put their kids in the hands of assistants.

He said he tries to limit the number of public appearances that Emily makes. "I don't think it's good for the teenage psyche to be exposed to this too much," he said.

Still, he said he understands the impulse that drove so many people to come to see his daughter Saturday. He remembers being in seventh grade, and a local TV news team coming to the local pool to film a commercial. He and his pals waited for two hours, he said, for the TV weather guy, a local celebrity, to sign their forearms.

Emily Osment said the day was "pretty crazy, but it was really, really nice to see all of those kids." She joked that she should have asked each fan to quiz her on a vocabulary word, to help her study for the SATs.

Her fans, no doubt, would have complied.

"It was amazing!" exclaimed Heather Higgins, 16, of Manheim Township, waving her hand, which just had been signed by Emily Osment. "She talked to me! She said her mom has the same kind of ring as me. She was like, 'Oh my gosh! I love your ring.' "

Her friend, Natalie Braas, also 16, said of Emily, "I just think she's funny. She seems really nice, too. ... She just seems so down to earth."

A 7-year-old fan, Nina Laboy, said, "I love her. She's a great actress."

Nina's mother, Carolyn Laboy, of Elizabethtown, said she sees Emily Osment as a good role model for girls. "You don't see her in the tabloids. She's not getting herself in trouble. As a mom, I appreciate that."

Mindy Mihajlov, of Elizabethtown, hosted an Emily Osment slumber party Friday night for her kids, a niece, a nephew and some of their friends. They made Emily Osment T-shirts. They tried out her hairstyles. They hung Emily Osment decorations.

And while they ate doughnuts for breakfast, Mindy's twin sister, Missy Flexman, staked out a place in line at Rockvale, so the kids wouldn't have to wait too long to meet their favorite star.

"She's so cool and pretty," said Emily Flexman, 7.

Kaitlyn Mihajlov, who's 16, said she thinks that Emily's character on "Hannah Montana," seems more real, more like a regular girl, than the show's title character. "She has her own style," Kaitlyn noted.

Only 10-year-old Nathan Flexman acted unimpressed.

As the "Hannah Montana" theme song blared from the speakers near the stage, Nathan rolled his eyes. "Oh, it's my favorite song!" he said, in the sarcastic way of little brothers everywhere.