News tagged "high school musical" on mun2

Selena Gomez vs. Demi Lovato

versus

tue 12/30/2008

A collage of Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.

name	Selena Marie Gomez.	Demetria Devonne Lovato.
born in	Grand Prairie, Texas.	Dallas, Texas.
birthdate	July 22, 1992.	August 20, 1992.
parents	Mexican father and Italian-American mother.	Mexican father and Italian-Irish mother.
started acting on	"Barney & Friends" at age seven.	"Barney & Friends" at age six.
got it from mom?	Mandy Teefey, a former stage actress.	Diana Hart, a former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader and country singer.
the look	Doll-faced brunette cutie.	Doll-faced brunette cutie.
touted as the next	Miley Cyrus, according to the Los Angeles Times	Miley Cyrus, according to the Hollywood Gossip.
what does Miley say?	Mocked both Selena and Demi in a YouTube video, but later apologized.	Told TV reporters "I don’t think there could be a next Miley. I think they should be the next Selena, the next Demi ... [and] make their own way.”
catty quote	"I'm not interested in being anybody but myself, and I'm not here to replace anyone." - Selena Gomez.	"I really don't know Miley that well… It was just like, OK, cool, Hannah Montana knows who I am!" - Demi Lovato.
breakthrough TV movie	Another Cinderella Story.	Camp Rock.
now seen on	Wizards of Waverly Place and Brain Zapped.	Prison Break and As The Bell Rings.
coming soon	Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie and Princess Protection Program.	TV show Sonny With A Chance and Camp Rock 2.
don't stop the music	Recording an album for Summer '09.	Debut album Don't Forget.
killer collab	New Classic with Drew Seeley.	This Is Me with Joe Jonas.
the critics	ABC: "But perhaps the most important factor minting Gomez's break-out status is the fact that she's dating teen heartthrob du jour Nick Jonas, of the uber-hot Jonas Brothers."	The Washington Post: "While it's great that she's made it – her face will probably end up on a backpack this fall … Lovato is on a roller coaster that can take her very high, or stop and then plummet at a moment's notice."
webprops	202,601 friends on official MySpace and a YouTube channel with 5.5 million views.	292,564 friends on official MySpace and a YouTube channel with nearly 9 million views.
best video moment	Freeing herself from a Cinderella life in Tell Me Something I Don't Know.	Fighting to be herself in La La Land.

Kenneth John Ortega is the director, choreographer and driving force behind one of the most successful franchises in recent TV and music history: Disney's High School Musical. The 57-year-old Ortega is responsible for some of the most memorable dance sequences of the last 25 years: Madonna's video for Material Girl, the dancing in Dirty Dancing, and the parade scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Add choreography credits for Super Bowl XXX's halftime show, the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics and tours by Gloria Estefan, Michael Jackson and Barbara Streisand, and it's easy to see why Ortega is the go-to guy for extra-extravaganzas.

Born in 1950, Ortega started performing in plays and musicals at age 13 in his hometown of Redwood City, California. By age 16, his aunt was driving him down to L.A. on a regular basis so he could audition for musicals, eventually landing a role in the psychedelic classic Hair. In the mid-'70s, Cher invited Ortega to choreograph her TV special after seeing his work with new wave San Francisco band The Tubes. He made his name with music videos and movies in the 80s before getting offered a directing gig with Disney in the early 90's. The cheezy Newsies, Ortega's directorial debut and first movie musical, failed to make a dent in the box office, but his next feature, Hocus Pocus was well-received. Ortega then jumped to directing TV with episodes of Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope and Gilmore Girls. His second made-for-TV movie, The Cheetah Girls 2, set in Spain and featuring Mexican pop star Belinda, was both a critical and commercial success for Disney, for whom he famously launched the High School Musical juggernaut.

Earlier this year, The Hollywood Reporter recognized Ortega as one of 50 Latino power players. While Ortega's Latino heritage is rarely on display, he has received numerous awards from Hispanic organizations and readily admits it helped make him who he is today: “[t]he food, the music, the people, it shaped who I am… I wasn't born in Mexico or Spain but I certainly sucked it up."

Disney’s High School Musical 2 soundtrack, the sequel to the best-selling and surprise hit album of 2006, is released this week. HM2 is "hella catchy, if ultimately exhausting," according to music blog Idolator. Entertainment Weekly gives it a B+ for consistency: "[W]hile this material won’t upstage the Rodgers and Hammerstein legacy, it is on par with the previous soundtrack’s sweet, crafty fun.”
Critically-acclaimed but commercially-challenged rapper Talib Kweli returns with Eardrum, his third solo outing. Rolling Stone has mixed feelings: "[T]hough it’s admirably consistent and pretty darn OK, it lacks a knockout track to counterbalance the complaints about the King James Bible and swine toothpaste." Filter Magazine thinks Kweli is on point, arguing that “Talib’s magic has always been presenting his socially conscious message in a flow that makes you say 'Word!' instead of 'What?'”
Sultry ex-Kabah singer Mariajose, "la Josa," releases her self-titled debut. ¿Quién Eres Tú?, the lead single featuring R&B singer Trey Songz, gets props from Mexican music store Mix Up, which predicts "her album will play at every club.” Blog Memo’s Place partially agrees: “Three songs are going directly to the clubs … ’cause the rest of them are simply forgettable.”
Super Taranta!, the new album by worldbeat punk rockers Gogol Bordello is an “insanely enjoyable, breathless affair,” according to Popmatters. The kool kidz at Pitchforkmedia are less impressed, describing Gogol Bordello as “an exceedingly silly band," underscoring that "even if it’s not laugh-out-loud ha ha funny, there’s more than a little ridiculousness to its self-consciously eclectic kitchen-sink approach.”
Speaking of weirdness, Australia’s Architecture In Helsinki are back with their third studio album, Places Like This, which is described by the BBC Collective as “all whoops and yelps” with “an impressive sense of its own silliness.” Drowned in Sound is utterly disappointed: “For a band as progressive and ingenious as AIH, Places Like This feels like a monstrous step backwards.”