Disney Revs Up Tween Star Machine – Company Pushes for a Texas Girl to Match Miley Cyrus’s Success With Young Fans From: online.wsj.com

Ms. Lovato grew up in Texas, competing in beauty pageants, taking acting, music and singing lessons and landing her first television role on the children’s show “Barney & Friends” when she was eight.

For Ms. Lovato and her family, the desire to get into the Disney empire was as great as the company’s desire to find new talent. “Take it from someone who tried for eight years to make it, once you get in you’re thankful,” says Dianna De La Garza, Ms. Lovato’s mother.

For her part, Ms. Lovato expresses some surprise that she has ended up as a player in Disney’s talent pool. But she insists that the media company allows its actors to flourish as individuals. “Disney has an image that’s not the reality,” she says. “Artists aren’t as manufactured as they appear.”"*

Leave a Reply