For the Love of a Daughter

Demi has never had a close relationship with her biological father, Patrick Lovato. Her parents got divorced when she was younger and she grew up with her step father Edward De La Garza. Patrick Lovato is the subject of her song “For the Love of a Daughter.” When the song came out, her father  gave a series of interviews which he promoted. He wanted to benefit himself from her fame. In an interview with Daily News Demi said about her father, “You try to have faith in somebody, even when you're the last person that believes in him, but when somebody lets you down after you've been the only one there for them, and so many times, you don't know what to do.”

The song is from her third studio album Unbroken. It was notable for the fact that it shined light on the strained relationship Demi had with her father. She sings about her father's alcohol-related issues, which took a toll on her childhood. This was something new to everyone. “For the Love of a Daughter” was originally composed and selected to be put in her second album in 2009, Here We Go Again, but she thought it was too intense for her fan base at the time. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily, Demi explained: "When I took a step back, I realized I wouldn't like those subjects being talked about in somebody else's home, with a seven-year-old and their mom." It was something that was deep and sincere, and it showed Demi’s vulnerability.

On June 22, 2013, her father died at the age of 53 after losing a battle with cancer. The day her dad died, she tweeted this message at all her fans who were giving her support, “There's an overwhelming sense of peace knowing my dad is no longer battling his demons anymore and that makes me so happy.” She also tweeted at her fans thanking them for standing by her. Not long after her dad died, Demi revealed that her dad had suffered from a mental illness. So, she announced the creation of the Lovato Treatment Scholarship Program in honor of her dad, to help people suffering from mental illness by paying for treatment.

The program will cover any expenses for someone who is struggling with addiction issues or with mental health issues. Demi has gone through this herself so she knows what the process is like. She knows that treatment is costly and most people cannot afford the proper and effective care that they need. In response to her dad’s death, she felt it was necessary to start this program.

Here is a picture of Demi and her dad when she was young:

NEON LIGHTS!

Check out Demi's official music video for her latest single, Neon Lights. It premiered today!

Demi vs Bullying

Growing up, Demi revealed that she was bullied in school. She was bullied so much, that she dropped out of school to be home-schooled. Demi earned a high school diploma through home-schooling in April 2009. Within the same year, she became a spokesperson for PACER, an anti-bullying organization. She also appeared on America’s Next Top Model to speak out against bullying. Because she was a target of bullying, Demi knew how important it was to be a vocal supporter of bullying prevention. In an interview with People Magazine Demi said, “I had a really tough time when I was in middle school. People would write 'hate petitions' about me and send them around to be signed. They'd have CD-bashing parties of my demos. They'd come to my house, stand across the street and yell things. It was a very emotional time for me, and all I wanted to do was get away.” Check out this video of Demi expressing her past:

Demi has used her negative experience from bullying to make positive changes. She has constantly used her celebrity status to get her voice heard about the major issue of bullying. According to a study by The National Association of School Psychologists and the U.S. Dept. of Justice, 160,000 kids of all ages stay home from school everyday to avoid the stress that comes from being confronted by a bully. Throughout her time on the PACER campaign, Demi said, “Working together we can make a difference. I hope that by sharing my story, it will encourage other teens to speak out. No one deserves to be bullied.” Demi hopes that her involvement in the anti-bullying campaign will help other teenagers come forth about being bullied.

In October 2012, Demi was named the new Ambassador of Mean Stinks, an anti-bullying campaign focused on eliminating bullying among girls. When she found out what the program was about, Demi agreed to be a part of it. The program is really trying to put an end to bullying. The program asked young girls to take a pledge to have a “Drama Free School Year” by making a pinky swear, symbolized by wearing blue nail polish on their pinky fingers. Demi herself took this pledge. Here is her video for the Mean Stinks campaign:

Jess is Obsessed with Demi, So I am Obsessed with Demi

Have you ever met someone who has an obsession with a star?  Not just someone who claims to love a celebrity, but in reality knows nothing about them.  I'm talking a full blown out infatuation with someone.  Where posters of this person cover the walls of their bedroom and they stay up until midnight to get the first copy of their new CD.  Someone who stalks them around the mall and grabs her arm so fiercely at the X-Factor that there was no doubt skin left under her nails.  And when their idol has their sweet sixteen at Applebee's, they have their sweet sixteen at Applebee's.  Yeah, this is how crazy my roommate it.  Jess has an obsession with Demi Lovato.  I know what you're all thinking, Who?  Exactly what I thought when she revealed to me freshman year that she has a girl crush on Demi Lovato.  I have never met someone who has loved a celebrity as much as Jess loves Demi.  Demi is a singer, songwriter, and actress, and most people don't know this but she made her name as  a star in Barney way back when.  Most fans, and even non fans, of Demi Lovato know about her somewhat "dark" past, but Jess goes deeper.  If you asked her she would tell you that Demi has an estranged father, and that her step sister plays Eva Longoria's daughter on Desperate Housewives.  And I know for a fact that if Jess saw her walking down the street, she would stalk her as well for just being related to Demi.  Now, Jess loves to talk, and I would put a lot of money on the fact that Demi consumes about 75% of her conversations. Jess constantly sends us pictures and texts to constantly keep us updated with Demi's life. Demi just came out with a new nail polish line, and Jess went out and bought it the next day.  Yes, you read that right, nail polish.  How could her nail polish be any different than the generic one?  This is how far she takes her obsession with Demi.  I have never met anyone before with the obsession that Jess has with Demi.

It's been a long road, but I have recently found myself liking Demi Lovato as well.  Will I ever admit this to Jess' face, no.  Absolutely not!  Jess' love for Demi has rubbed me the right way and I find myself caring about when her new single is coming out, or the fact that she is playing a lesbian in the new show Glee.  I prayed this would never happen, but living with someone who has an obsession like this, and talks about a celebrity so much, it was bound to happen.  Demi, you owe Jess a huge thank you for all the new fans she has converted into Demi lovers, me being one.

-Guest post by Ally White

New Role for Demi

Like I’ve said in previous posts, Demi is now on the popular FOX show, Glee. Demi made her Glee debut that had not only Lovatics (Demi fanatics), but also Gleeks (Glee fanatics) going crazy! The first episode of season 5, which premiered on September 26, 2013, was Demi’s first time appearing on the show.

She plays a girl named Dani, who is a lesbian and becomes a new love interest for main character Santana Lopez. Santana is played by Naya Rivera. Santana first encounters Dani (Demi) at the NYC diner where they both work. She is immediately attracted to Dani. In the episode, Lea Michele’s character Rachel Berry, notices the quick chemistry between the two and tries to play matchmaker. Within the first episode, Dani and Santana sing the Beatles classic “Here Comes the Sun,” together and then they share a kiss at the end. Check out their duet below.

Demi is a huge advocate for people feeling comfortable in their own skin. Regardless of their race, size, or sexual orientation, Demi always speaks out about hoping people don’t get down on themselves based on how they look. Being someone who has gone through body image issues, she knows what it is like to be the teenage girl unhappy with how she looks. Through experience, she can inform people on how to rise above that.

In the latest issue of Latina magazine, when asked about playing a lesbian role, Demi said, “Yes, we kissed in the first episode, but I want people to pay less attention to the fact that I’m kissing a girl. Focus on the fact that having a young, multicultural lesbian couple on prime time is a huge step in our generation. It’s showing people that it’s okay to be who you are. Don’t be ashamed of it.” Demi wants people to focus on more then just the kissing scenes. Demi joked that she and Naya did some extra rehearsals to make their onscreen same-sex relationship look authentic.

Demi Fashion

Alert Alert! Demi has a new nail polish line! Even with everything she has on her plate right now between The X Factor and appearing on Glee, Demi found time to partner up with The New Black on five limited-edition nail art kits. You can design your own Demi-like manicure! Can you sense my excitement?

Demi is known for her edgy and punk look. She always has the most creative nail designs, thanks to her manicurist Stephanie Stone. Her nail art is always impressive and includes eye-catching designs. The nail polish line will include funky colors, studs, and sparkles. One of the kits called, “In Love,” is  a five-piece violet kit with glitter polish and diamond studs. Another one, “Shattered,” is a three-piece kit with gold studs and brush-on foil. Each of the five kits are easy to do yourself and they become available at Ulta starting November 4th.

In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Demi stated about her nail line, “I love all the products that I have created because I think they embody all the qualities of a strong woman. It is fun to be able to create your own look down to your nails. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my nails, although you can’t always tell. I want to put something cool on my nails that expresses who I am and what I’m feeling.” Check out Demi's Halloween nails!

Demi has no problem showing off her bold new looks. Take a look at her bright blue hair! Now I’m not cocky or anything, but I dyed part of my hair blue this past summer. I’m just assuming she loved the way it looked on me, so she decided to do it herself. If only the blue was still in my hair, we could be matching right now.

Ignore the weird selfie, it was the only picture I could find that showed my blue hair.

Lovato in Love?

Ever since she Joe Jonas broke up with her in 2010, Demi has kept a low profile on her love life. Don’t you just hate it when celebrities do that! No I’m just kidding, but for someone who enjoys stalking Demi, it sucks not knowing what is going on in her love life.

Everyone remembers Fez from That ‘70s Show right? Well, for a while now, there has been rumors that Demi and Wilmer Valderrama have been on and off dating. There has been a number of interviews with Demi in which people have confronted her about Wilmer, but her answers are always the same. She tells reporters that she wants to focus on herself for now and that when the time is right she will look for that special someone. Despite what she tells reporters, everyone knows there is something up between Demi and Wilmer.


The speculation began in November 2011. Tiffany Thorton, Demi’s friend and fellow actress from the show Sonny with a Chance, got married. Demi was a bridesmaid and who was her plus-one? That’s right, Wilmer Valderrama! There were a number of pictures taken of them together looking like more than just friends. Check out the pics, they are cute!

As we know from my previous posts, Demi turned 21 this past August. Wilmer tweeted at Demi on her birthday while she was in Africa. He tweeted, “I’ve been so proud of the strength & commitment you’ve gained 4 life, keep inspiring us all! Happy birthday my @ddlovato! With & by u always.” Whether Demi and Wilmer are dating or not, they should be after that tweet, it is adorable.

Now, what is my reasoning for randomly bringing up Demi’s love life? On October 19, 2013, Demi and Wilmer were spotted together, HOLDING HANDS, at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Halloween Haunt in Buena Park, California. They two were surrounded by a group of friends, but they were holding hands the whole night. The group was spotted arriving at the haunted theme park at around 10pm and left at around 2am. Based on some of the pictures, it looks like these kids had a great time. This is the icing on the cake people.

According to Hollywoodlife.com, a source close to Demi told them some details on Demi and Wilmer: “They have been together for quite awhile. Demi is very good at keeping secrets. They are in love and nothing is going to change that. They are not going to broadcast anything but if they happen to be caught in a PDA moment in the future they will not change what they are doing as they are very fond of each other.” For the sake of the rest of the world, will they just admit they are dating already?  They have my vote for cutest couple!

A Pleasant Surprise

It is weird to think about how making one decision, on a random morning, can have such an impact on the entire day.

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013: It was a pretty crappy day. I just moved out of my dorm at school on the 10th because I finished my finals. Happy to be done with school, I was ready for summer. The weather didn't feel the same because it was rainy and pretty chilly. I was bored and my sister was still in school, so I asked my mom to go to the mall with me. My mom loves to shop, so my initial decision to go to the mall was to shop for summer clothes and bathing suits. I had to wait for her to come home from work, but obviously she said yes.

I live in Nassau County, Long Island, so the mall of choice is always the Roosevelt Field Mall. The mall is pretty big, it is the second-largest shopping mall in New York. We were walking around the lower level of the mall when I heard loud noises that sounded like a large group of teenage girls. My mom and I were walking in the direction of the loud noises when we saw a huge line right outside Dick's Sporting Goods. There is a large open space where the mall holds different activities throughout the year. During Christmas time, there is always a picture-with-Santa station set up with Christmas decorations. On Monday the 13th, this wide open space was closed off with barriers, mall security, and cops. I was curious as to why there was all this commotion, so I asked a woman and her daughter who were standing on line.

Now this is where my stalking skills were not up to par. I was very disappointed in myself to not know that all these people were lined up to meet……..DEMI. You can imagine my thought process right now. I freaked out. My mom is a Demi fan too, (I mean how could she not be a fan after living with me). We asked the woman how to get on line and what time Demi was coming out. I was interested to know why she was coming to the mall on this random Tuesday night. I googled the event and I found out that she was coming to the mall to promote her new Demi album that was released on May 10th. The deal was: The first 300 fans to purchase Demi's new album at the F.Y.E. store in the mall would receive a wristband. In order to get on line, you needed to be wearing this wristband.

It was around 5:00 and Demi was supposed to come out at 6:00. I ran to F.Y.E. and asked if there were anymore wristbands. Unfortunately, I was too late. Wristbands went on sale a few days earlier. I'm putting full blame on finals week. If I was not studying so hard for my finals, I totally would have known about Demi going to the mall. Anyway, I decided that I didn't care that I wouldn't be able to meet her and that just standing outside the barriers would be good enough. Me and my mom ate at the food court in the mall and then found somewhere to stand.

6:00: Everyone in the mall must have thought the place was being attacked. These Demi fans are crazy! They were all screaming so loud when she walked by the crowd and sat at her table ready to sign autographs. Okay I'll admit I may have been one of those crazy fans. I asked my mom if it was acceptable to get kicked out of the mall. She looked at me funny because she didn't know what I meant. So I asked, "Can I jump over the barrier and hope none of the cops see me? Would you care if we get kicked out of the mall?" Now I was kidding around when I was saying this, but deep down I probably would have attempted it if my mom was not there.

I took some pictures with my phone, so they are of bad quality, but they are posted below. In case it is hard to tell, Demi is the little blonde sitting at the table. While my stalking skills may have failed me this time, I am now always aware of where Demi is. Next time she decides to come to the mall by me, I will be the first one on line.

The Big 21

As if I am not already obsessed with Demi, I find other ways to make connections between her life and mine. Demi turned 21 on August 20th and weird enough, that is my dad's birthday. Two of my favorite people sharing a birthday.

Unlike most people who go out, party, and get drunk on their 21st birthday, Demi spent hers in Africa with some of her closest friends. She passed up the opportunity to legally go out and drink, for a volunteer program. She spent the entire day working with Free the Children in the Maasai Mara Region of Kenya. Free the Children is a charity and educational system that works with young kids to help them get more involved in their community. Through the charity, Demi and her friends helped build a new school for the children in Kenya. Isn't she such a gem...

During an interview with Ellen Degeneres, Demi talked about her birthday experience. When Ellen asked why she decided to go to Africa she said, "I don't drink or anything like that so turning 21 could have either been a big drag, or I could make it into something special. So i chose to celebrate my life by helping others." She "sobbed like a baby," she said when she had to leave. She even slept in a tent one night and claims she heard animals throughout the night. Here is the link where Demi talks to Ellen about her experience in Africa.

Demi made friends with all the children she helped. She tweeted and instagramed many pictures of her experience. In return for her help, one of the Maasai communities gave Demi a special birthday present. They gave her a GOAT! Not your average 21st birthday present that's for sure. She named the goat Billy. The trip looked really inspiring and fun to participate in. Maybe on her next trip she will ask me to go too.

BEST DAY EVER: Demi is going on tour

It's been way too long since Demi has been on tour in the United States. Ask me if I'm super excited because YES I'M SUPER EXCITED. Goodbye X Factor (for now), hello Neon Lights Tour. Beginning in Vancouver on February 9th, the tour will go to a number of cities in the United States, ending on March 30th in Indianapolis.

Tickets went on sale Saturday, October 5. Did I wake up early to buy tickets? Of course.  Demi's tour is going to be at Nassau Coliseum (the same place I went for The X Factor) on March 11. This is 5 minutes from my house! What are the chances that her tour is stopping on Long Island. My sister is at college in New Haven and the day she saw that Demi was going on tour, she immediately called me. I knew about the tour because Demi had tweeted about it the night before it came out in the media, but we were both still excited.

I received 3 text messages the morning the tour was announced. The first came from my mom, who sent me a picture from Newsday, our newspaper, that was announcing Demi's tour. The second came from my best friend who is at school in Albany because she saw it on the E! News website. She's not even a big fan of Demi, but she continues to send me anything she finds about her. The final text came from my roommate, who was too lazy to move from her room in the apartment to mine, to tell me the news. Clearly once everyone sees anything about Demi, I am the first person they contact.

The tour is named Neon Lights because it is the name of her next single from her latest album, Demi. On Monday, September 30th, she was on the Ryan Seacrest radio show. She talked about the tour and her excitement for it. Demi decided to name the tour Neon Lights because "It fits; it's like a party tour. When I see that title, I think big party." I couldn't agree more. When I saw the promo for her tour, before I bought tickets, I was super pumped for the concert. Check out the video for the tour below.

This tour is a special one because of the other groups that will be joining Demi. She will be joined by opening acts Fifth Harmony (who competed on last season's X Factor with Demi judging), and Little Mix, a group from the U.K.'s X Factor. Cher Lloyd will also be joining the tour because she has a song together with Demi. While talking about the tour, Demi said, "It's girl empowerment. I helped put together Fifth Harmony, and a year later they're on the charts, so I'm really happy for them. It's surreal. Everyone is a power vocalist, they can all sing, so I love the idea of the show." This all-girl tour is definitely something worth checking out! Before leaving Ryan Seacrest she said, "There's nothing better than woman empowerment and having an all-girl tour. What's ironic is we are all from The X Factor, and that wasn't even planned, it just kind of happened that way."

To show her excitement for the tour, Demi dyed her hair blue! She tweeted a picture and captioned it "Like Neon Hair," playing on her lyrics from her Neon Lights song. I am not sure who is thrilled more for this tour, Demi or me. March 11th is a Tuesday and I will most likely have soccer because it will be our spring season. Do we think my coach will be okay with me missing practice for the concert? Probably not. But will I go anyway? YES.

Demi had Her Sweet 16 at Applebee's, so I had My Sweet 16 at Applebee's.

For those of you who do not know much about Demi still at this point, here are some fun facts about her life so far:

1. Her bedroom is the color pink.
2. She is allergic to cats and some dogs. She has 2 dogs.
3. Her number one candy item to have at the movies: Sour Patch Kids.
4. She is double-jointed.
5. The girl loves hot sauce, but does not like spicy foods, that must be conflicting.
6. Her first celebrity crush was Leonardo DiCaprio.
7. When she was growing up, she had a collection of Barbies and rocks.
8. She played with those Barbies until she was 10.
9. When stopped at red lights, she likes to have conversations with random people to make them smile (Me and my friends do this all the time).
10. She knows everything about the Jodi Arias trial.
11. Her favorite thing to watch on TV is 48 Hours.
12. She is obsessed with crime shows and aliens.
13. Her favorite food is chocolate chip cookies.
14. The first time she sang was at her kindergarten talent show. She performed “My Heart Will Go On.” (I perform this song daily for my roommates).
15. She could eat breakfast for every meal (I could eat breakfast for every meal too).
16. She doesn't back down from a challenge, she will most likely take you up on any dare.
17. She can quote every word of Mean Girls (ME TOO).
18. Her favorite place so far is Kenya.
19. She just celebrated her 21st birthday in Africa.
20. She was the 2000-2001 Mini Miss Texas (I was runner-up Mini Miss New York, just kidding).
21. Her first concert was Santana.
22. Her old AOL screen name was “LittleKelly” because she was a huge Kelly Clarkson fan (My AOL screen name was "LittleDemi").
23. She is a big supporter of Obama.
24. Even though they bicker on X Factor, she actually likes Simon Cowell.
25. She had her Sweet 16 at Applebee’s (I love Applebee's).

Here is a video of Obama supporting Demi and her song Made in the USA:

Flashback Friday

The successful Demi we know and love has not always been this way. By 2010, Demi was at the top of her game. In 2007 she landed the lead role in both, Disney Channel's original movie Camp Rock and TV series Sonny with a Chance. Within the same year she joined the Jonas Brothers' Burnin' Up Tour and then went on her own Demi Live! Warm Up Tour to promote her new Don't Forget album. Don't Forget hit number 2 on the Billboard 200 with more then 89,000 copies sold within the first week. In 2009 she released her second album, Here We Go Again, which hit number 1 on Billboard 200. Later that year she went on her first international tour in South America and then joined the Jonas Brothers Live in Concert tour as a special guest. She filmed Camp Rock 2:The Final Jam which premiered in September 2010. She was going on tours, acting in movies and TV shows, and even guest starring in a number of shows such as Grey's Anatomy. It seemed like there was nothing stopping her at this point; she had a few years of real success and most people thought it would continue.

However, on October 30, 2010, Demi dropped out of the Jonas Brother Live in Concert tour to check herself into a treatment facility. While on tour, there were rumors that she punched one of her back up dancers. It was after this moment that her family held an intervention and advised her to get help. Demi needed to confront her physical and emotional issues that were building up inside. While in the treatment facility, Timberline Knolls, her doctors discovered a number of different issues she had been dealing with. They diagnosed her with bipolar disorder during her treatment and that everything was finally coming out at this point in her life. All the pressures of being famous and having to manage the number of different projects she was involved in eventually caused her to break. Demi, who wanted to be honest with her fans and the public, admitted to some personal problems: she was bulimic and self-harming herself. She was also slightly abusing alcohol and drugs, which she considered helped her numb the pain and helped her deal with all the pressure. She also admitted to having a nervous breakdown while in treatment. Later on after getting help, she took full responsibility for the incident with her back up dancer.

Where most famous people would try to hide these issues, Demi was open about the whole process. Obviously she was not in contact with the public while she was in treatment, but after, she was not ashamed and did not try to hide it. She immediately agreed to a documentary about her and the struggles that led to her stint in rehab. The documentary is called Stay Strong and it aired in March 2012. Being honest with her fans caused a great comeback for her. If anything, it made people love her more. While she was in the treatment center, a group of fans started a Tumblr website called "Letters to Demi Lovato". On this website people posted their personal stories about how Demi helped them through their darkest times. Many young girls, and some boys, wrote letters about how Demi gave them the courage to come clean with their struggles. In some ways she saved many lives. When people didn't think they had the strength to keep going, they posted how Demi's strength is what got them through. When she got out of treatment, Demi tweeted about how her mom printed every letter (and there were thousands of them) and put them in a scrapbook for her. She is an inspiration to many people because of her honesty.

By January 2011, Demi was out of the treatment center. At this point she decided she was not going to return to her TV show, Sonny with a Chance, because she wanted to stay off camera for a while and just focus on music. One of the major causes of her bulimia and insecurities was that she was constantly in front of a camera. She felt that she always needed to look skinny and perfect. She also got a tattoo on both her wrists, where she used to cut herself, with the saying "Stay Strong." While she was in rehab her fans were writing that saying on their wrists for her, and posting their pictures online. This inspired her to get the tattoo in honor of her fans.

Demi has been on a remarkable journey. Since her time in the treatment she has released two more albums, joined the judge panel on The X Factor, and has done a number of tours. On her album Unbroken, the album that she wrote while she was in treatment, she had written a few songs about staying strong. Her single "Skyscraper" won the "Best Video With a Message" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards. As of now, Demi is continuing on with her career and helping her fans along the way.

This One Time, During Summer Class

Tuesday, June 18, at 12 in the afternoon I got a text from Jill, my best friend from home. At this point in the summer I was taking summer classes at school while she was at home on Long Island.  Considering I live about a half hour away from Fordham, she asked if I wanted to go to The X Factor auditions at the Nassau Coliseum. The X Factor is a TV music competition show that was started by Simon Cowell. Demi is a judge on X Factor, the American version. I never really watched the show until Demi and Britney Spears became the two new judges last year. They both made the show super funny, and definitely more entertaining. Demi and Britney made a good duo on the judge panel. For the upcoming season of X Factor, Britney Spears will not be returning. Instead Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio will be two new judges beside Demi and Simon.

Anyway, I was so confused when Jill asked me to go because I didn't even know auditions were going to be so close to my house. Her mom works at an office building that is part of Nassau Coliseum and she got 4 free tickets for the show. Knowing my obsession with Demi, Jill obviously asked me to go. The only problem was deciding on whether or not I should go to class, or go to the show. My summer class was only 3 days a week for 3 hours. As soon as Jill asked me, I called my mom to see if she would be able to pick me up that night to come home. Once my mom told me she could come get me, it wasn't a hard decision: I was going to the show.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013. It was a hot, but bright and sunny day. Apparently there are strict dress codes for audience members of TV music shows. No one could wear white, no jeans, no sneakers, and bright colors were recommended. This makes sense considering there is a possibility of the audience being seen on TV (and no one wants to see unattractive things on TV). The show was supposed to start at 2:00, but the doors opened at 1. It wasn't a live show because it was just the audition round, but everything was filmed because anything has the potential of making it on TV. It was me, Jill, my friend Maryssa, and Jill's sister Sammy. When we got to the Coliseum, it was crazy packed. People were lined up outside the doors, and the line went on forever. Everyone was screaming, jumping, and waiving their hands. We waited on line for about an hour and a half. I don't think anyone was expecting this big of a crowd for the show. The system was unorganized and people were going crazy. Every 15 minutes groups of people who worked for different radio stations would walk by and give prizes out to the crowd. Maryssa got a "I Love NY" shirt and Sammy got a bottle opener. They were giving away such strange items, but it got the crowd going. Everyone would scream and jump when these people would walk by. And every now and then a camera would walk by, filming everyone on line that was excited.

Because we didn't know that showing up early was the smart thing to do, we were part of one of the last sections to enter the coliseum. Little did we know that this would workout in our favor. We were just excited to be even watching the show that to us, it didn't matter where we sat. The Nassau Coliseum is where the NY Islanders play their games. The stage was on the floor, where the rink is located. There was a section on the floor right in front of the stage where seats were set up. Then there was another section that was a step above the group level and there were two more rows on that section. We walked down to the ground level, where the Islanders enter the rink when they are ready to play. As we walked through the curtains I saw the entire stage and a huge crowd of people screaming in the stands. Everyone who was not on the ground level was sitting in the normal seats (where people would sit to watch islander games). Just walking into the crowd was pretty cool; I felt like I was in the middle of a concert.

Turns out, being in the last section actually paid off. Me and my friends got the best seats in the entire show. As we sat down, the woman who brought us to our seats told us "If any of you need to go to the bathroom, now is the time. You guys are in the section that is right behind the judges when the camera is on. So, any close up shot of the judge panel and you will all be in the background. If you leave your seats I will have to replace you because we do not want any missing seats." This was crazy. The entire show is based on the judge panel and the people singing on stage. There is a great chance that we will be seen on TV in the background. Remember before when I explained the seating section? Well we were in the first row of the section that was a step above the ground level. The reason our section was a step up was because……the judges needed a pathway to walk from outside, to their seats at the panel.

2:30pm: The show is ready to begin. The lights darken, and the music starts playing. The announcer comes on and the crowd goes crazy. He announces the judges as they all enter together. They are standing right by the curtain (the same one I entered through) and they all turn and wave to the crowd. Then Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio walk to the right while Demi walks to the left. I am in the front row on the left side so she walks right by our section to get to her seat. As she walks by, she puts her hands out and starts high-fiving everyone's hands. Everyone is screaming and she hits my hand! That wasn't enough for me I guess because I jumped off the step and grabbed her arm as she was walking away to her seat. For her it was nothing, but for me it was the funniest thing ever. Me and all my friends laughed because I jumped of the ledge just to touch her. Writing this out makes me sound so creepy and look like a crazy fan. The whole rest of the time all we talked about was how we touched her hand and how we were never washing that hand again.

Overall it was a great show and I had a lot of fun. Now I am looking forward to finding the episode on TV when it airs to see if I made the background. Both my parents watch the show, so I am sure if I miss it, they will definitely see it!

No, I Am Not 12 Years Old

Is it weird to be 20 years old and have an obsession with a famous person? 

Most people would probably say yes, (and then secretly think of their own figure of obsession). It doesn't phase me because all 6 of my roommates think I am weird for other reasons anyway. They all embrace my obsession and think it is funny. Probably not until college did I become more captivated with Demi Lovato, because my friends forced it upon me. Any time they see something about her, they immediately show me. Just last week my mom sent me a picture of an article she ripped out of the newspaper that was about Demi. Not expecting the picture to be about that, I laughed when I realized what she had sent me. I then showed my roommates, who all laughed as well. One of my roommates bought me a huge Demi Lovato poster, which is now hanging in our room. Maybe they are becoming just as interested in her life as I am.

I can see why it would be weird to know so much about someone who doesn't even know me. Celebrities, professional athletes, movie stars; all of these people are idolized by millions of people just because they are famous. Demi Lovato is a singer, actress, songwriter, and musician. I have all her albums and have seen all the movies and television shows she has been in. The first time I realized I liked her music was when I was going for a run with my friend and she put the song "Don't Forget" on her iPod. The song is slow and definitely not a pump up, running song, but I liked it. After that, I just started listening to more of her stuff and reading about her. 

Do I wanna meet Demi? I guess that would be pretty cool, but I wouldn't know what to say to her. I just like to look up what she does with her life because it would be cool to have the talent she does. She gets to travel the world and do what she loves. That is something I would like to do. If I was able to get paid to play soccer all day and do nothing else, I would love it.