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.