Demi Lovato

In 2007, Demi Lovato got a part on a short Disney Channel show called As the Bell Rings, and then she landed the starring role of the movie Camp Rock. While filming Camp Rock, Demi Lovato began also recording three songs for the film's soundtrack and has had several solo releases since. In 2009, Lovato got the lead in the series Sonny with a Chance, another Disney Channel show.


PROFILE
Singer, actress. Demi Lovato was born on August 20, 1992, in Dallas, Texas. Lovato's mother, Dianna Lovato, was a former country music recording artist and Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader. Lovato is the middle child of three sisters. Her older sister, Dallas, is also a singer and actress, and her younger sister, Madison, was born in 2002.

Growing up, Lovato won several talent contests and performed in famous venues, including the Eismann Center and the Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day Half Time Show with LeAnn Rimes. She started her show business career in earnest at the age of 10 when she became a series regular on the children's television showBarney ?? Friends. After her stint on Barney ?? Friends, Lovato also guest starred on television dramas Just Jordan (2007) andPrison Break (2006).

In 2007, Demi Lovato began working with the Disney Channel. First she got a part on a short television show called As The Bell Rings. Her role on that ended, however, when Lovato was cast as Mitchie Torres in the starring role of the Disney Channel movieCamp Rock. While filming Camp Rock, Demi Lovato began also recording three songs with the pop group the Jonas Brothers for the film's soundtrack.

On September 23, 2008, Lovato released her debut album, Don't Forget. Several of the songs on the album were co-written by the Jonas Brothers. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. In promotion of this album, Lovato went on tour with the Jonas Brothers on their 2008 Burning Up Tour as the opening act.

In 2008, Lovato covered the Academy Award-nominated song, "That's How You Know" from Enchanted on the DisneyMania 6album. Later on in 2008, Demi began filming her second Disney Channel Original Movie, Princess Protection Program. The filming is happening in Puerto Rico and Lovato is starring with her good friend Selena Gomez.

Outside of music, film and television, Lovato is also the national Hasbro "Hit Clips" spokesgirl. She has also done several successful voiceovers for radio and television for companies like Denny's, Radica and Hasbro.

Demi Lovato was the star of her own Disney Channel television show called Sonny with a Chance. She started this show in 2009, filming 16 episodes for the first season. On July 21, 2009, Demi Lovato released her second studio album, Here We Go Again, and then in 2011 she released Unbroken.

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Bruno Mars

SYNOPSIS

Singer-songwriter Bruno Mars was born on October 8, 1985, in Honolulu, Hawaii. By the late 2000s, he started finding success by writing songs for other popular artists such K'Naan's "Wavin' Flag," the theme song for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. After several years as one of the pop music's premier songwriters, he broke out as a singer in his own right with the 2010 hit "Nothin' on You."

EARLY LIFE

Singer, songwriter. Born as Peter Gene Hernandez on October 8, 1985, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bruno Mars grew up in a very musical family. His father, Pete, was a Latin percussionist from Brooklyn, and his mother, Bernadette ("Bernie"), was a singer. Mars received his nickname, Bruno, while he was still a baby. "The name Bruno came from baby times," older sister Jamie explains. "Bruno was always so confident, independent, really strong-willed and kind of a brute — hence the name Bruno, and it kind of just stuck."

In Waikiki Beach, Mars' family performed a Las Vegas-style revue that included Motown hits, doo-wop melodies and celebrity impersonations. Growing up around entertainers, Mars began picking up musical instruments from early childhood. "I've always had a drum set, a piano, a guitar... and never got trained to play. It was just always there, he recalls. That's just how I learned, just being surrounded by it my whole life." At the age of four, he joined the family musical act as an Elvis impersonator and quickly become one of the stars of the show. He continued to perform with his family throughout his childhood, and as he approached adolescence he added Michael Jackson to his impersonation repertoire.

Mars attended Roosevelt High School, where he and several friends formed a band, The School Boys, performing classic oldie hits alongside his family's act at the Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu. Mars credits his fearless stage presence to his unusual childhood. "Performing from such a young age just got me so comfortable on stage," he says. "Growing up performing that was normal for me. Everyone in my family sings, plays instruments. It's what we do."

After graduating from high school in 2002, Mars decided to leave Hawaii for Los Angeles at age 17. During his first few years in California, he struggled to make a breakthrough in the music industry. And especially because he had performed so frequently while growing up in Honolulu, Mars grew frustrated with waiting for his career to move forward. It was during this period that Mars first turned to songwriting. "I only started writing songs when I moved up to L.A., because when I was in Hawaii I never really needed to," he recalls. "But it stemmed from just learning that you have to do everything by yourself. It's not like what you see in movies, where you walk into a record company and you're given all these great songs to sing. You have to write the song the world is going to want to hear and play it over and over again. I learned that the hard way here in L.A." 

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