Around the Net

Disney Readies 15-Year-Old Demi Lovato As Miley's Successor

For Disney, there are few more crucial tasks than finding and developing talent that appeals to 8- to 12-year-olds and perpetuating the pipeline of clean-cut Disney Channel stars whose singing, dancing and acting can be exploited across multiple platforms. The task has taken on new urgency since April, when Vanity Fair magazine published photos of the 15-year-old Miley Cyrus with only a bed sheet covering her torso.

As a rare spring thunderstorm clattered outside, executives from Disney's Hollywood Records huddled with 15-year-old Demi Lovato and her management team recently to complete her debut solo album, to be released this fall. By that time, the company hopes Lovato will already be a household name in the tween world, thanks to a multimedia blitz that is aggressive even by Disney standards.

At the heart of the Disney effort is "Camp Rock," a Disney Channel movie musical that will debut today on pay-per-view and then rotate beginning on Friday through the Disney Channel, the ABC network, the ABC Family cable channel, Disney.com and Disney radio. Promotions will also tout "Camp Rock" merchandise for sale at Disney stores and Target, as well as the movie's soundtrack. In August, when the movie is released on DVD, Lovato will be well into a gig opening for the Jonas Brothers on their sold-out summer tour.

advertisement

advertisement

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »

Next story loading loading..