Demi does Disney

Demi Lovato , from the Disney series Sonny With A Chance. Photo / Supplied

Kiwi parents of tween girls who haven't already heard of Demi Lovato should remember the name because the young actress/singer is likely to be the new face on their daughters' clothes, bedding and backpacks.

The 16-year-old rising star has a new television show, movie and album being released in New Zealand this year and Disney appears to be grooming her as the next Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana.

The Hannah Montana phenomenon shows Disney's prowess at understanding (and exploiting) the hopes and desires of tween girls (9 to 12 year olds); their wish to be accepted by a close-knit bunch of friends and live an "ordinary life" but to also be an extraordinary person such as a rock star or princess.

The "everyday superstar"concept is a very bankable formula and one that's been tweaked just a little for Lovato with the television show Sonny with a Chance, debuting tomorrow on the Disney channel at 5.30pm, and the movie Princess Protection Program.

In Sonny, Lovato plays an ordinary Midwestern girl whose home-made internet videos win her television fame on an LA comedy show for kids. In Princess Protection Program the shtick is reversed, with Lovato playing a princess who flees her country to assume a new life as an average teenager in the United States.

Perky and pretty, Lovato's Sonny is ordinary enough for tweens to identify with - her struggle to be accepted by her fellow cast members and especially the blonde, beautiful and bitchy Tawni Hart (Tiffany Thornton).

Lovato thinks girls of all ages will identify with Sonny "because she is so relatable and because of her dreams of being an actress which I know many of my fans want to be because they ask my advice about getting into the business".

She says she is like her character because she still gets star-struck by the people she meets working in Hollywood but adds she is not as "quirky and crazy" as her character and that "Sonny is very naive and gets herself into situations that I wouldn't".

Lovato seems very keen to follow the script Disney has set out by portraying herself as an everyday girl who just happens to be successful. "I think that my fans would be most surprised by how ordinary I really am."

She cites pastimes such as hanging out with friends, going to the mall and movies and riding her bike with her half-sister. But unlike other teenagers, Lovato's friends are Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers and the movies she watches are likely to be those she and her friends are appearing in. Even her sibling, 6-year-old Madison Delagarza, has a part in TV show Desperate Housewives (as Gaby's daughter Juanita).

Like Sonny, Demi Lovato is a Texan girl made good in LA but the teenager is not the overnight success of her character. Although only 16 she is a veteran performer having competed in beauty pageants as a child and acting on Barney and Friends as a 9 year old. Her CV includes roles in various advertisements and television shows such as Disney's As the Bell Rings, Nickelodeon's Just Jordan, and Fox's Prison Break.

Her breakout role came in the Disney movie Camp Rock, which also saw her perform on the soundtrack album and tour with the movie's stars the Jonas Brothers last year. The soundtrack went gold in New Zealand and no doubt there are hopes for similar success with her solo album Don't Forget, which was released in New Zealand in February. Although admitting that it can be tough to be under a microscope and scrutinised for any slip-ups, Lovato says that anyone "trash talking" her is "just projecting because they probably don't feel good about themselves. At least I'm out there doing something."

She is aware that she's becoming a role model to many young girls and describes it as "an honour, even more important than people listening to my music". It must be a role she takes seriously as there have been no reported controversies for the starlet to date.

Gossip columnists took delight in the fact that singer John Mayer praised the young beauty on her song-writing prowess by sending her a message on social networking site Twitter. The commentators speculated he was making a play for the young star. It's an idea that is primly dismissed by Lovato who thinks it was "awesome that he complimented her music" and says reading anything else into the exchange is "stupid because he is so much older than me".

She does let her guard down a little to suggest that her life might not be all parties and photo opportunities. "It's my private life and I don't want to go into it but I've grown up fast and been through more than people realise. I think that's where I get my passion for my music because I have a story to tell."

Lovato won't let on more at this time and you get the feeling she's saving it for her book.

* Sonny with a Chance debuts tomorrow on Sky's Disney channel at 5.30pm.