Scott Kara: A little more wholesome

The kids have spoken. They are sick of bump-and-grind booty-shaking music videos and going for something more wholesome. In fact, the kids are making a real song and dance about something called High School Musical.

Heard of it? Okay, then. For those of you who might think butt-shaking Beyonce is hip with the kids, here's a run down on the phenomenon that is, High School Musical.

It started out as a made-for-TV Disney Channel movie about Troy, the captain of the school basketball team, and Gabriella, a shy girl who's good at maths. The pair meet at a New Year's Eve party and are chosen to sing a song together. They exchange cellphone numbers and promise to call each other.

By chance Gabriella finds herself at the same school as Troy. He can't stop thinking about her and this feeling is brought to life by the song, Get'cha Head In the Game.

Along with all sorts of other schoolyard shenanigans, the pair try out together for the high school musical.

Doesn't it remind you of Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta singing We Go Together in Grease? Without the greasy hair and tight leather, of course. But as you can imagine, with a storyline like that, High School Musical is good clean fun and the young ones naturally gravitate to it. Parents love it too because there's nothing sinister about it.

It's no surprise the soundtrack album has been in the New Zealand album charts for 17 weeks and sold 30,000 copies (it will be one of the year's biggest selling albums). The DVD, which has extra features, including lessons on how to do the dance moves, is the highest-selling DVD in the country.

And news just in kids, the album is being re-released as a double disc set including the original soundtrack and special karaoke versions of the songs.

In the US it is the highest selling soundtrack album ever and the number one selling album this year. Vanessa Anne Hudgens, who plays Gabriella, has launched a solo career and her debut album V is out here in late October. So this is no flash-in-the-pan phenomenon.

A colleague's nine-year-old girl is hooked. Every night she takes the stereo into her room, locks the door, turns it up, and dances. "It's the first time I've ever had to tell her to turn the music down," says her mum. Not that mum minds. She reckons High School Musical is better than those "slutty" videos where the women are wearing nothing and the blokes are fully clothed.

My eight-year-old nephew is obsessed too. Charlie's a cool kid. He plays rugby, does tae kwon do, and enjoys school. And like most of the kids his age he's into High School Musical.

I don't see him much because he lives in Wellington. But two weekends ago, when we did hook up, we didn't head to the park to kick the rugby ball round, it was off to the basketball court to shoot some hoops. Remember, Troy is captain of the school basketball team.

Charlie bought the CD with his own money when it came out in June and recently saved up again to get the DVD - although he begged his grandparents to pay for the last little bit. He even writes down the song lyrics. I think the only lyrics I ever wrote down were by the Cure, when I was in my miserable early teens.

Charlie's mum says one reason the boys enjoy it is the basketball element, and girls like the romance and the music. It's also good for the boys too because it totally destroys the stereotypes of jocks and geeks. But, she says, the main thing is it makes music, singing, and dancing cool.

The story is similar to Grease, which I loved when I was seven and eight. But the sexual innuendo and adult content went straight over my head. With High School Musical, which I have to confess I have only seen on ads, there's no multiple levels of interpretation.

However, while I'm all for good wholesome fun, I'd hate for it to get to the stage where it's like kids' sports where you score points but don't keep score. You can't fool kids.

On the High School Musical thing, though, I'm with the kids. I am so over those sex sells music videos. Unless they're done tastefully, of course.