High School Musical 3: Melbourne Madness

Boji, I really wasn’t talking about Zac’s height. I just mean, he’s not very large, or older looking yet, so you have to be careful who’s he’s cast with. I think his height is just fine!! But you have to admit, he’s still pretty young looking.

On Radio Disney, they mentioned that Ashley is one of the presenter at the American Music Award. I wonder if HSM3 soundtrack is being nominated or maybe it is too early at this point.

plz stop insulting ashley guys. just b.c she is a disney girl does not mean she has it easier than any ofthem…she had to audition and earn her part for hsm just like the rest of tehem and her acing is steller. she likes working for disney so what? why is that a problem? they obviously know talet when they see it

Go Sox, that is a nice picture of Vanessa. She looks like a rock chick alright.

Charlene, nobody’s insulting Ashley. Read the comments carefully.

I agree with you all to an extent.

In my opinion, Zac will have an easier time but not too easy. Like Go Sox, mentioned he’s quite small and would need very careful choice of roles to navigate the teen heartthrob status as we know teens are very fickle. Some of the older ones did not have the stigma of Disney to deal with. he’s a hardw

Lucas will be fine. Staying out of the disney bandwagon has helped him shed the image faster and he’s actually getting roles based on his talent. He might not be as popular as Zac but he’s been taken more seriously. Zac is considered for roles that will draw crowds for now while Lucas is considered for his talent.

That’s an obstacle every heartthrob faces and it is surmountable, it depends on how badly Zac wants to shed his heartthrob status.

I’m not sure about Monique but she’s older and intelligent, if she’s able to get into a talk show, that might be better for her. I’ve not seen her acting in anything other than HSM so I can’t comment on her acting.

Though Vanessa has a bigger hurdle to surmount, in the long run, I think it will be better for her. Part of the hurdle is the fact that she’s mixed race and is not connected. Obviously Disney never promoted her and would have relegated her to Corbin and Monique’s status in HSM. Disney promoted just Ashley (because she’s a disney insider) and Zac because he blew up on his own. Unfortunately, Zac didn’t co-operate by dating Ashley, nevertheless only Ashley and Zac got all the mag covers and promotion in HSM 1

The amazing thing about Vanessa and what alarms haters is that inspite of the odds against her, the lack of promotion, even the deliberate slights and all the support for Ashley by Disney and so many bloggers, she’s still giving Ashley a run for her money in popularity and recognition in Hollywood.

This is a girl with a scandal to her name, parents with no connections, targeted by popular blogs, is mixed race in stereotypical hollywood, doesn’t promote herself, doesn’t contact blogs to get a better image, doesn’t respond to rumours or makes any attempt to clear her name. With all that, she’s being recognised credibly enough in hollywood. She gets the most mag covers of all the cast, has three endorsements to her name, is recognised in adult style blogs like People and Instyle consistently and roles are still being offered to her. For HSM 3, She got Lucky and Teen Vogue cover and an Instyle spread solo. Ashley only got a solo Seventeen cover of which the interview centered on ZV not even on her.

The surprising thing about Ashley and what baffles me is that, with all the support and promotion by Disney, MTV, Tommy2, PerezHilton, with her connections in hollywood, her father builds houses for celebrities, her promoting team. Her people regularly contacts blogs like JJ to clear rumors and better her image, she has given an interview to Perez, hence the love. With all that and considering that she was already popular and had a fanbase before HSM and she is 23, why is she still at the level she is?

By this time she should have left Vanessa in the dust and be a force to reckon with in Hollywood yet her edge over Van is so slight and may prove to be non-existent in the long run.

With all her backing, promotion and connections, she’s just endorsing one product, Degree-girl. Ecko’s contract has ended and they didn’t renew it. Where are her magazine covers? The roles are not tumbling in. Van’s movie Bandslam is more grown-up than her next movie. Her album has not done that much better than Van’s or Corbin’s in actual sales and the younger Disney crowd, Demi and co are giving her a run for her money even within disney.
Yes she can wangle presentations at awards but even David Archuleta and Demi are now presenting at awards, where’s the distinction for an artist that should have been as established as Ashley?

It is more worrying that she has not made such an inroad into hollywood with all her support and yet Van with all the odds against her and lack of promotion is slowly making a deeper inroad into hollywood. Ashley should be the queen of young hollywood yet she didn’t feature in the TCAs nor the Teen Vogue issue or party. She has not featured solo in any serious style magazine spread.

My conclusion is that not being promoted by Disney is a good thing in the long run as one is better able to ditch the label and the stigma, look at Lucas and where he is now.
So I wouldn’t worry about Van, her path would be slower than the rest but surer. With all the odds against her, she’s been viewed as more matured and grown-up in hollywood. She’s been put in the same category as Hayden Panettiere, her fellow endorser. They are still 19 and time is on their side.

Ashley on the hand needs to be very careful if she’s venturing out of disney or young hollywood as she has not proven that she can sustain an appeal to grown-ups. It’s sad because she’s 23. that is her hurdle, overcoming the disney stigma. For now, she’s not attempting to yet.

Hear,hear, Naomi. Very good points indeed and I’ll be backing Vanessa all the way. Am hoping and looking forward to better offers coming her way.

Charlene,

If you read and understood my post, you would get it clear that I’m not insulting Ashley.

A rational discussion is going on respectfully among fans here and I’m merely offering my own opinion which is that based on the head start and promotional support and connections Ashley had, she should be more successful than she is now.

You are simply helping me make my point by listing all the opportunities Ashley’s had and all that she’s been involved.

The key thing is that she’s 23. She ’s been in the business and is a producer, her contemporaries should be Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley.

She is older than Lauren Conrad, Blake Lively and Hayden Panettiere but they’re been taken more seriously in hollywood and do not lack for adult magazine covers.
In fact, Vanessa and Hayden are younger in age and in the business than Lauren and Blake but are often more categorized together.

While I’m not a fan of Ashley, I think she’s a decent girl and a hard worker. I just wonder that both her fans and the blogs that support her keep comparing her with Vanessa like she wouldn’t hold up if compared with her contemporaries.

My point is that if people insist on comparing her with Vanessa, she doesn’t come off looking good.
Vanessa is 19, has no connections, has weathered a scandal and lawsuit, has not been promoted as much as Ashley, has not produced as much work as Ashley, has not been a favorite of blogs at all, yet has three endorsements to Ashley’s one and is garnering more recognition in adult mags and style blogs.

Considering Ashley’s position, HSM 3 should not have been her first feature film but it is. Considering Vanessa’s utter lack of promotion in the first hsm, why was she offered Prom night (which she turned down)?

No one is insulting Ashley but she definitely should be more successful than she is compared to the rest of the cast, especially considering the disney support.
She doesn’t appear to be making a fast enough inroad into the adult market considering her age.
It’s her choice, if she wants to remain with Disney but the competition is tough there as well with Miley, JB and the new stars.

Naomi, you’re welcome. Charlene is Charlene, what else can I say. And yes, I love a good and sensible debate without getting all riled up. We can agree to disagree and look at things from different perspectives. I did learn something new here, didn’t know Ashley’s father is a house builder for the celebrities.

i support vanessa all the way, she is an inspiration

Sometimes the “darling” is the one that gets left behind. Sometimes controversy is what moves a celebrity along because it brings out that person’s fans even more and creates even more fans. There are those who want to dis Vanessa due to be threatened by her looks—you know, Ashley’s fans sometimes get all upset when Ashley is insulted because someone thinks Vanessa is more beautiful. So, then an onslaught of haters come along to insult Vanessa. Then they make racial slurs, bring up her photo, and imply she is only popular because of her boyfriend. In the long run this just makes Vanessa more recognizable and people become more interested in her. Once new people see her and get the facts they find Vanessa more appealing. I think that goes for endorsers also.

She’s a beauty, she comes across as more mature, she’s made mistakes so she seems like a normal person. She stirs up more emotion and people of all walks and races can identify with her. She more complex so appears more interesting. She gets her endorsements from the fans in all actuality. She doesn’t have people like Perez Hilton singing her praises and trying to make her out to be perfect. To Vanessa’s CREDIT she doesn’t care what the likes of PH says. I like Ashley but she won’t neccassarily go far just because she gets support from the likes of Hilton and Disney, etc. Also, what I find with Ashley is she doesn’t have the wide range of fans like Vanessa does. I don’t see so many 30, 40, and 50 year olds so interested in her like Vanessa. Ashley’s base is still basically 10-25. AND in the long run those wanting an endorser or to make money with a movie that will sell to those with the money and have the widest reaching audience the crown would go to Vanessa right now. At this point she can still play a 15 year old but could easily play a troubled and darker character of someone 22.

Though this conversation about Vanessa and the industry is excellent it seems it is always forgotten that SHE was making movies before we ever paid Zac or Ashley any attention and when you have been in films even smaller ones people in the industry remember you. She also worked with some rather known actors.

Disney can promote who they want but te label “Disney actor” can hurt you in a lot of places - at least she won’t have to deal with that.

Interesting to read all your comments here. As to her multi racial background, it can be a plus or negative. I recall her saying one time she had a hard time getting roles as she was sometimes seen as not completely asian nor caucasian. but to her credit, Van is recognised as a triple threat, a cut above your regular Hollywood actress. and i hope that she will also have a greater voice in her next non-Disney project (like having a say in the script) like what is being offered to Zac in Footloose.

i need pic of zenessa!!

**love venessa!!! and zac!