The High School Musical Phenom

The "High School Musical" movie was huge last year, as many tweenies fell in love with Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. The demand for merchandise and a sequel soon followed. The popularity is so insane that Disney parks has a "High School Musical Pep Rally" every day at MGM Studios in Florida, and one at the California Adventure. So it wasn't a surprise when the most anticipated movie this summer was "High School Musical 2."

"High School Musical 2" is proving to be more than a made-for-TV movie - it's already a phenomenon. The show shattered records when it premiered last weekend on the Disney Channel, and its soundtrack album is flying off shelves. A total of 17.24 million viewers - almost 10 million more than saw the debut of High School Musical - tuned in to the August 17 broadcasts, making it the highest rated basic cable broadcast of all time. The basic-cable record had been held by CNN's airing of a 1993 debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement that drew 16.8 million viewers. Disney also set another record right after "High School Musical 2" premiered, "Hannah Montana," which followed "Musical 2" on Friday, averaged 10.7 million viewers, the top telecast for a series in cable history.

The success of "High School Musical 2" has now lead to talks and an announcement of "High School Musical 3." Like "High School Musical 2," Disney wants to have the fans vote on what to put in this movie. They polled the tweenies and asked questions like"
"What kind of sandwiches should Troy and Gabriella eat?" to "What should the mascot for University of Albuquerque be?" There maybe trouble for the "High School Musical 3," Disney is anxious to start production on the third installment of the smash hit movie, but the stars are looking for Disney to show them the money. The cover story on this week's Life and Style Magazine tells the story of three stars looking to cash in on the movie. Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale are all refusing to start production until their salaries are raised.

Wait, in February when production was set to start on "High School Musical 2," according to reports, three of the hit movie's four stars are holding out for more money.
Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and Vanessa Anne Hudgens were saying they would not show up for rehearsals without a new deal, according to the Web site, TMZ. Disney let Hilary Duff walk away from her hit show, "Lizzie McGuire," in 2003 - the biggest show on the network at the time - rather than give her the salary boost she was demanding. Could this mean the end of this pop phenomenon or will Disney cave in to the young stars demands? Time will tell.

The night of the huge premier, Friday August 17th. I was driving home from work, and in the neighborhood I saw various signs decorating the streets, with sayings like:

" Go Wildcats!", "East High School Wildcat Party," and "East High Pep Rally."

The only problem our school is called Rocky River High School and the mascot is a Pirate. It finally occurred "Oh that movie on tonight." Not having any children I didn't know it was such a huge following until that moment. I have to admit I watched the movie, and it is cute, it reminds me of a modern version of Grease. In all honesty, if Disney decided not to do "High School Musical 3" because of the stars holding out, it would not be the end of the world. Yes the tweenies may cry, but that too shall pass, and the next big thing will come about.