Vanessa Hudgens Recovering Well from Photo Scandal

Vanessa seems to have been through a little more than her 19 years merits. She has had a film and television career, which includes her most famous role as Gabriella Montez on the widely popular High School Musical series. She has a gold-certified debut album, V, with her second album, Identified, just recently released. But she also had a nude photo controversy back in September of 2007.

The photo scandal could have cost her career with Disney, but she was fortunately spared. Clearly, Disney could not afford to lose her character for the High School Musical franchise if they wanted to please the fans.

Now back in the music scene with new single, "Sneakernight," Vanessa is ready to further the solo music career that she used High School Musical as a launching pad for. Debut album, V, was able to boast two moderately successful singles for her, "Come Back to Me" and "Say OK." It was enough to rake in about half a million units for the album, which is not bad, but not enough to make her the solo stars that Hilary Duff and Miley Cyrus have become. Due to more aggressive promotion by Warner Bros. Records, as opposed to the Disney label, Hollywood Records, fellow High School Musical star Ashley Tisdale's solo debut album, Headstrong, has fared better worldwide.

Upon hearing seeing "Sneakernight" featured on a news program I was watching at night, I was disappointed in how she reminded me of Lil Mama. With the shiny sneakers and playful dancing, I felt like I was either watching a remix video for Lil Mama's "Lip Gloss" or "Tour Bus (G-Slide)." She can do better than that.

And as I predicted, "Sneakernight" has not become a hit. It sounds like the kind of song that only girl fans of Radio Disney might like. Its potential at mainstream radio is very limited. Hopefully she can pull a more age-appropriate, radio friendly second single off the album soon.

She is still young and she still has time. High School Musical 3: Senior Year and its accompanying soundtrack are both slated for this October, with a still expanding budget that has surpassed the ten million dollar mark. As long as High School Musical keeps going, she will have a steady income and fan base, which she can use to foray into other markets.

As of late, she is still with boyfriend and High School Musical co-star Zac Efron, proclaimed "poster boy for tweenyboppers" by Rolling Stone.