High School Musical

OK, so if you have a daughter between the age of 6 and 18 you've probably at least heard about the High School Musical franchise phenomenon. (HSM to it's friends) The latest installment was HSM: Get in the Picture on ABC. It was an American Idol style show to cast the next great Disney star for an appearance in HSM 3. Of course, we had to watch. How could we not?

I was actually and surprisingly impressed by several things about this series.

First off, they did their best not to exploit these kids. It was very Disney. No really obvious catty-ness. The contestants' last names were never divulged protecting their privacy - as much privacy as you get after you've been on a nationally televised series. They were kind to the kids "voted off" and gave them additional training in the chorus.

All the contestants were very talented and great performers. I was shocked by the winner, a 17 year old boy named Stan. He was good but I didn't think he was the best. I'm hoping that Tierney finds her niche in the performing arts, if that's what she chooses, because she was amazing, beautiful, kind and very unassuming. She'll probably be eaten alive in the music business.

One of the contestants was a homeschooler. She was an excellent example of how "normal" homeschooled students are. She was very into the HSM movies and dressing trendy. She fit in just fine with this group of mostly publicly schooled students. Sadly, she was one of the first finalist sent to the chorus, but she was there and made her mark all the same. She seemed very mature.

Now I just have to wait for my girls to overcome the devastation of Stan's win and Tierney's loss.