Growing up is hard to do

The old song says that breaking up is hard to do but truth to tell, growing up is harder, more so among young celebrities, whose cute, kiddie image is firmly embedded in the minds of their fans for all time. Take the case of actress and singer Mandy Moore. She is now many years away from the Mouseketeer who had a hit song titled Candy. But she still had to fight for acceptance as a grown-up artist with songs and movies to match.

Moore, along with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson were once upon a time the girls Disney was grooming for stardom. They have, in each their own way, proven that the Mouse Company was right about their potentials. I know that they did not turn out perfect in the wholesome standards set by Disney, but you have to admit that they are all certainly successful.

Now while the others made the transition to adulthood and I must say, very adulthood through marriage, motherhood, divorce, etc, etc. Mandy seemed to be having a difficult time ditching her young days behind. And that song Candy was not the culprit anymore. Moore had gone past that. The blame that time around went to A Walk to Remember.

Moore played a sweet, well-mannered, religious teen-aged girl dying of cancer in the tearjerker. She sang plaintive ballads like Cry and Only Hope beautifully. Audiences, including a lot of sentimental Pinoys, loved the movie. The songs became huge hits. They also fell in love with Mandy in a really big way.

But what is a young star to do after generating all that salted water? Stay that way perhaps and milk the success for whatever it is worth? It seemed though that Mandy wanted something else. She tried vastly different roles. The bitchy singing contestant in American Dreamz, Diane Keaton’s daughter in Because I Said So, the flabbergasted bride of License to Wed. Musicwise, she came up with the oldies album Coverage. All very nice but none of them topped A Walk to Remember.

Then thanks to those projects, Mandy went out and made one of her best decisions ever with regards to her career. She decided to write her own songs. I know that this is no big deal really, recording artists write their own materials all the time. But please remember that Mandy has had people telling her what songs to sing and movies to do nearly all her life. Writing the songs she wanted to sing went against the grain.

Released a few weeks ago, the result of her efforts is Wild Hope which contains 12 new songs, all co-written by Mandy Moore. Extraordinary, All Good Things, Slummin’ in Paradise, Most of Me, Few Days Down, Can’t You Just Adore Her? Looking Forward to Looking Back, Wild Hope, Nothing That You Are, Latest Mistake, Ladies’ Choice and Gardenia. It introduces a mature artist, serious about her music and confident of what she is able to do.

Probably influenced by the diverse materials she tackled in Coverage, Mandy’s Wild Hope is a synthesis of female pop sounds from these past five decades. I hear echoes of Skeeter Davis, Claudine Longet, Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan and others. The songs are basically pop but lean in some ways to folk, country and rock. It even has moving piano-backed ballads that show Mandy’s remarkable range and depth of expression. She is at last, wonderfully singing her own songs.

Billboard’s hit list

The Hot 100 singles list from Billboard remains heavy with R ’n B and Hip-hop but the Top 200 Albums chart has taken a different turn and is now filled with new rock and country releases. In the No.1 rung on its first week out is Carnival Ride, the latest from the most successful winner of American Idol, Carrie Underwood. The rest of the Top 10 are Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Kraus; Living Hard by Gary Allan; Elect the Dead by Serj Tankian; Noel by Josh Groban; No World for Tomorrow by Coheed and Cambria; Rock and Roll Jesus by Kid Rock; Still Feels Good by Rascal Flatts; Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces by Seether; and High School Musical 2, the Soundtrack.

The Top 10 singles are Kiss Kiss by Chris Brown featuring T-Pain; Apologize by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic; Crank That (Soulja Boy) by Soulja Boy Tell-em; No One by Alicia Keys; Bubbly by Colbie Caillat; Stronger by Kanye West; Good Life by Kanye West featuring T-Pain; Cyclone by Baby Bash featuring T-Pain; Hate That I Love You by Rihanna featuring Neo; and The Way I Are by Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson.