By SHARMILA NAIR
alltherage@thestar.com.my

There is no denying that pop darling Britney Spears is the most successful female artiste to emerge from the always busy, teeny-boppers-churning Disney factory. When Spears hit the scene with Baby One More Time in 1999, the former Mouseketeer alumsealed her spot in entertainment history by becoming the best-selling teenage artiste of all time.

Everybody wanted to be just like her and you could almost hear her “nemesis” Christina Aguilera screaming “why is Britney so famous? I’m the better singer!” in envy every time Spears broke records and performed at sold-out concerts.

She may not have the vocal prowess but Spears proved that she had the “it” factor, which might explain why she, despite her much-publicised meltdown, is still relevant in today’s music industry.

Actually, Aguilera is not the only Disney alum who failed to create a huge impact in the music scene … here are others who came close but just create an impact as big as Spears did. Well, there’s Miley Cyrus but we’ll just pretend that she doesn’t exist.

Vanessa Hudgens

She showed so much potential after being cast as Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical movie franchise and even had a nude photo scandal that almost elevated her success to the next level. Unfortunately, it just didn’t take off. Riding on the success of her bubblegum princess image, Hudgens tried to kickstart a career in music and even released two albums, V and Identified but nah, nobody wanted to hear her sing. She then re-shifted her focus on her movie career and has starred in a few movies since her High School Musical days namely Bandslam, Beastly and Spring Breakers alongside Selena Gomez. Hudgens is still trying to carve a name for herself.

Ashley Tisdale

Another product of the crazy successful High School Musical franchise, Tisdale never had the opportunity to rock it on the big screen. Just so you know, she is 28 and is nowhere near as successful as Jennifer Lawrence (why is she on this list? Just because) who is six years younger than her and has an Oscar to boot. Tisdale eventually returned to television series, acting in the short lived Hellcats about a bunch of cheerleaders that no one cared about.

Hilary Duff

She was Lizzie McGuire before “she who must not be named” was Hannah Montana. Duff ruled the tween world with her hit television series Lizzie McGuire and got kids all over the world in a frenzy over a fictional character who seemed could never do no wrong. Duff isn’t exactly the greatest singer Disney has produced but nevertheless it didn’t stop her from producing her debut album Metamorphosis, which didn’t do too well … thus proving that there still are people out there with good taste in music.

Raven Symone

The only thing that this actress had that were bigger than Spears’ were her physique and personality. Other than that, Symone couldn’t match the kind of success that Spears had despite being the better singer and actress. Oh well, some people just don’t have all the luck.
Sharm says: Give it a rest ladies … there can only be one Britney and too bad, you’re not her.