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Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
"Skyscraper"

Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato (born August 20, 1992 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is an American singer, songwriter, and actr of English, Irish and Mexican descent.

After featuring in the main cast of Barney & Friends as a child, Lovato later gained prominence as a teen idol singer associated with Disney projects. Lovato starred in the 2008 Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock (and its 2010 sequel) opposite the Jonas Brothers, as well as kidcom Sonny with a Chance in the title role.

During her time with the company, Lovato released two studio albums: 2008's Don't Forget, and 2009's Here We Go Again. Lovato also co-starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Princess Protection Program opposite childhood friend Selena Gomez, with whom she previously acted on Barney & Friends.

Amid creative differences and personal issues, Lovato quit Sonny With a Chance and parted ways with Disney. Her third studio album, 2011's Unbroken, featured a new sound that diverged from her original pop rock leanings to more of an Contemporary R&B-inspired profile.

In 2012, Lovato joined the judging panel of the American X Factor for its second season, eventually being assigned mentorship of the Young Adults category. She returned to the show for its third (and final) season in 2013, this time mentoring the Girls category. While on the show, she helped form the group that would later become Fifth Harmony.

Following her stint on X Factor, Lovato released her fourth album, 2013's self-titled Demi. During this time, she also recurred on the fifth season of Glee as a love interest for Santana, and recorded the pop version of "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen. Demi has since released an additional two more albums: 2015's Confident and 2017's Tell Me You Love Me.

In May 2021, Lovato came out as non-binary and changed her pronouns to they/them, though she updated her social media to add she/her in April 2022, and later stated that she is now comfortable with either. Two months before, she had also come out as pansexual.

Compare to her Japanese counterpart May'n.


Discography:

Albums
  • Don't Forget (2008)
  • Here We Go Again (2009)
  • Unbroken (2011)
  • Demi (2013)
  • Confident (2015)
  • Tell Me You Love Me (2017)
  • Dancing with the Devil... the Art of Starting Over (2021)
  • HOLY FVCK (2022)
  • REVAMPED (2023)

Hit Singles


Selected filmography:


Trope for the summer:

  • Their live performance of "Lonely" features them kissing, serenading and grinding on surprise guest artist Kehlani's lap.
  • Girly Bruiser: She is really into martial arts and an avid practitioner and blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as Muay Thai and Kickboxing.
  • Grief Song: "DEAD FRIENDS" is a eulogy for the narrator's deceased friends, lamenting how much they miss them and wish they could talk to them again.
  • Her Own Worst Enemy: "I Love Me" is about being self-destructive: "I'm a black belt when I'm beating up on myself," "Jedi level sabotage," "I'm my own worst critic," and "I always got my finger on the self destruct."
  • Immediate Self-Contradiction: "I Hate You, Don't Leave Me" says, "Just hold me, don't touch me" and "Don't listen to a single word I've said / Just hear me out before you run away." Played for Drama, reflecting the narrator's conflicting feelings, fears, and insecurities caused by their Dark and Troubled Past.
  • Intercourse with You: "Cool for the Summer", "Sexy Dirty Love", "The Kind Of Lover I Am".
  • Ironic Episode Title: "I Love Me" is about being Her Own Worst Enemy.
  • Just Friends: "Give Your Heart a Break", their hit in 2012, is about a girl trying to convince a male friend that they should be more.
  • Ladykiller in Love: "Heart Attack" is a Gender-Inverted Trope example.
    When I don't care I can play 'em like a Ken doll
    Won't wash my hair, then make 'em bounce like a basketball
    But you make me wanna act like a girl, paint my nails and wear high heels
    Yes, you make me so nervous that I just can't hold your hand
  • Lyrical Dissonance:
    • "Daddy Issues" is a synth-pop track about how their relationship with their dad negatively affects their relationship with their lover.
    • "I Love Me" is a peppy song about being Her Own Worst Enemy.
  • Melismatic Vocals: Not to Christina Aguilera levels, but Demi still goes pretty hard on this.
  • Mood Whiplash:
    • Unbroken falls halfway between hip-hop party anthems and Creator Breakdown fueled ballads. Justified as their breakdown occurred in-between the recording the album.
    • The standard edition of "Confident" ends with the emotional "Father", a ballad that serves as a goodbye to their late father. However, the deluxe edition cuts straight to "Stars," an uptempo pop song.
  • Ms. Fanservice: They posed completely nude for Vanity Fair to promote their fifth album Confident.
  • New Sound Album: Unbroken has a more electro and R&B/Hip-Hop sound to it compared to their two previous albums, which were more rock oriented.
  • Precision F-Strike:
    • There's a video of them rapping a song by Drake feat. Big Sean, and they shout "HOE, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" along with the music. It didn't attract anywhere near as much controversy as expected.
    • Demi actually curses a lot in real life, even if they normally don't in their music.
    • Their first F-strike in a song comes from "Cool for the Summer": "Even if they judge/Fuck it, I'll do the time"
    • A despairing F-strike in "Anyone", where they replace the line "So why am I praying anyway?" before the first chorus into "Why the fuck am I praying anyway?!" before the second chorus.
  • Power of Friendship: "Two Worlds Collide" about their relationship with Selena Gomez.
  • Queer Colors: Their song "Cool for the Summer", which is about a heavily-implied same-sex relationship, employs blue, purple, and pink lighting in a club setting.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: Because of personal issues, they didn't return to Sonny with a Chance, causing the series to do a Retool into So Random!.
  • Rearrange the Song: "I Love Me" got an "emo" remix featuring Travis Barker, which replaces the synthesizers and drum machine of the original mix with chugging electric guitars and live drums, while still keeping the original vocal track. While not as "emo" as advertised, it does feel like a throwback to their earlier pop/rock style.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Everytime You Lie", "Mistake", "Everything You're Not.
  • Rock Star Song: "La La Land".
  • Runaway Bride: They play one in "Tell Me You Love Me".
  • Self-Backing Vocalist: Not always, but it does happen (e.g. 'Catch Me'). Otherwise, they've had people like the Jonas Brothers and Kara DioGuardi as their backing singers in the studio.
  • Self-Empowerment Anthem: "Skyscraper"
    You can take everything I have/You can break everything I am
    Like I'm made of glass/Like I'm made of paper
    Go on and try to tear me down
    I will be rising from the ground/Like a skyscraper/Like a skyscraper
  • Self-Titled Album: Their FOURTH album.
  • Silly Love Songs: "Catch Me", "Trainwreck", "Hold Up", "In Real Life", "Unbroken", "Lightweight", "Stop the World", "My Love Is Like A Star", "Made in the USA", "Neon Lights", "Two Pieces", "Nightingale", "Never Been Hurt".
  • Stalker with a Crush / Obsession Song: Until You're Mine treads the fine line between both of these concepts.
  • Slap-Slap-Kiss: "Get Back", "Here We Go Again".
  • Surprisingly Gentle Song: "For The Love Of A Daughter" and "Skyscraper" provide calm thoughtful moments on the Unbroken album.
  • Survivor's Guilt: "DEAD FRIENDS" touches on this, with the narrator saying they don't know why they're still alive today, while the friends they're eulogizing aren't.
    I danced with the devil,
    I made it through hell and I don't know why.
    How am I different? I did and they didn't,
    and it doesn't feel right.
  • Take That!:
    • La La Land is aimed at Hollywood AND Disney for their need to artificially perfect their teen idols.
    • For The Love of A Daughter to their father.
    • Everytime You Lie to the guy who did those things to them.
    • Really Don't Care appeared to be one to Joe Jonas (though they're since reconciled).
    • Waitin' For You and Sorry (Not Sorry) to their detractors.
  • Three Minutes of Writhing: "Cool for the Summer", again.
  • Title Track: All their albums but the self-titled one.
  • Transparent Closet: In a 2020 interview with Cohen, Lovato reveals that both their parents were "so supportive,". Their dad had a particularly sweet reaction to the news. "My dad was like, 'Yeah obviously!' And I was like, 'OK, Dad,'" she recalls, laughing. "He said like, 'Hello? 'Cool for the Summer!'' And I was like, 'Okay, I get it.'"
  • Unskilled, but Strong: In Confident, compared to Michelle's Strong and Skilled.
  • Video Full of Film Clips: "Still Alive" alternates between clips of Scream VI and a story involving Demi and friends facing Ghostface.
  • Vocal Dissonance: Her cute, doe-eyed appearance can make it surprising to hear her deep, raspy voice – both singing and speaking, especially when she was in her teens.
  • A Wild Rapper Appears!:
    • Cher Lloyd in the bridge of "Really Don't Care" plays with this - she's not a rapper on her own, and the first half of said bridge has her singing and not rapping, but the second half has the latter.
      • Not too surprising, considering Cher Lloyd got noticed on the UK X Factor for rapping along with singing, and Cher's first album features her rapping on most of the tracks.
    • Iggy Azalea on "Kingdom Come" from their fifth album Confident. Not surprising as the two are close friends.
    • Lil Wayne on "Lonely".
    • Saweetie on "My Girlfriends Are My Boyfriends".
  • Woman Scorned: In "Mr. Hughes", Lovato scornfully sings about a man who walked out on them after leading them on.

I'll come rising from the ground, like a skyscraper'

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