Elle is an intern at Spunn Records in Los Angeles, run by "Uncle" Allen, who took care of her when her parents traveled and later adopted her. Elle's parents, who were backup singers, died in a plane crash just as Elle was about to audition for Berklee College of Music. She hasn't sung in public since. Elle is from Nashville and has written songs, and her taste leans toward what is called country music these days.
Elle's best friend is Kit, also an intern. Kit seems to like Andy, the somewhat geeky but appealing kid that sells them coffee. As part of her job Elle must do demeaning tasks for Spunn's biggest singing group, Sensation. They are pretty, conceited and demanding, especially their leader Stephanie. They are actually talented, as we can tell briefly in a scene with just their harmonies and no electronic manipulation. But they are mostly fluff and their performances are pure bubble gum.
Ty Parker is essentially Justin Bieber, and Elle is an obsessed fan. But Ty wants to do more serious music as his fans get older. He doesn't care whether his existing fans will desert him. He only cares about his art. And Allen is willing to take a chance on him. But one of the conditions is that he must sing a duet with another hot bubble-gum singer, from Britain, named Kandi Kane.
Elle sneaks into the recording studio and performs a song she wrote. It is essentially pop-country, but because she accompanies herself only on acoustic guitar, it's not bad. She is talented. And Ty can see it. Believing her to be Kandi Kane, he is excited about performing a duet with her. Elle won't deny being Kandi because she doesn't want to disappoint Ty, and they seem to have more than a professional interest in her. So Elle is Kandi, complete with British accent. they seem perfect for each other.
So what happens when the real Kandi shows up? And what nasty surprise do Sensation have for Elle? And what happens to their relationship when Ty learns who Elle really is? Further, what happens to Elle's music career?
This has been done before. It's a formula, but I like the formula. Ashlee Hewitt is pretty and likable and a talented singer, even if some of her music sounds like garbage once the noisy rock band is added. Actually, most of the music other than background music is garbage, at least to me. The target audience of teenage girls will love it.
Kiely Williams is the standout actor here. Everyone does a pretty good job in what is of course bubble-gum material, but I like it, and that's what matters.
There are lessons here about values, friendship and honesty. But they aren't quite what you might expect.
It's a harmless family movie, if you don't mind something you've seen a hundred times.
