As a pop star, the 21-year-old caters to an older crowd. Her first
single "The Way" was a throwback to peak Mariah Carey, built around a
sample made famous by Big Punisher's 1998 hit "Still Not a Player,"
while "Right There" interpolated Lil Kim's "Crush on You," released in
1997, when Ariana was just four. Even newer stuff like "Bang Bang" and
"Problem" has a jazzy maturity that feels miles removed from the slick
EDM-pop that fellow ex-kid TV stars like Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato
are currently trading in.
Consequently, Ariana is much more likely to appeal to
20-and-30-somethings than your average Nickelodeon-bred pop star, but
unless they already have kids themselves, a lot of those older fans were
likely introduced to her through her music, and were thoroughly
unfamiliar with her TV work. At some point, us older fans new to the
Ariana bandwagon have to get a little curious: What was she like on TV?
Was she any good? Were her shows any good?
For those of you still that unfamiliar with her pre-music days, a
little background on Ariana's acting career: she started out as a
Broadway actress, playing the supporting role of cheerleader Charlotte
in the kiddie musical 13. A couple years later, she moved to TV
when she landed what would be her signature role: Cat Valentine,
classmate and friend of protagonist Tori Vega (Victoria Justice) on the
Nickelodeon show Victorious. That show lasted three seasons
(technically four, since the last was subsequently split in two) before
being canceled, at which point the Cat character was given a joint
spin-off with Jeanette McCurdy's Sam Puckett character from fellow Nick
hit iCarly, creatively titled Sam & Cat.
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