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Identified is the second studio album by Vanessa Hudgens, released on July 1, 2008 in the U.S.,^[1] June 24, 2008 in Japan, February 13, 2009 in most European countries^[2] and February 16, 2009 in the United Kingdom. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics.

One single has been released to date called "Sneakernight". This was Hudgens' last album under Hollywood Records.

Realese[link]

Singles[link]

"Sneakernight" was released as the first and only single from the album. The track, produced by J.R. Rotem, was released on May 27, 2008 in the United States and February 8, 2009 in Europe. The song peaked at number 88 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video was filmed by Malcolm Jones and premiered on June 13, 2008.

Other songs

"Identified" was supposed to be the second single from the album, but was not released. In compensation, Radio Disney began playing the song from July 15, 2008. Despite not having official release, the song peaked at 98 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.^[3].

"Amazed" (feat. Lil Mama) was also supposed to be the second single from the album, but was not released too. Just as "Identified," Radio Disney began playing the track from November 20, 2008 and it was included in the Radio Disney Jams 11 CD.

Critical reception[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Blender	[5]
Digital Spy	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	(C+)[7]
Leigh Valley	[8]
Robert Christgau	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
The New York Times	(positive)[11]
Variety	(positive)[12]

Identified has received generally favorable reviews, having a 63 "metascore" based on 7 reviews.^[13] Billboard said that the album "panders to the preteen demo with stop-start pop that ranges from pleasant (the title track) to dull ("Amazed") to off-putting ("Hook It Up"). But for little girls, this is one nonstop sing-along."^[14] The New York Times said that "a handful of songs like this would have sufficed to help mature her image, and yet "Identified" is far more interesting and unexpected."^[11]

Blender gave it a three stars out of five, and claimed that her "voice was made to rip, and when she lets go just a little, the coyness turns sultry—proof that she might just have a life after high school."^[15] Variety said that Identified "shows that the High School Musical veteran is definitely ready to graduate. The better parts of the album find her reaching for a more mature sound, but she hedges her bets with large portions of treacly teen-pop...The weakest link in most of the songs is Hudgens thin, piping voice."^[16]

Track listing[link]

Personnel[link]

The following people contributed to Identified^[17]

• Vanessa Hudgens – vocals
• Vanessa Hudgens, Cathy Dennis, Kara DioGuardi, Leah Haywood, Nasri, Ashley Valentin, Rock Mafia, Christopher Rojas, Carlos Alvarez – background vocals
• Lukasz Gottwald – keyboards
• Jack Daley – bass
• Tyrone Johnson, Scott Jacoby – guitar

Production[link]

• Jonathan "J.R." Rotem, Dr. Luke, Christopher Rojas, Emanuel Kiriakou, Devrim Karaoglu, Daniel James, Scott Jacoby, Antonina Armato, Matt Beckley – executive producers
• Chris Gehringer – mastering
• Nick Banns – mastering assistant
• Jason Recon Coons, Matty Green, Steve Hammons, Scott Jacoby, Emily Wright – engineers
• Jon Lind, Mio Vukovic – A&R
• Miranda Penn Turin – photography

Chart performance[link]

Identified debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200 charts with a sales of 22,000 copies sold in its first week, 12,000 less than her first album, V.^[18]

Charts[link]

Release history[link]

Identified Summer Tour[link]

Identified Summer Tour is Vanessa Hudgens' first ever tour as a solo performer in order to promote her first album, V and her latest one, Identified. She had Corbin Bleu, Jordan Pruitt, Drew Seeley and Mandy Moore as her opening acts in her tour. The tour had 24 shows at State Fairs.^[35][36][37]

Set list[link]

1. "Intro"
2. "Sneakernight"
3. "Let Go"
4. "Never Underestimate a Girl"
5. "Identified"
6. "Say OK"
7. "Amazed"
8. "First Bad Habit"
9. "Don't Ask Why"
10. "Let's Dance"
11. "Hook It Up"
12. "Last Night"
13. "Gotta Go My Own Way"
14. "Come Back to Me"

Tour dates[link]

References[link]

Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens at the Sydney premiere of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Born	(1988-12-14) December 14, 1988 (age 23) Salinas, California, United States
Genres	Pop, dance[1]
Occupations	Actress, singer
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Hollywood
Website	VanessaHudgensOfficial.com

Vanessa Anne Hudgens^[2] (born December 14, 1988)^[3] is an American actress and singer.

Hudgens rose to prominence playing Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series.^[4] Hudgens also has appeared in several television programs including Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. In 2009, she earned critical acclaim for her role in the film Bandslam.^[5]

In addition to acting, Hudgens released her debut album V on September 26, 2006 which entered the Billboard 200 at number twenty four, and was later certified Gold.^[6] Her second album, Identified, was released on July 1, 2008 in the United States.^[7]

Early life[link]

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and has lived with her parents throughout the West Coast from Oregon to Southern California. Her mother, Gina (née Guangco), held a succession of office jobs, and her father, Gregory Hudgens, was a firefighter.^[2][3] She has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who is also an actress.^[8] She was raised as a Roman Catholic.^[9] Hudgens is of mixed ethnic background, as her father is of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila, Philippines, is of Chinese-Filipino-Spanish descent.^[3][10] All of her grandparents were musicians.^[11]

Starting at the age of eight, Hudgens performed in musical theater as a singer, and appeared in local productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella, among others.^[12] Two years after her career in stage plays and musicals, she started auditioning for commercials and television shows, and her family moved to Los Angeles after she won a role in a television commercial.^[11][13] Her acting career started at the age of 15, and she briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts, followed by homeschooling with tutors.^[14][15]

Career[link]

2003–2009[link]

In 2003, Hudgens played a minor role in the independent drama film Thirteen, in which she played Noel, a friend of a lead character Tracy, (played by Evan Rachel Wood). The film was a commercial success, receiving generally positive reviews, with the USA Today calling it "powerful of all recent wayward-youth sagas".^[16] Hudgens subsequently landed a role in the 2004 science fiction-adventure film Thunderbirds as Tintin. However, the film was a commercial failure and received heavy criticism for "abandoning the original concepts".^[17]

A year later, Hudgens made guest appearances on television shows Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. In late 2005 she landed her breakout role of shy and meek Gabriella Montez in High School Musical, opposite to Zac Efron.^[18] Her performance received numerous nominations and awards.^[19] With the success of the film, the BBC predicted that Hudgens would be a "household name" in the US.^[20]

In 2007, Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella Montez in the sequel of High School Musical, High School Musical 2.^[21] Virginia Heffernan of TV Review described Hudgens performance as "matte," as she "glows like a proper ingénue".^[22] The third film in the series, High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released in 2009. Her performance in the film prompted her win for "Favorite Movie Actress" in the 2009 Kids Choice Awards.^[23][24]

2009–present[link]

Hudgens at the Comic-Con Day in 2010

After High School Musical, Hudgens remarked that she will focus on acting and films while "taking a break" from her music career as a solo artist.^[25] She played a supporting role in a musical comedy Bandslam, which was released theatrically on August 14, 2009.^[26][27] Hudgens plays "Sa5m", a 15-year-old awkward freshman with untapped talents.^[28] Although Bandslam was commercially unsuccessful, Hudgens's performance received praise from critics.^[29] David Waddington of the North Wales Pioneer noted that Hudgens "outshines the rest of the cast, failing to fit in with the outcast narrative and making the inevitable climactic ending all the more expected,"^[30] and Philip French of The Guardian compared her acting to Thandie Newton and Dorothy Parker.^[31]

Hudgens performed a musical number with other artists during the 81st Academy Awards.^[32] Hudgens later provided voice roles in an episode of Robot Chicken. Hudgens' involvement in Beastly, a film based on Alex Flinn's novel of the same name, was announced in early 2009.^[33] She played one of the main characters in the film, Linda Taylor. Hudgens described her as, "...the "beauty" of the story but not the stereotypical beauty everyone thinks of."^[34] Along with Beastly co-star, Alex Pettyfer, Hudgens was recognized as ShoWest stars of Tomorrow.^[35] Her next role was in the action film, Sucker Punch, directed by Zack Snyder. She played Blondie, an institutionalized girl in an asylum. The film was released in March 2011.^[36]

Hudgens made a return to theater productions and starred in the musical Rent as Mimi. The stage production ran from August 6–8, 2010 at the Hollywood Bowl.^[37] Her involvement in the production drew negative comments, but director Neil Patrick Harris defended his decision with casting Hudgens by saying, "Vanessa [Hudgens] is awesome. She's a friend. I asked her to come in and sing to make sure she had the chops for it. And she was very committed and seemed great."^[38]

In October 2010, Hudgens joined the cast of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to the 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth, alongside Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson, playing Hutcherson's love interest.^[39] In April 2011, it was reported that she would star in Gimme Shelter with Brendan Fraser, a film written and directed by Ron Krauss.^[40] Hudgens will also play Cindy Paulson in The Frozen Ground, a film based on the Robert Hansen case wherein she plays as his only victim who escaped. She co-stars with John Cusack and Nicolas Cage.^[41] In November 2011, Hudgens announced on her official website that she will be starring with Selena Gomez and James Franco in Spring Breakers.^[42]

Music[link]

Hudgens and Drew Seeley in 2007

Hudgens received a recording contract with Hollywood Records.^[43] On September 2006 her debut album entitled V was released. It charted on the Billboard 200 at number twenty-four,^[6] and was certified Gold on February 27, 2007.^[44] Her first single, "Come Back to Me" became her highest-charting single. Her second single was "Say OK". Billboard readers chose "V" as the seventh best album of the year.^[45] Hudgens was named Female Breakout Singer of the year at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards.^[46]

Hudgens also participated in the nationwide High School Musical: The Concert tour in fall 2006, performing the songs from the soundtrack album as well as the three songs from her debut album.^[47] She sang the duet "Still There For Me" with Corbin Bleu for his debut album. In the following December, she sang to George W. Bush, who was then the president of the U.S., and his family, at The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. with other singers at a Christmas event.^[48]

Her second album, Identified, which received generally favorable reviews,^[49] was released on July 1, 2008, debuting at #23 on the Billboard 200.^[50] The album's lead single was "Sneakernight", which was a moderate commercial success, peaking at #88 on the Billboard Hot 100^[51] and #94 on the Australian Singles Chart.^[52] Hudgens's Identified Summer Tour began on August 1, 2008 and ended on September 9 of the same year.^[53]

Other work[link]

Hudgens promotes Neutrogena^[54] and was the 2008 featured celebrity for Sears' back-to school campaign.^[55] In 2007, she became a spokesperson for Mark Ecko products but ended the contract after two years. ^[56][57] Hudgens regularly volunteers for charitable activities, including those for Best Buddies International,^[58][59] Lollipop Theater Network,^[60] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital^[61] and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.^[62] Hudgens is also featured in A Very Special Christmas Vol.7 disc which benefits the Special Olympics.^[63] Hudgens is also part of the "Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C): Change The Odds" along with other Hollywood stars including Zac Efron, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Bell, and others.^[64]

Personal life[link]

Us Weekly said Hudgens and her High School Musical series co-star Zac Efron "met in 2005 while making the first High School Musical flick, and became a romantic item about two years later."^[65] The two were paired together during the audition process and got the part because of their chemistry.^[66] The two ended their relationship in December 2010.^[65] Hudgens briefly dated her Journey 2 co-star, Josh Hutcherson but the two are now good friends.^[67] Hudgens has been dating fellow actor, Austin Butler since the fall of 2011.^[67][68]

Hudgens at the My Habit launch at Skylight West Studios in May 2011

Hudgens was represented by William Morris Agency^[69] but signed on to Creative Artists Agency in 2011.^[70]

In 2006, Hudgens's earnings were estimated to be $2 million.^[71] Hudgens was included in Forbes richest list in early 2007, and the Forbes article noted that she was included in Young Hollywood's Top Earning-Stars.^[72] On December 12, 2008, Hudgens was ranked #20 in the list of Forbes "High Earners Under 30", having reported to have an estimated earnings of $3 million in 2008.^[73][74] She was number 62 at FHM's Sexiest Women in the World of 2008 and number 42 in the 2009 list.^[75][76] Hudgens is also featured in Maxim's lists.^[77] She was included in People's annual "100 Most Beautiful People" 2008 and 2009 lists.^[78][79]

On September 6, 2007, photos of Hudgens appeared online, one showing her posing in lingerie and another showing her nude. A statement from her publicist claims that the photo was taken privately and it was unfortunate that they were released on the Internet. Hudgens later apologized, saying that she was "embarrassed over the situation" and regretted having "taken [those] photos."^[80] Hudgens subsequently released a statement indicating that she declined to comment further on the scandal.^[81] OK! magazine speculated that Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 as a result of the images,^[82] but The Walt Disney Company denied this, saying, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."^[83][84][85]

In August 2009, another set of pictures showing Hudgens topless emerged on the Internet. Hudgens's representatives did not comment, though her lawyers requested the removal of the pictures from the Internet.^[86][87] In late 2009, Hudgens sued "www.moejackson.com" for posting nude 'self-portrait photographs'^{[clarification needed]} of her taken on a mobile phone in a private home.^[88] Hudgens later commented on the photos' impact on her career in the October issue of Allure with, "Whenever anybody asks me, would I do nudity in a film, if I say that it's something I'm not comfortable with, they're like, 'Bullshit, you've already done it.' If anything, it makes it more embarrassing, because that was a private thing. It's screwed up that someone screwed me over like that. At least some people are learning from my mistake."^[89] According to Us Weekly, further pictures were released on the Internet March 15, 2011^[90] as well as a nude video.

Brian Schall sued Hudgens in 2007 for an alleged "breach of contract"; according to the suit, Schall claims he advanced costs and expenses on Hudgens's behalf for her songwriting and recording career.^[91] Schall claims Hudgens owed him $150,000 after helping her earn more than $5 million for her music career. Hudgens argued that she was a 16-year-old minor when she signed the contract in October 2005, and therefore too young to do so. She subsequently disaffirmed it on October 9, 2008. Papers filed in court by her lawyer say California's Family Code "provides that the contract of a minor is voidable and may be disaffirmed before (age 18) or within a reasonable time afterward."^[92] In 2008, Hudgens was sued by Johnny Vieira, who claims he was owed a share of Hudgens' advances, royalties and merchandising revenue in exchange for his management services. Vieira accuses Hudgens of abandoning her talent team as soon as she became a commercial name in the High School Musical era.^[93] In early May 2009, the case was settled.^[94]

Filmography[link]

Hudgens at the 38th People's Choice Awards in 2012

Discography[link]

• V (2006)
• Identified (2008)

Awards and nominations[link]