Richardine Bartee
The sun was out, and so was the wind. As I walked to the venue alongside the legendary MTV Headquarters, gusts of wind carried people across 42nd Street and Broadway. One gentleman fell to the ground, but he got back up. I like to find symbolism when things that happen in front of me—especially when it happens often. Press check-in was easy. The Nickelodeon and Pandora-sponsored event delivered as promised. ‘Doug the Pug’, Shimmer and Shine, SpongeBob SquarePants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was there.
It wasn’t just about bringing families together. It was also for Cancer Research. As we had our first experience, a silent auction went on that featured plenty of opportunities through the entertainment business, memorabilia, autographed items, gift sets and museum visits. Amongst the bunch, my favourites were the dinner for ten with a personal chef (Jim Huff) and an iconic photo of Muhammad Ali. When we weren’t talking to the women there with Pediatrics or the Vita Coco staff, we enjoyed the live entertainment. We thought all of the performers were good, but three stood out to us: DJs Amira and Kayla, Asher Angel, and the young girl who did a solo performance. She was part of a children’s choir.
Collectively, according to the emcee, the TJ Martell Foundation they’ve raised six million so far for Cancer Research. I think that is inspiring and amazing! During our time there, we had a chance to talk with JoJo Siwa. If you’re not familiar with her, she’s a teenaged star from Omaha, Nebraska that is famous for her activism, sharing her day-to-day life on YouTube, and now, hosting ‘Lip Sync Battle Shorties’ with Nick Cannon. According to Billboard, she rose to fame after appearing on ‘Dance Moms’ with her mother, Jessalyn Siwa.
When I asked the fourteen-year-old multifaceted entertainer what she thought about the foundation, she replied, “OMG, TJ Martell. It’s such an awesome foundation! I’m so honoured to be here to perform! It’s so amazing! It’s just such a big honour!”
JoJo Siwa is going to release a new song called, ‘Every Girl’s a Super Girl’ soon. It will get premiered on StarStable.com, exclusively April 11. It will be available on the platform for two weeks until its worldwide release April 27. JoJo Siwa shared more detail about her Star Stable partnership with GRUNGECAKE, ‘It’s a really fun game. You could basically raise this horse and my song would be played at the disco. That’s really really cool. But it comes out everywhere—two weeks after.’
Are you going to have a music video for it? “I can’t say. I can’t say,” she responded. When I asked what came to mind when she heard the name ‘GRUNGECAKE’, she replied, “Crunch Cake? A cake that crunches. Like, burnt cake.” We realize she couldn’t hear me well.
When asked what’s next for you, she replied, “So many things are next. My new song ‘Every Girl’s a Super Girl’ is coming out. I have more music coming out. I’m performing at [Nickelodeon] Slimefest in the US and in the UK this year, which is so cool. What else? What else? So many things. My show ‘Lip Sync Battle Shorties’ got picked up for season two. All the things that you could imagine are happening. It’s amazing!”
Her performance was short but polished and awesome. As she shared with us backstage before the main event, she performed a medley of all of her songs (‘Kid in the Candy Store’, ‘Hold the Drama’ and ‘Boomerang’). What a great way to end the night, right?
Honorees Pam Kaufman (Chief Marketing Officer and President of Consumer Products at Nickelodeon), Mark Shulman (Senior Vice President at AEG Live) and Jeff Zuchowski (Vice President at Pandora) received awards.
