August 25, 2006 – The Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls 2 Premieres
“You know as soon as we walk through this door, we are no longer American divas in training, we are international superstars in training.”
On August 25, 2006, the Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls 2 premiered. The sequel to the hit 2003 film, it received the highest ratings of a Disney Channel Original Movie at the time with over 8 million viewers; it is now known as the highest rated gilm in the Cheetah Girls trilogy. The trilogy was based on the teen book series by Deborah Gregory. The film was written by Gregory and Alison Taylor, and was directed by Kenny Ortega. It stars Raven-Symone as Galleria, Adrienne Bailon as Chanel, Sarina Bryan as Dorinda, and Kiely Willaims as Aquanette.
The film begins with the Cheetah Girls performing at a graduation ceremony. The girls are excited about their upcoming summer vacation, although Galleria is obsessed with keeping the group busy practicing and trying to meet producers. Chanel vents to Galleria about her mother Juanita taking her to Barcelona to meet Juanita’s boyfriend, Luc. Chanel dislikes her mother’s relationship, and admits that she is scared that she will have to move to Spain should her mother marry Luc. Galleria promises that nothing will split the friends apart, and pushes Chanel to ask Juanita to bring the Cheetah Girls with her. After Juanita nixes the idea, the two girls head to Galleria’s for a sleepover and Chinese food with the other members of the group. As they talk, Aquanette spots a shooting star, and the girls make a wish to go to Barcelona. As they do, a passing breeze opens the pages of a magazine to an ad for a music festival in Barcelona. Galleria spots the ad, and the group decides to enter the competition. Although they have missed the deadline by a week, the contest is impressed with their singing and allows them to enter.
The girls arrive in Barcelona, with so much to do and so little time
After they convince Juanita and Dorothea to let the girls go, everyone is on a plane to Spain. Aquanette is obsessed with the culture and the history, but the other girls decide to go shopping first. After a long day, the girls settle at a cafe, where they hear the sounds of a guitar. They see a gorgeous man playing guitar, and he stars serenading the girls, and they start singing along with his playing while dancing down the Barcelona streets. Galleria and the guitar player, named Angel, share a connection before Galleria runs off to join the girls. Later, the girls arrive at Luc’s villa, and Chanel immediately becomes sour. Luc tries to win Chanel over, welcoming the girls warmly, but Chanel thinks that Luc is too perfect. Galleria tries to comfort Chanel, but Chanel is still worried about being split from her friends. Luc informs the girls that he has asked one of his associates to travel around with the girls as a guide, but Chanel brushes his assistance off again, wanting nothing to do with him. The girls then head to the festival headquarters, and are surprised when they are asked to properly audition by the director. The girls sing, but are quickly cut off by the director. However, they are surprised to find that they have been accepted into the New Voices competition.
As the girls relax, Galleria interrupts the others for rehearsal, but they are all interrupted by the arrival of Luc’s associate, Joaquin. Joaquin quickly takes to Dorinda, and Dorinda is impressed to find that Joaquin is a dancer. While Galleria and Aquanette go shopping with Dorothea, they run into her old colleague, Randolph Hunter, who is working with his wife, designer Aramet. Meanwhile, Dorinda heads to Joaquin’s studio, where he teaches her how to tango. Afterwards, as Dorinda rushes off to rehearsal, Joaquin asks her to a beach party, but she turns him down, as she has to practice for the festival. Later that evening, the girls head to The Dancing Cat, a club downtown, where they see a performance by Marisol, a competitor in the New Voices competition, and a favorite in the competition. The girls are intimidated by Marisol, but are soon distracted by Angel when he appears on stage to play a Spanish lullaby that Chanel and Belinda sing as a duet before the other girls harmonize.
The girls meet Marisol, a competitor, and her momager, Lola
After they sing, Belinda’s mother Lola greets the girls, and introduces herself as Marisol’s manager. Lola wins the girls’ affections, but secretly plans to break up the Cheetah Girls to give Marisol a better chance to win, especially if she sings in a duo with Chanel. Dorothea is suspicious of Lola’s actions, but the girls reassure her that there’s nothing strange going on. The girls then head to the beach party, and the girls split up to different parts of the party. Galleria, however, is disappointed that the girls don’t want to rehearse for the competition. Juanita and Dorothea vent over tea about their problems: Dorothea about Lola, and Juanita about Luc. Galleria tries to bring everyone back to rehearsal, but the girls once again have other things to do. Dorinda’s relationship with Joaquin hits a snag when Dorinda decides that they’re from two different worlds and their relationship won’t work. Feeling that she’s the only one that is taking the contest seriously, Galleria decides to head home. As she heads to the train station to meet her dad in Paris, the girls meet her there, having realized that they have been too distracted from their main ambition. The girls sing the song that Galleria wrote for the contest, but Galleria only agrees to come back with them if they agree to become serious about the contest.
As the girls reunite, Lola panics and comes up with another plan to break up the Cheetah Girls. Juanita has troubles of her own, as she believes that Luc won’t propose because Chanel doesn’t like Luc. Chanel quickly goes to apologize to Luc, giving him her blessing to propose to Juanita. Luc then proposes, and Juanita happily accepts. Dorinda and Joaquin then patch up their relationship, and the girls then set to work practicing their routine for the competition. The girls then perform at the Dancing Cat to a cheering crowd, much to Lola’s annoyance. She then convinces the owner of the club to give the girls money for their performance, which counts them out of the contest, as the New Voices competition is only for amateurs. Lola then tries to get Marisol to sing with the girls, and when the girls refuse, Chanel is then convinced to sing with Marisol. Although the girls are disappointed, they are cheered when Luc announces his intentions to move to New York with Juanita and Chanel after the wedding. The director then lets the girls know that a reliable source tipped him off that Lola had the girls paid for their performance, and the girls are surprised to find that the source is none other than Angel. The Cheetah Girls are allowed to perform, and Marisol refuses to play her mother’s game anymore dropping out of the competition.
The Cheetah Girls perform in the competition, singing the new song that Galleria wrote, with Angel accompanying them on guitar. The girls win the crowd over, especially when they introduce Marisol as part of their act in an act of friendship. Joaquin and his friends then join the Cheetah Girls as dancers, and the competition ends as a dance party.