ALL OF DISNEY CHANNEL'S CIRCLE OF STARS VIDEOS, RANKED

 

Welcome Back to Disney! I hope you enjoyed my last post where I ranked the Top Ten Best Disney Channel Halloween Episodes. This week I decided to take a look back at all of the songs and videos from the Circle of Stars. If you've never heard or seen the videos/songs from Disney Channel's Circle of Stars, and maybe don't even know what the term itself "Circle of Stars" is or what it means; well basically every few years, from 2003-2014, a group of our favorite actors and actresses who appeared on running Disney Channel original movies and TV series would come together and collaborate on Disney cover songs and even a new, original song to sing. I remember always seeing these videos/songs play during Disney Channel commercial breaks. Some more than others, and it was always fun and exciting to see when a new one came along every few years. Whether it was just to bring the stars together or to actually advocate for a real-life situation happening in the world, these videos/songs never disappointed. Even going back to re-watch them now, they are just as fun and exciting to watch as ever, and the songs themselves are still catchy, fun to sing-a-long to, and just overall bangers, bops, whatever word you like to use to describe a great, hit song. So what are we waiting for, let's get really nostalgic right now and take a look back at all of Disney Channel's Circle of Stars videos and see where they rank on my list.

Just a brief note before we begin: when I am ranking these videos I am also ranking the song and just the overall performance. So, everything, not just the video itself. 

(from least to most favorite)...

#4 "A Dream Is A Wish" Cover from Cinderella - 2005 

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Although I feel like I remember seeing this video/song from the Circle of Stars more as a kid than I did the next one that I am going to talk about, I ranked this one the lowest just because it felt more out of sync when it came to the vocals. It just felt more all over the place and chaotic, if you know what I mean. But don't get me wrong, I still love this song and video with these Circle of Stars in particular, for all the nostalgia that it brings. Plus, I always loved Cinderella as a kid (she was my favorite Disney princess) and I really love this song and the magic, warmth, hope, and overall happiness that it makes me feel when I listen to it. I also really love the added magic, sparkle effects that they added in this video that went along well with the movie and overall vibe of the video. Something they did in this video that really stood out to me that none of the other videos did was that. Watching this video just makes me feel all the emotions, but mostly happiness, because you get to see all the stars in this video that you normally don't get to see hang out together (because they are not all on the same show) just laughing, dancing, singing, and just having the time of their life together, which makes me feel the same way they do while watching it. It also doesn't look staged at all, just very authentic and natural, which is what TV and everything is missing these days. So, I really wanted to put this video/song higher for that reason and because that era of stars in particular is when Disney Channel really started for me. But, in terms of cohesiveness I had to put it last on this list. It was just a little too chaotic for me. I couldn't focus on each star as much as I could while watching the other videos I am about to mention. 

 

#3 "Circle of Life" Cover from The Lion King - 2003

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This is actually the first video/song that Disney Channel did with the Circle of Stars. This is the one that I don't remember as well as the others on this list from when I was younger. But after watching all of these videos back I would say this one is a little better than the previous one that I mentioned for many reasons. One reason being that their singing was more in sync. I also love the lyrics and overall meaning of the song itself more than the previous one. As another small reason why I put it higher than the other song on this list is because this song does mention the word "faith". I also love that this song is more like a ballad and therefore it's more emotional and can make you feel more emotional than the previous song I mentioned. But, it's also not too emotional or sad because you get to see the Disney stars still having fun and not being so serious even though the song is a little more serious. I've always loved the Lion King movie, so also getting to see the cute clips of Simba and some other scenes from the movie is another thing that makes this video great and fun to watch. I also love the setting where all the stars are singing. It's like a little teen club hangout spot. Just a more intimate setting. I think it goes along well with the whole vibe of the song and you definitely get all those early 2000s feels while watching this video. I also really love how they all made this song their own. It's actually a great cover of a classic, original bop. Although the stars in this video didn't seem to be having as much fun as the stars in the previous video, in my opinion, I still love this one more for those other reasons that I mentioned above. 

 

#2 "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" from Frozen - 2014 

This is my second favorite video out of all the Circle of Stars videos just because it is the one that I can vividly remember (second most of course) and therefore have more of a fond memory seeing this video/song play on the Disney channel. I mean I still remember where I was exactly when this video first premiered on the Disney Channel. I was actually on vacation in Florida that year with my family and we just got back to our hotel room and turned on the TV and it was on. I think I ended up catching only the last half of it. But, you can bet when I went home I re-watched that video over and over again on YouTube. I will never forget that moment and I can never forget this video/song. This song was everywhere after the Frozen movie came out. I mean people still sing it to this day. I do have to say, I was never a big fan of Frozen. I have only ever seen the movie once, but I did not mind the song. It did get annoying to me at times, but watching this video from the Circle of Stars made me like the song even more. I really like this video and song more than the other two I mentioned because it has the greatest number of stars from the Disney Channel that joined together to sing a song and create something special. As it wasn't just the kid actors and actresses from our favorite Disney Channel shows and movies, it also included the parents/adults from the shows and movies, as well. Something the other Circle of Stars videos did not do, which I think makes it unique and special. Even though everyone in this video/song has their own unique voice and style of singing, they actually all work and fit together really well. I also love the setting that this video takes place in. As it seems the most real and authentic because they are just all in a big recording studio with mics and headphones singing this song. I also loved how they paired some people up to even do duets and then would pan to the whole group singing. Which I know they did this in some of the other videos as well, but I don't know, in this one it just seemed more special and different. The only thing that I feel they could have done better during this video was maybe be a little bit more carefree and have more fun, like the stars were from the previous videos I mentioned. But, I mean, I guess they couldn't really move and dance around too much in such a confined space with all those other people around them. 

 

#1 "Send It On" an Original - 2009 

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This was a no-brainer for me. I knew that I was going to rank this video/song #1 on this list before I even had to re-watch these videos to rank them. This video/song is EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING! From the message of the song, to the stars in the video, to the setting/scenery, I LOVE IT ALL. This video/song came out during what was the peak of Disney Channel. This video/song is not just the BEST because it paired the Jonas Brothers with the three most notable stars from Disney Channel history (Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, and Demi Lovato) but it's also the only ORIGINAL song out of all the Circle of Stars songs. In my opinion, it is a very much underrated song. People don't talk about this song/video enough. Even though this is technically, probably not considered a Circle of Stars video (because at this point it was changed to "Friends for Change") I'm still counting it as one, because they were still a group of stars singing a song just for a great initiative called "Friends for Change". I also vividly remember seeing this premiere on Disney Channel during a commercial break. I knew it was iconic (from the first string of that guitar) then, and I still think it's iconic now. It's great because even the message of the song still holds up today, and it has the BEST message than any of the other songs on this list. I mean this is the song/video that started a whole movement for environmental change. I love the whole vibe of this video. I love how they each get to show off their vocals and then you get to hear how their amazing voices sound all together. I also love how it starts off all dark inside as they sing on a stage in an empty building then they run outside and you get to see all of that scenery, as well. It's just all fantastic. You know I love a ballad and this song is a GREAT one. I love how it starts off slow with just the acoustic guitar and two singers and then it transitions to violins and more singers and the song gradually builds and builds and builds. Every time I listen to this song I never want it to end, it's that good. Although, the main video for this song only included six of the most popular actors/actresses of that time, and not every Disney Channel star of the time, I still love this video a lot. They did have some other commercials/videos with this song in the background that included all the other Disney stars, as well. This one with just the six stars was just the official, main music video for the song. So, if you would like to look back at one of those then I will link that below. Overall, there's only one word for this video/song, ICONIC! 

 

 

Well, that concludes my list of All Of Disney Channel's Circle of Stars Videos, Ranked. I hoped you enjoyed reading this post as much as I did making it. Also, I know that Disney Channel started a "Friends For Change" movement that began with "Send It On" and they kept it going for a few years after that with some other songs and videos. So, let me know in the comments if you would like for me to list and rank those for a future post and come Back to Disney next week for more! Oh, and let me know what your favorite Circle of Stars video/song that I mentioned is in the comments as well, because I would love to know. See you next week!