If you've been listening to pop radio anywhere in the world in the last two years, it is an absolute certainty you have heard one of Katy Perry's hit songs. Her 2010 album, Teenage Dream, tied a record with Michael Jackson's Bad for having five number-one hits, including "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework," "E.T.," and "Last Friday Night." With the album's re-release, Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, Perry added two more number-ones to that list, scoring for "Wide Awake" and "Part of Me. "

Through 2011 and 2012, her worldwide "California Dreams" Tour hit an incredible 124 locations over the course of a year, and raked in almost 60 million dollars for the twenty-seven year old singer from Santa Barbara, California. Chronicling her dizzying year of touring, and her rise to fame from humble beginnings, Part of Me is a biopic/concert performance movie, that shows the woman behind the makeup and bright outfits, and gives some great insight into what motivates her.

Katy (Katheryn Hudson) started out as a young girl, accompanying her traveling Pentecostal minister parents all over the world. She led a very sheltered lifestyle, listened to only Gospel music, and "couldn't eat Lucky Charms cereal cuz' luck was of Lucifer." Her overly-protective parents' strict upbringing helped her to learn about Christianity, but her rebellious nature was always at war inside of her. At age five, she was first approached at a revival by a man who encouraged her to take the spotlight and sing professionally. The bug bit her, and her love of showing off for friends and family pushed her to eventually put out a Gospel album at age fifteen, and eventually move to Los Angeles to try to hit it big.

Part of Me mixes in anecdotes and interviews from her childhood with live concert footage from her tour, with each song somehow tying into her past and where she has come from. As she struggles to make it as a hit singer, producers and labels are forcing her to try to sound like the next Avril Lavigne or Ashley Simpson, but Perry's personality, and who she was created to be, keeps shining through, waiting for the right time to hit it huge. After being dropped from labels and going completely broke, Perry finally was signed at Capitol Records and almost instantly, was rocketed into the spotlight with the release of her One of the Boys LP.

From there, the way she has dealt with an overnight blastoff into the public eye is shown in amazing detail with plenty of interviews and home videos, and it is remarkable how she has kept her composure and identity during these crazy few years. From hearing herself on the radio for the first time, to going all out for her fans, we see a young woman who truly values friendship, family, and the people that are responsible for helping her to where she is now. In an interview, she publicly reaffirms her faith in God, explains that her views on religion are not the exact ones held by her parents, but that she has a personal relationship with Jesus and is continually growing and evolving in that.

Continue: 1 2