Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande-Butera (born June 26th, 1993) better known as Ariana Grande is an American actress and singer who is known for playing Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon TV series, Victorious and Sam & Cat. She has appeared in some iCarly segments.

Background

 * Full Name: Ariana Grande-Butera
 * Birthdate: June 26th, 1993
 * Age: 21
 * Hair Color: Dark Brown (Naturally); Red Velvet (Dyed); Dark Red (Dyed); Brown (Current hair color); Blonde (Dyed)
 * Eye Color: Brown
 * Star Sign: Cancer

Early Life
Ariana Grande was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida to Joan Grande and Edward Butera. She is of Italian descent, half Sicilian, half Abruzzese. She has an older half-brother named Frankie Grande who is an actor, producer and director. She attended North Broward Preparatory School. As a child, Ariana began performing at Boca Raton’s former Little Palm Theatre for Young People. A few years later, she started to perform in Fort Lauderdale Children's Theater (FLCT). Grande's hair is also naturally brown and curly, but was asked by creator Dan Schneider to dye her hair red because he didn't want a cast of all brunettes. (Because of the shooting schedule, she has to have her hair re-dyed every other week.) She enjoys getting "technically involved" with the TV show: she likes to help and/or watch the producers put together the songs, camera shots, etc.

Career
In 2008, Ariana was case in the Broadway musical 13 as Charlotte, which won her a National Youth Theater Association Award. Elizabeth Gillies also starred in 13 as Lucy. Ariana played the role of Miriam in the first reading of the new musical Cuba Libre composed by Desmond Child. In summer 2009 and summer 2011, she taught music and dance to children in South Africa as a member of Broadway in South Africa. She has appeared as a contestant in a celebrity episode of the Nickelodeon game show BrainSurge. Ariana also does popular impressions of people on her YouTube channel, including Shakira, Britney Spears, and others. She played the role of Miriam in the first reading of the forthcoming musical Cuba Libre composed by Desmond Child.

Ariana performed the National Anthem for the first live ESPN broadcast of the Anthem for the Florida Panthers when she was 8 years old.

In December 2012, Grande portrayed the character Snow White in the Pasadena Playhouse production of A Snow White Christmas.

On June 8, 2013, a spin-off of Victorious and iCarly called Sam & Cat premiered on Nickelodeon. Ariana Grande reprises her role as Cat Valentine (from Victorious) and Jennette McCurdy (from iCarly) reprises her role as Sam Puckett. The two characters become roommates and start a babysitting business to fund their adventures. Originally, Grande was supposed to remain in the Cat role on both Sam & Cat and Victorious, but the abrupt cancellation of Victorious ended these plans. The show has been very successful which has won the 2014 Kids Choice Award for Favorite TV Show.

In 2013, Ariana broke into the music industry and gained mainstream success. Her first single from her debut album titled "The Way" featuring Mac Miller was released on March 26, 2013. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #10 and later moved up to the #9 position. The song went on to receive a double platinum certification by the RIAA which means it had sold over 2 million copies in the United States alone. Grande later released two more single from the album titled "Baby I" and "Right There" featuring Big Sean. On September 3, 2013, Grande released her debut album title Yours Truly which she had woken on for three years. It debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 selling 128,000 copies in its first week. Ariana has been nominated and won numerous awards most notably the American Music Award's New Artist of the Year. Her back-up dancers include/have included Ian Paget, Isaac Calpito, her brother Frankie, Mike Shawn, Emmanuel "Manny" Hernandez, Shane, Scott Nicholson, Brian Nicholson, and Jordan Viscomi.