BACKGROUND
The Cheetah Girls 2 was all set to be the first-ever Disney Channel musical sequel.
After the instant success of High School Musical (2006), this sequel had to be bigger and better – and the best way for Disney Channel to deliver that? To have the Cheetah Girls head out to Europe. Yep, the girls were going on tour! Well, not a literal tour. They didn’t go from winning a school talent show to selling out global arenas, but they were going on vacation to Barcelona in Spain, with the aim being to perform at Barcelona’s music festival.
Americans love Europe, and production companies love to send their American stars to film projects in Europe. It’s been happening for years. Mary-Kate and Ashley got to go to Paris for Passport to Paris (1999), Disney Channel themselves sent Lizzie McGuire to Rome for The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), and now the Cheetah Girls were heading to Barcelona.
This was a great way of one-upping High School Musical, which had premiered on Disney Channel in January 2006, just a few months before The Cheetah Girls 2 arrived in the summer. High School Musical was already on its way to becoming a major hit for Disney Channel, with more ideas for future projects on the way, so The Cheetah Girls franchise couldn’t get left behind. Having the second film set in Spain was a big way of doing this, because the cast of High School Musical never got to go to Europe. Losers. Just kidding.
Anyway, I don’t think I actually watched the premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2, even though I was actively watching Disney Channel at the time. I think I chose to avoid it out of spite, although who I was trying to spite, I have no idea. It’s not like the people at Disney Channel were going to be bitterly disappointed that I personally had not watched The Cheetah Girls 2. But I came to the decision out of pure annoyance because all summer I’d had to hear and see the music video for the song “Strut” that appears in the film. I know it’s a fan-favourite, but I just can’t stand it! Plus, I was never a big Cheetah Girls fan. I liked the first film enough to watch it all the way through, but I didn’t connect with it on a deeper level.
However, eventually, I did bring myself to watch The Cheetah Girls 2, I think it was actually after I saw the third film. It was kind of unavoidable anyway because the first sequel was re-run so often, and at the time I watched it, I didn’t like it. I have no idea why either, because watching it a few years later, I loved the fact it was set in Barcelona, I found a few songs that I really liked, and it just felt like a bigger and better version of the first film, which is what all Disney Channel musicals set out to do. So now, I actually do like it.
PLOT
The Cheetah Girls 2 begins with a performance by the girl group, as the previous film did, but this time, the girls have levelled up from performing at children’s birthday parties to headlining their school’s jungle-themed graduation party. It has been two years since Galleria, Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda won the Manhattan Magnet Talent Show and they have just finished their Junior Year of high school.
Galleria reminds the girls that just because it is summer break, there shouldn’t be a break for the Cheetah Girls, having already created a rehearsal schedule. Galleria and Chanel go and sit with their mothers after their performance, where Galleria is reminded by her mother that summer is for family time and everyone has their own plans. She lets slip that Chanel and her mother are going to Barcelona to spend the summer with Chanel’s mother’s boyfriend, Luc. This comes as a complete surprise to Chanel and she’s not happy.
Later, at Galleria’s family’s apartment, Chanel vents about her annoyance at having to go to meet all of Luc’s family in Spain this summer. She doesn’t want to and she’s never warmed to Luc. Galleria and Chanel wonder whether all the Cheetah Girls could go to Spain as well, and they float the idea with their mothers, who are busy wondering whether Luc is going to propose to Chanel’s mother over the summer. They both say the girls cannot come as the trip is in three days and it would frankly be rude to invite extra people to Luc’s villa, despite apparently being big enough for all of them to stay there.
Aqua and Dorinda join Chanel at Galleria’s for a sleepover, where they talk about their unexciting summer plans. Aqua has some summer course lined up at Columbia University, and Dorinda can go and teach kids at a dance camp, but they’d rather be together over the summer. As they talk, a shooting star passes by the window and they all wish to go to Barcelona. This is what manifesting used to look like – and it even worked, because as luck would have it, the breeze flipped over some pages of a magazine right to a page about a New Voices contest at the Barcelona Summer Music Festival. Galleria gets Chanel to translate it for her. She seems hopeful – until she reads the deadline for entries was last week. Galleria doesn’t seem to think the deadline will apply to them, and goes to call them right away, to audition over the phone. Chanel reminds Galleria about time differences so they agree to wait until later on to call. When the time is right, they all wake up and call the music festival, who try to tell the girls not to bother, but Galleria insists and they sing their song “Cheetah Sisters” over the phone. They are told to download and sign the application form and to get over to Barcelona for a meeting with the festival director next week. Galleria has them promise they’ll work hard to ensure they win the competition.
The next morning, the girls tell Galleria and Chanel’s mothers all about their plans to go to Barcelona. They can’t quite believe the girls’ audacity, but Galleria has worked out with her father to use his airline miles to fly her and Dorinda to Spain, and they can stay at Luc’s house. Chanel’s mother agrees, as long as Galleria’s mother comes too. They admit defeat.
Soon after, the Cheetah Girls are at the airport, ready to fly off to Barcelona and become international superstars. In the city, Aqua is excited to sightsee and to improve her Spanish, with Chanel continuously picking up on Aqua’s flawed pronunciation. Hey, Chanel, not everyone can roll their Rs, you know! Later that same day, the girls collapse at a café after a full day of walking around the city. As they wait for their drinks, they hear a guitarist who starts singing a song. Chanel is asked by Galleria to translate his words, as she has fallen in love at first sight. He sings about following him and discovering “his” Barcelona. The girls take his invitation and wander the city again, with their new friend in tow. He introduces himself to Galleria as Angel. But they have to go now, so she hopes they’ll see each other again. This is a Disney Channel film; we all know she’s definitely going to see him again.
They then arrive at Luc’s villa, which is palatial and instantly impresses the girls. Chanel plays it cool, claiming it is just pretentious to have all this space. Luc later comes in and welcomes the girls to his home, but Chanel refuses to engage with his kindness, claiming instead that he is being annoying and controlling. The other three disagree.
The next day, at breakfast, Luc says he has a friend, an associate and a count, who will be available to help the girls with whatever they need during their stay; they’ll meet him later. Chanel rushes the girls out to their meeting with the festival director, to avoid any further conversation with Luc. They arrive at the theatre for their meeting, where the festival director orders them to go on stage and audition properly for the competition. The Cheetah Girls weren’t prepared for either the audition, or for the festival director to be this direct, but they get up on stage anyway, and sing “Cheetah Sisters” a cappella once again. The festival director says he’s heard enough, and walks away on his phone. Luckily, his assistant comes into the theatre and confirms their entry into the New Voices contest.
They then return to Luc’s villa, where Galleria starts bothering the girls with discussions about rehearsal schedules, when they just want to relax for a little bit. The count and associate that Luc was talking about arrives and introduces himself as Joaquin, getting all the girls’ names completely wrong. Dorinda corrects him and he thanks her with a kiss on her hand. He tells the girls they should head over to the Dancing Cat teen club soon, so they can see their competition for the New Voices contest, as they all practise their material there. Joaquin says he will sign them up to their Open Mic Night tomorrow night. Luc then arrives, saying Joaquin is best placed to show them around, with it also being revealed that Joaquin is his godson, and he is a dancer, something that makes Dorinda more interested in him. Joaquin invites Dorinda to dance with him at his dance studio sometime.
The next day, Galleria and Aqua go shopping with Galleria’s mother, although Galleria is less into it than the other two, wanting to spend some time rehearsing for the rest of the day. Galleria’s mother bumps into an old friend, Randolph, who invites her to see Aramet’s, another old friend, new boutique. They all go to see the shop, but Aqua wants to go with Galleria’s mother on a tour of the facility, having found an interest in fashion and being a big fan of Aramet’s designs. Galleria begrudgingly lets her go for a few minutes. Meanwhile, Dorinda goes to Joaquin’s dance studio where he teaches her the tango.
That night, the girls all meet up at the Dancing Cat club, and Joaquin is there too. As the first act goes on, Joaquin explains that she is a singer called Marisol, and the hometown favourite for the competition. Marisol finishes her high-energy number and the crowd is very much with her. This makes the Cheetah Girls nervous, and they decide maybe they won’t perform tonight! A guitarist then comes on to the stage, to slow things down with an old Spanish lullaby called “A La Nanita Nana”. Galleria is very happy to see the guitarist is Angel, the one they met at the café a few days before. Chanel recognises the lullaby and starts to sing along to the tune. Marisol joins her, and with some backing vocals from the other three Cheetah Girls, they mesmerise the audience there. After the song, Marisol’s mother, Lola, runs over to speak to them, excited to meet the American act that has entered the New Voices contest. Lola says she can really open doors for the Cheetah Girls, telling them it is not easy to win the contest the first time round, since this is already Marisol’s third time in the contest. Lola wants to meet Galleria’s mother, Dorothea, as she is the manager of the Cheetah Girls, and she gives Chanel her number to arrange a meet-up with all of them.
The next day, Lola tells Marisol that she should focus on getting close to Chanel, having seen how popular their duet was at the club the night before. Marisol doesn’t want to break up the Cheetah Girls, like Lola seems to want to do, but Lola reminds her that if she doesn’t win the New Voices contest this time, then her career is over. If she enters the contest with Chanel, she has a good chance of winning and could even crack America. Marisol isn’t overly convinced but doesn’t want to miss out on a long-lasting singing career – or disappoint her mother. The two then meet up with the Cheetah Girls and Dorothea, with Dorothea being very suspicious of Lola wanting to help the girls, not understanding why the competition would be so nice. The girls brush off her concerns.
Later that day, the Cheetah Girls go to a beach party, having been invited by Joaquin. Dorinda goes off with Joaquin shortly after arriving; Chanel walks away with Marisol; and Aqua goes to talk food with someone else, leaving Galleria on her own. She says they need to leave in an hour to rehearse, so she waits alone. Dorinda and Joaquin talk about their lives, with Joaquin saying his life is very complicated, and Dorinda saying the same.
Back at the villa, Dorothea tries to talk to Chanel’s mother Juanita about Lola and her intentions towards the girls, but Juanita is too busy obsessing about why Luc hasn’t proposed. Meanwhile, Galleria has finally got all the girls together to rehearse, but after half an hour, they’re flagging because of the party. Galleria tries to get them to stay focused, wanting to play them a new song she’s been writing for the competition, but Chanel interjects and says that Lola thinks a song in Spanish would be best. Galleria says there would be no point to that since they don’t speak Spanish! Dorinda is then called away by Joaquin to teach a hip-hop class; Chanel is told to get ready to meet Luc’s family for lunch by her mother; and Aqua is invited by Dorothea to go back to Aramet’s studio. Galleria is once again alone, focusing on the contest, whilst the others go off doing their own things.
The next morning, Galleria wakes up to find Aqua and Dorinda up and about, wanting to take the opportunity to rehearse and talk about the new song she was up all night finishing, but Aqua is too busy wanting to share her costume ideas and Dorinda is once again invited out by Joaquin. Galleria goes to find Chanel, only to find Marisol is here, talking to Chanel about her own performance. Galleria tells Marisol she needs to leave, but Marisol reminds Galleria that Chanel invited her here, and Chanel tells Galleria to give her space and stop telling her and her friends – and the other girls – what to do.
Dorinda goes to the studio to meet Joaquin for lunch, only to find him arriving with a group of people in suits. He does not reference Dorinda at all, and she wonders if he is embarrassed to be seen with her, since she isn’t all dressed up. Dorinda tells Joaquin she lives with a foster family. Clearly, they are on different pages and paths in life. She leaves.
At the villa, Galleria talks to her mother about a new design she’s been working on that Aramet wants to create and put in her new spring collection. Galleria’s mother has now got a chance to finally live her dreams of being a top designer. Galleria then has her own news: that she is going home. Galleria is upset that the girls aren’t focused, and if she keeps pushing them, then she could damage her friendships forever, especially with Chanel. Galleria says they don’t have a chance of winning right now and she doesn’t want to get on stage and embarrass herself. She’s already worked it out, so her mother can stay put. Galleria is going to get the train to Paris tomorrow, and will meet her father there to fly home together. Her mind is made up and she thinks it’s for the best.
Later that night, Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda are told by Juanita and Dorothea that Galleria is heading home. The girls can’t believe it got to this point and want to talk to her, to apologise for being distracted, but the mothers tell them to let her get some sleep and to talk to her in the morning. The girls start blaming each other for why this happened.
In the morning, Chanel goes to Galleria’s room to speak with her, only to find that she has left for the train station already, leaving only the new song she’d written for the contest on her bed. Chanel shows Aqua and Dorinda what’s gone on. Chanel gets a call from Marisol and tells her she can’t talk right now as Galleria is leaving Spain. Sure enough, Galleria is at the train station. As she looks at the departures board, she starts to hear singing. It’s her new song. Turning around, she sees Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda singing the song to her, in the middle of the train station, in their pyjamas! The three apologise to Galleria for ignoring her and being distracted. Galleria forgives them, as long as they promise to focus on the performance now. They return to the villa together.
As the girls finally get down to rehearsing, Chanel gets a call from Lola and Marisol, wanting to share their sympathy about Galleria leaving, but Galleria pipes up and says she’s still here. Now that plan has been scuppered, Lola comes up with a new one, and that is to book them in to perform at the Dancing Cat club as a warm-up performance.
Later, Chanel overhears her mother complaining that Luc hasn’t proposed to her yet, wondering if it is because Chanel has made it clear she doesn’t like Luc. Chanel goes to speak to Luc, and says she’s sorry for being rude to him all the time; she just didn’t want to see her mother get hurt. Luc says he wants to have a life with her mother and wants Chanel to be a part of it, saying he has no intentions of hurting either of them. With Chanel’s blessing, Luc immediately goes outside to propose to Juanita, who is randomly sat outside, by a flower bed, reading a book. Very out of character. The others gather to watch. Luc asks Juanita to marry him. Juanita looks over to the crowd and sees Chanel tell her to say “yes”. She does and Luc finally puts a ring on it. Juanita is ecstatic that she got what she wanted.
After that is sorted, now the Cheetah Girls need to organise their Dancing Cat performance. Dorinda takes the girls to Joaquin’s dance studio where he explains to Dorinda that he might be a count but that he has no money, and that is why he didn’t introduce her to his friends, because they were going somewhere fancy for lunch and he couldn’t afford to take her there. Although that doesn’t really explain why he didn’t even say, “Hey, this is my friend, Dorinda, from New York”, Dorinda accepts his apology and they kiss.
But now, the girls really do have to rehearse. They start practising their performance, and are ready to perform at the Dancing Cat. At the club, the Cheetah Girls are a huge hit, so much so, that the owner of the club even pays them for their performance. Lola encourages them to take the money, to use for expenses.
The next day, it is time for the contest’s sound check. The girls arrive, excited, costumes in hand, only to get to the dressing room and be told by the festival director that the Cheetah Girls can no longer perform, because the New Voices contest is for amateurs only, and by getting paid to perform by the Dancing Cat, the group are now classed as professionals. Seeing that her plan has worked, Lola half-heartedly attempts to take the blame for this “mistake”, despite actually wanted this to happen, so she could ask Chanel to perform with Marisol. Galleria and the others say Chanel might as well do that, to represent the Cheetah Girls on the global stage. Chanel isn’t sure, but Lola convinces her to agree.
Back at the villa, the girls complain to their mothers and Luc about what happened, but there is nothing they can do. Luc says there will be plenty of opportunities for them to perform in New York City when they get back home, showing that Luc is going to move to New York after the wedding, so that Chanel can finish high school. The girls then decide to hand the money back to the Dancing Cat owner on principle. Unbeknownst to them, Angel the guitarist saw them hand the money back and goes to investigate.
Backstage on the night of the contest, Dorothea and the other girls watch as Marisol and Chanel practise, with Lola buzzing around them. The festival director comes over, and says he was informed by a reliable source that Lola had arranged for the girls to be paid for their performance at the Dancing Cat. The reliable source turns out to be the festival director’s nephew, Angel. It is confirmed that the Cheetah Girls can now perform together. Lola is horrified, and tries to say it is against the rules, but she is overruled by the director. Lola tells Marisol she can still win, but Marisol ignores her pep talk, saying she doesn’t want to win this way or win just for her mother, and pulls out off the show. She is announced on stage, but is instead eating churros in the audience. Good for her!
That leads them to announce the final act of the night instead, the Cheetah Girls. Galleria begins the performance with Angel on the guitar as their accompanist, stating that this song is dedicated to Barcelona, and to thank the city for everything they’ve learnt there. It’s a bit of an overly dramatic opener to their song; however, they light up the stage with their performance of Galleria’s new song “Amigas Cheetahs”. Joaquin and his dancers come on to stage, and they even invite Marisol on stage to join in with a verse. The audience cheer and scream for them as they take their bows, before they sashay off into the city. We have no idea if they won the contest, but they definitely won over the crowd.
This is where the film should end, however, on the Extended Edition DVD, there is an alternate ending, which sees the Cheetah Girls attend Luc and Juanita’s wedding in Spain. I personally don’t need this song or this scene. I much prefer the original ending.
CHARACTERS & CAST
With The Cheetah Girls 2 being a sequel, it makes sense for the four Cheetah Girls to have returned for this new story, with all four actresses and singers – Raven-Symoné, Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan – also reprising their roles. In this new film, Galleria once again finds herself at odds with the other girls. This time, it’s not because of how Galleria is behaving, but because of how the other three are, choosing their own individual pursuits over rehearsing, despite committing to perform in a prestigious contest and promising to work hard during their time in Spain before they even left New York City. It takes Galleria almost getting on a train headed to Paris for the three girls to see the error of their ways, and to convince her to stay, promising they will focus on the performance now. They are true to their word, and end up becoming a stronger group because of all the drama.
Another character and actress to return here is Lynn Whitfield as Galleria’s mother, Dorothea. Dorothea ends up reconnecting with her designing dreams after running into some old friends, whilst trying to keep the group away from the devious tactics of a new “momager”. This mom manager is Lola Durán, who manages her daughter, Marisol. Lola has total control over Marisol’s life and career, telling her what she can and can’t eat, and who she can and can’t be friends with, because she is so desperate to see Marisol win the New Voices contest on her third try. After becoming threatened by the arrival of the Cheetah Girls, seemingly the only American act in the contest, Lola comes up with an idea to keep Marisol on top – by breaking up the Cheetah Girls and getting Chanel to become a duo with Marisol. She instigates various meetings with the girls, under the illusion that she wants to help them whilst in an unfamiliar environment, but everything she does is to try and sabotage their chances of winning. She even resorts to orchestrating having the girls kicked out of the amateur-only contest by having them be paid for performing at the Dancing Cat, encouraging the girls to take the money when they don’t know whether to accept or not. Lola eventually sees how far she has gone, after Marisol abandons her music career and refuses to perform on stage. In the end, Lola is happy to just see Marisol on stage with the Cheetah Girls having fun for a change, without all that pressure on her.
Lola was played by Kim Manning. Manning is American; however, she had built up a career in Spain, having worked on the Spanish game show Un, dos, tres…responda otra vez (1972-2004) in the 1980s. She followed that up by being cast as Tania Biezka Salianova in Spanish comedy series Manos a la obra (1998-2001). Manning appears to have returned to the US to work for a children’s theatre and acting company.
Marisol is Lola’s daughter, and she is the sweet, wholesome teenage singer from Barcelona. Marisol is the home crowd favourite for the New Voices contest, but she has tried to win this contest twice before and not won. Her and her mother are hoping the third time’s the charm for her. Marisol first meets the girls at the Dancing Cat club, where she joins Chanel in singing the lullaby “A La Nanita Nana”, which is a hit with the audience, giving her mother the idea of getting Marisol to sing with Chanel at the contest. Marisol doesn’t want to go along with Lola’s plans, basically to break up the Cheetah Girls, because she likes them, but she is pressured to, due to Lola’s control over her entire life. Lola tells Marisol to spend time with Chanel exclusively, taking her away from Galleria and creating a major rift in Galleria and Chanel’s friendship. In the end, Marisol is so fed up with her mother for controlling her, and for being caught sabotaging the girls, that she chooses not to perform, much to her mother’s confusion. The Cheetah Girls show they have no bad blood with Marisol though by bringing her on stage for their song. Marisol is able to just sing with her friends without feeling like she has to win or risk being seen as a failure.
Belinda Peregrín, also known as just Belinda, was cast as Marisol. Belinda was born in Spain but has built up her career in Mexico. As a child actress, Belinda was cast as Ana Capistrán Vidal in Mexican children’s telenovela Amigos x siempre (2000); as Violeta Arcángel Flores in comedy drama telenovela Aventuras en el tiempo (2001); and as Mariana Cantú and Silvana del Valle Ontiveros in Cómplices Al Rescate (2002) in the first half of the series. After The Cheetah Girls 2, Belinda went on to be cast as Valentina Izaguirre in the telenovela Camaleones (2009-10). More recently, she was cast as Ǻfrica Guadalupe López in the Spanish thriller Welcome to Eden (2022-23) on Netflix, and as Daniela Levy de Mijares in the Mexican musical comedy-drama series Mentiras, la serie (2025) on Amazon Prime. In music, Belinda topped the Mexican album charts with her debut album Belinda in 2003, and did the same with her 2013 album Catarsis and her 2025 album Indómita. She was also a coach on La Voz (2011-22), The Voice in Mexico, from 2019 to 2020, as well as on La Voz Senior (2019-21) and Season 3 of La Voz Kids (2017-present).
Joaquin is the love interest of Dorinda in The Cheetah Girls 2. He is introduced to the girls as being a count, appearing rich in his fancy suits and with his fancy dance studio. He is smitten with Dorinda instantly, and when she finds out he is a dancer, so is she. They bond over having complicated family lives, however, neither explains the situation until Dorinda takes offence at not being introduced to his other “friends” in suits. It turns out Joaquin might be a count, but his family has no money, and he is just like Dorinda; dancing because it is his life, not just a hobby, like Dorinda said it was. Golan Yosef was cast as Joaquin. Yosef is a dancer and singer, having released various songs through music platforms in recent years.
Angel is a guitarist and busker, who Galleria is immediately attracted to. He starts singing at the café about discovering Barcelona and she is hooked. He then follows the girls around Barcelona as they sightsee – but not in a stalker way, because after this scene, he mostly vanishes, only popping up again to perform at the Dancing Cat on Open Mic Night after Marisol. He isn’t seen again until he sees the girls handing back the money they received for performing at the Dancing Cat, and going to investigate. It turns out he is the music festival director’s nephew, and his information about Lola’s scheme allows the Cheetah Girls to be able to perform. He even plays the guitar as their accompanist during their final performance. But there is no big emotional scene between him and Galleria. It was a bit of a random love interest to tease, because nothing much happens between them.
Angel was played by Spanish actor Peter Vives. After The Cheetah Girls 2, Vives went on to play Marcus Logan in Spanish period drama El tiempo entre costuras (2013-14), and then Carlos Ǻlvarez in Spanish drama Velvet (2014-16).
Juanita Simmons is Chanel’s mother. She did appear in the first film, being obsessed by her new rich boyfriend Luc, ditching Chanel and constantly leaving her home alone so her boyfriend can whisk her off on fancy dates. Now her and Chanel have been invited to spend the summer with Luc at his huge Spanish villa in Barcelona, where Juanita is absolutely convinced that Luc is going to propose to her, being seemingly unable to talk about anything else or think about anything else, even the Cheetah Girls performing at the music festival. As their time in Spain seems to be coming to a close, Juanita is very irritated that there has still not been a proposal, prompting Chanel to tell Luc that she wants her mother to be happy with him, so Luc does eventually propose. After that, Juanita is happy and starts to take more of an interest in her daughter’s life again. But who knows what happened to her disappearing son and Chanel’s brother? He’s just not in this film. He must’ve chosen to stay with his father, to get away from all this drama and wedding chat…
Anyway, Lori Alter returned to play Juanita in The Cheetah Girls 2, after playing the character in The Cheetah Girls. Prior to her role in The Cheetah Girls franchise, Alter was cast as Renata D’Allesandro in the Canadian show Power Play (1998-2000), later going on to be cast as Anna Sophie Antonia Garces-Keller in the Canadian-French sitcom Family Biz (2009) and as Lisa Dewitt in the series She’s the Mayor (2011).
Finally, we have Luc, Juanita’s boyfriend. Luc was French in the first film. This wasn’t even assumed by the audience after hearing he lived in Paris, but was actually said specifically by both Chanel and Juanita. It would appear Juanita was too overjoyed at having a rich boyfriend that she had no interest in finding out his nationality because in this film, Luc is Spanish and was just living in Paris. Easy mistake to make with the love of your life, right? Luc clearly does have a lot of money, from working in “business”, whatever that means. Luc seems very nice and is friendly to Chanel and the other Cheetah Girls, happily opening his home up to them, finding them a tour guide in Joaquin, and just generally being there for them during the run-up to performing at the music festival. He seems much more interested in the show than Chanel’s mother does anyway! Chanel eventually warms to Luc during her time in Spain and accepts that it was wrong of her to be so rude to him. After apologising and telling Luc that she wants him to be part of their family, Luc proposes to Juanita, making him Chanel’s new stepfather. He is even considerate of Chanel’s feelings, saying he will move to New York instead of making Chanel move to Barcelona. And yet Chanel’s mother was trying to move her to Paris without telling her in the first film. Wow. So, Luc was never the villain. Who knew? Everyone but Chanel apparently.
Spanish actor Abel Folk was cast as Luc. Prior to his casting in The Cheetah Girls 2, Folk was cast as Berni in the Spanish drama series Laura (1998-99). After this film, Folk was cast as Jordi Vergés / Gabriel Vergés in the Catalan series Ventdelplà (2005-2010) from 2008 to 2010. Recently, Folk was cast as Octavio Oramas in La encrucijada (2025-26).
MUSIC
After only recording a total of four songs for The Cheetah Girls movie in 2003, I’m sure the girls were much happier to find that their song numbers had more than doubled in this sequel, with a mixture of new genres used too, such as Latin pop and R&B.
The Cheetah Girls 2 begins with a high-energy performance of “The Party’s Just Begun”. The first film began with a low-key performance at a children’s birthday party, but this sequel has the girls stepping it up by performing with proper costumes, on a real stage, and in front of an actual audience, albeit an audience of high school students, but it’s still moving forward! Although this song is an iconic Cheetah Girls song, I have never liked it. “The Party’s Just Begun” was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.
Following on from that, the girls then sing the song “Strut” as they sing and dance around Barcelona, with Angel the guitarist, using the sights of Barcelona as their stage. Adrienne Bailon said that for “Strut”, she was wearing ballerina flats, but due to her small feet, the shoes didn’t fit her properly and the shoes kept flying off whilst she was trying to dance. In the end, the crew had to use clear packing tape, wrapping it around her shoes to keep them on her feet[1]! “Strut” is also used in the End Credits. It was written by Jamie Houston. Again, this song is much loved by Cheetah Girls fans, but not by me. Disney Channel used it way too much when promoting the sequel that I ended up hating it, and yet, I still don’t think it is the worst song in The Cheetah Girls 2!
“Dance with Me” is the song that is used for the dance sequence of Joaquin teaching Dorinda how to dance tango. Sabrina Bryan said she was very excited for this sequence, with it all being filmed in one demanding day for the cast and crew[2]. This song was not performed by any of the Cheetah Girls or any character in this scene. It was instead performed by Drew Seeley, featuring Belinda, who played Marisol. Drew Seeley is well-known amongst Disney Channel fans for singing the vocals for Troy Bolton in High School Musical. “Dance with Me” was written by Ray Cham and Charlene Licera. This is one of the songs that I dislike more than “Strut”. I just don’t like it, or the scene as a whole.
So, after a disappointing start to the music for me, it’s not until we hear Marisol sing her song “Why Wait” at the Dancing Cat club that I actually begin to enjoy the songs in this film. Marisol comes out and performs her heart out here, to a crowd that adores her. It’s a great song and a great performance. “Why Wait” was performed by Belinda as Marisol, and was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.
Shortly after that, Angel goes up on stage at the Dancing Cat and begins playing a Spanish lullaby on his guitar. Chanel instantly recognises the song as something her mother used to sing to her when she was younger, and sings along to the guitar. She is soon joined by Marisol and the two sing the rest of “A La Nanita Nana” as a duet, which the audience love. The other three girls join in by singing some backup vocals, but really this song is for Marisol and Chanel. “A La Nanita Nana” was predominantly sung by Adrienne Bailon and Belinda. It was adapted and arranged by David Lawrence, from the traditional Spanish carol song composed by José Ramón Gomis, with lyrics from Juan Francisco Muñoz y Pabón.
A little while later, the song “Do Your Own Thing” plays during a montage of what the Cheetah Girls are doing individually when they are meant to be rehearsing. Galleria is continuing to write the song she thinks the girls should perform at the competition; Chanel is busy at a get-together with Luc’s family; Dorinda is teaching a hip-hop class at Joaquin’s dance studio; and Aqua is with Dorothea, sketching designs at Aramet’s studio. Even though this song is not accompanied by a big song-and-dance performance, I actually quite like it. “Do Your Own Thing” was in fact a solo song performed by Raven-Symoné, and was written by Raven, Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.
As the story progresses, Galleria starts to feel ignored by the group, who are neglecting Galleria’s rehearsal schedule. Galleria makes the tough decision to head home; to stop pressuring the girls in case it causes their friendship to be damaged forever. This leads to the song “It’s Over” being performed by the Cheetah Girls. It’s a touch melodramatic, but it matches the emotion of the scene. And when you’re a teenager, your friend leaving your holiday early is probably something to make you overthink and question all your life choices! “It’s Over” was written by David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg.
The sadness of “It’s Over” is soon replaced by happy times, as Galleria is convinced by Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda that she should stay in Barcelona because they’ve decided to commit to rehearsing for the competition properly. This leads to them performing “Step Up”, first as a rehearsal in Joaquin’s dance studio, before moving over to the Dancing Cat club to finally perform like they meant to do on that first Open Mic Night they attended. I love “Step Up”; it’s my favourite song in the film. It was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.
The Cheetah Girls 2, in most versions of the film, ends with the girls performing at the New Voices competition, where they sing the song that Galleria had been writing throughout their time in Barcelona. This song is “Amigas Cheetahs”, which has yet another moment of theatrics, with an intense opening from Galleria and Chanel, but it’s not long before they go back to their pop best with another lively performance, complete with extravagant costumes, extra dancers, and even a surprise guest or two in the form of Angel and Marisol. The film ends with the Cheetah Girls continuing to sing this song as they leave the stage, with the audience following. “Amigas Cheetahs” was written by Jamie Houston and Will Robinson.
However, if you had The Cheetah Girls 2 on DVD with its extended edition, after the main film ended, you could then see the extended ending, which saw the Cheetah Girls attend the wedding of Luc and Chanel’s mother in Spain, accompanied by the song “Cherish the Moment”. It was performed by the Cheetah Girls, and was written by Jamie Houston and Greg Curtis. Having seen this ending and heard this song now, I can safely say Disney Channel made the right decision to cut this ending from the final version of the film.
Also within The Cheetah Girls 2, the girls sing their song “Cheetah Sisters” from the first film, written by Jamie Houston, as part of their audition process. They sing it a cappella on two occasions: once over the phone, and then again in a theatre in Barcelona when they meet the Barcelona Music Festival director. However, on the soundtrack, the version of this song that appears on the tracklist is “Cheetah Sisters (Barcelona Mix)”. I prefer them singing this song a cappella, to be honest!
The soundtrack also features two more songs performed solely by Raven-Symoné, which did not appear in The Cheetah Girls 2. These songs were “Everyone’s a Star” and “It’s Gonna Be Alright”, both written by Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil, and Raven-Symoné.
The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack was released on 15th August 2006, ten days before its official television premiere. The soundtrack ended up peaking at No. 5 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on their Top Soundtracks Album. The singles “Strut” and “The Party’s Just Begun” even reached Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 53 and No. 85 respectively. The success of The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack was on par with the likes of Lemonade Mouth (2011) and Teen Beach Movie (2013), which had peaked at No. 4 and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, but was further behind the soundtracks from Descendants (2015), High School Musical (2006), and High School Musical 2 (2007), which had all reached No. 1 in that chart[3]. The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack was later certified platinum after selling a reported 1.4 million copies in the US. Outside of the US, The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack’s best performance was in the UK, where it peaked at No. 3 in the UK Soundtrack Albums.
David Lawrence was the composer for The Cheetah Girls 2, replacing John van Tongeren who had worked on the music for the first film. Lawrence would return to work on the third Cheetah Girls film, The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008). Also for Disney Channel, Lawrence was the composer on various other musicals, including the High School Musical trilogy, StarStruck (2010), Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015), and the first three Descendants films.
PRODUCTION
Disney Channel love to have the opportunity to make a sequel, but in the early 2000s, they actually hadn’t had all that much experience of making them, especially not musicals.
The Cheetah Girls 2 was the first musical sequel for the channel, and in some ways could be considered to be the blueprint that every successful Disney Channel musical franchise later followed, including High School Musical, because, as every filmmaker will state, it’s not always easy to make a sequel that is as loved as its predecessor.
One way to make a DCOM a success is to attach Kenny Ortega to it. Kenny Ortega has had a long history working with Disney and Disney Channel, although by 2006, he had only just directed the first High School Musical film. Still, the acclaim that that film got from Disney Channel fans just proved that getting Kenny Ortega to direct any Disney Channel musical would guarantee a success. And they were right, because The Cheetah Girls 2 was most definitely a hit. Prior to working on Disney Channel, Ortega had been the choreographer on many musical movies including Xanadu (1982) and Dirty Dancing (1987) before directing and choreographing the Halloween film Hocus Pocus (1993) and the musical adaptation Newsies (1992) for Disney. After The Cheetah Girls 2, Ortega returned to direct the second and third films within the High School Musical trilogy, and then created the Best of Both Worlds Tour, starring Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana, which ran from October 2007 until 2008. Ortega was then set to choreograph and direct Michael Jackson’s This Is It tour in 2009, which was cancelled after Jackson’s death. Footage from the rehearsals was later released as the documentary film Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009). Later, Ortega returned to Disney Channel to direct the first three films in the Descendants franchise, and recently worked on the Netflix musical series Julie and the Phantoms (2020).
Although The Cheetah Girls 2 was obviously still based on characters created by Deborah Gregory for her The Cheetah Girls book series, this sequel was an original story, as none of Gregory’s books see the Cheetah Girls head to Barcelona to take part in a music competition. The Cheetah Girls 2 was written by Alison Taylor, who had previously written the first instalment of the film franchise, and Bethesda Brown. Whitney Houston and Debra Martin Chase were also producers on this sequel as they were on the first film.
By April 2006, it was confirmed that filming was under way for The Cheetah Girls 2, with it also being confirmed that the four girls Raven-Symoné, Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan would all be returning to reprise their roles and that Kenny Ortega of High School Musical fame was on board to be the choreographer and director. It would seem that as filming was taking place in Spring 2006 that they needed a quick turnaround in order to ensure the film was ready to debut in August 2006[4].
But before filming could take place, the girls had to record their music, which they loved doing for this sequel, as they felt that the songs had been stepped up a gear with lots of energy in the music. They then had to do three weeks of intense dance rehearsals, with the choreographing also being intensified for this movie thanks to Kenny Ortega and Charles Klapow’s high standards for this film. Klapow was also a choreographer on the High School Musical films. After this was completed, the cast and crew were ready to go to Barcelona[5].
Even though portions of The Cheetah Girls 2 were set in New York City, prior to the girls flying off to Barcelona, the entirety of the film was actually filmed in Barcelona, with Galleria’s apartment apparently needing to be completely redesigned to make it look like a typical New York apartment and not a European one. Other sets, like the Dancing Cat club, the high school graduation party, and the staging for the New Voices competition were also designed and created, thanks to production designer Mark Hofeling who, like Kenny Ortega, has much experience working on Disney Channel movies, having worked on the likes of musical franchises like High School Musical, Descendants, and ZOMBIES, as well as non-musical films like Den Brother (2010) and Read It and Weep (2006)[6].
But there were plenty of opportunities to film within the beautiful city of Barcelona itself. The “Strut” sequence was one to really showcase the sights of the city, going all over the place, with moments in Park Güell; the Plaça de les Cascades near the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya; Park Montjuïc; Passeig del Born; and Palace Dalmases, becoming the café where the Cheetah Girls meet guitarist Angel at the beginning of the song.
Away from “Strut”, there are still various other locations that the cast and crew visited for their shoot. One is Plaça del Rei, which was used for the location of the New Voices contest stage. The Chapel of Santa Àgata was used as the dressing room for the contest. The Estació de França train station was the train station that Galleria walks through as she tries to find her train to Paris, and the Palau de la Música Catalana appears to have been used as the theatre that the girls audition in to confirm their spot in the contest in front of the festival director. The beach party that the girls attend, thanks to an invite from Joaquin, was filmed at Platja del Garraf and the exterior of the Teatre Coliseum was used as the exterior of Joaquin’s dance studio. Finally, Luc’s villa seems to have been the events space Finca Mas Solers, situated about an hour outside of the city centre[7].
It would seem that with all this excitement around the music, the dances, and the amazing locations that everything was rosy on the set of The Cheetah Girls 2. Those in the know are aware that was not the case at all.
Despite appearing harmonious and stating how close the four girls were as a group whilst filming the first Cheetah Girls movie, something had changed by the time The Cheetah Girls 2 started production. There was no longer a bond between the girls that had existed in Toronto, and there was now a huge divide between Raven-Symoné and the other three girls. It is unclear exactly what or who caused all this drama and friction, but some have stated that it may’ve been the case that, as Raven was having huge success away from The Cheetah Girls and had been acting since she was very young, the other three girls may have felt jealous of her fame. Although I can’t comment on what was said and what wasn’t said because this has never been stated in public – quite rightly too – all I can say is that this divide doesn’t surprise me. Not because I think Williams, Bryan, or Bailon are nasty and mean, but because those three were close due to their involvement in the Cheetah Girls as a musical group. They were on their own journey and Raven was on hers, so naturally, when the two sides came together, I wouldn’t have expected them to get along, at least not in the way they had when the first film was being made. But like I said, there are rumours that this was not just a case of one person drifting away from the others, and was deeper than that, so it seems there is more to the story that we won’t ever know specifics about.
What we do know is that Raven-Symoné was so affected by her experience on The Cheetah Girls 2 that she refused to make the third film[8]. Perhaps Disney Channel should’ve reconsidered their decision to make a third Cheetah Girls film without arguably their biggest star, but they did not, and pushed ahead with making The Cheetah Girls 3 without Raven.
RECEPTION
The Cheetah Girls 2 premiered on the Disney Channel in the US on 25th August 2006.
There does not seem to have been a red carpet premiere prior to the film’s release, however, Disney Channel did screen a premiere party for The Cheetah Girls 2, with segments from this party playing before, during, and after the showing of the film. It was hosted by Miley Cyrus and Corbin Bleu, who were both rising stars for the channel in 2006 for their work on Hannah Montana (2006-11) and High School Musical respectively. Plenty of other Disney Channel stars attended the premiere party too, including those from High School Musical, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08), Hannah Montana, and That’s So Raven (2003-07). The Cheetah Girls were obviously there too, although director Kenny Ortega was only available for a quick video as he was away working on a project in Australia. It would seem that the party was also open to a select few kids too, who could play various games, dance, and snack during the premiere party.
The Cheetah Girls 2 was promoted on the Disney Channel as being part of their So Hot Summer! event, which had also been an event in 2005. In 2006, other programming involved in So Hot Summer! were new episodes of favourite series like That’s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, the new Disney Channel Original Movie Read It and Weep, which premiered in July 2006, and the first season of the Disney Channel Games.
It would seem that in the UK, The Cheetah Girls 2 came to screens a month later in September 2006, with it reaching many other international Disney Channels in Europe and South America by the end of 2006, and other ones a bit further afield by early 2007.
On its US premiere, it was said that The Cheetah Girls 2 drew an average of 7.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched DCOM debut in their history, tied with Cadet Kelly (2002), being particular well-received in the Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 demographics[9]. The Cheetah Girls 2 even beat out High School Musical, which premiered in January 2006, with around 7.7 million viewers, however, it did become much more successful later. The Cheetah Girls 2 was the most-watched DCOM of 2006 and remains tied at No. 8 with Cadet Kelly in the Top 10 Most-Watched DCOMs list. This Top 10 is likely to remain now, given how live TV viewing habits have changed in recent years.
The Cheetah Girls 2 is generally considered to be bigger and better than its predecessor, with many stating this is their favourite film within the franchise. It encouraged many young people to experience Barcelona, although there is no official data to back this up. This is quite ironic actually, since Barcelonians now are not big fans of international tourists swarming their city… It was also appreciated by many that Kenny Ortega was involved, after his huge success with High School Musical, feeling that this stepped the franchise up a level. Many liked the new music in this sequel, and again, Raven-Symoné was highlighted for her acting performance.
However, on the other hand, there were some negative comments, particularly from those outside of its target demographic. Some felt the story was predictable, and that it was just an excuse for Disney Channel to send its stars to Spain. I mean, they could’ve based this story anywhere, but Spain did enhance the overall look of the film and that was a major reason why The Cheetah Girls 2 was so loved, so I’d say it paid off for Disney Channel. Others were annoyed at the continuity issues, which must’ve actually been a critique from fans, otherwise these wouldn’t have been picked up. These included Chanel’s missing brother, whose absence was unexplained, but maybe the writers just forgot about him since he was barely mentioned in the first film, and Luc’s changing nationality, from French in the first film, to Spanish here. I don’t know how this was missed. Chanel acts like it’s Galleria getting confused in the sequel, but she clearly didn’t remember that both Chanel and her mother said Luc was French in the first film. It was also said that Disney Channel were too heavy-handed in their promotion of The Cheetah Girls 2. I second this statement. It really did feel like too much, to the point it made me not want to watch the film for a couple of years.
In terms of awards, Kenny Ortega was nominated in the category of Best Director – Film at the Imagen Foundation Awards, and Carli Barber was nominated for Best Sound Editing in Music for Television – Long Form at the Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards, for her role as the music editor on The Cheetah Girls 2. Neither won here. There was not even a nomination for Kenny Ortega at the Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs. I wondered if this was because The Cheetah Girls 2 was a sequel, but other Disney Channel sequels were later nominated here. Ortega did win this award anyway in 2006 though, for High School Musical.
LEGACY
Shortly after the premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2, in order to further promote the movie and its soundtrack, the group went on tour across the US, Canada, and one night in Puerto Rico.
The tour, which was the second tour for the Cheetah Girls, titled The Party’s Just Begun Tour, started on 15th September 2006 in Seattle, and ended on 4th March 2007 in Houston, having been extended on a couple of occasions with more dates and cities added. The Cheetah Girls setlist consisted mostly of songs from the films The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2, although there were some songs that the Cheetah Girls had recorded outside of the films added in to the performance as well. The group had a variety of opening acts throughout their tour, including Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, Vanessa Hudgens, the band Everlife, and Jordan Pruitt.
There was even a live album recorded using their performances from their tour dates in Anaheim and San Diego in January 2007. This album was named The Cheetah Girls In Concert: The Party’s Just Begun Tour, and was released on 10th July 2007, with additional DVD content showing highlights from the concert and behind-the-scenes footage.
Later that same year, the Cheetah Girls released their second studio album, entitled TCG, short for The Cheetah Girls, on 25th September 2007. TCG peaked at No. 44 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Two of their more well-known songs from this album were “Fuego” and “So Bring It On”, with the latter being included in the DCOM sequel Twitches Too (2007).
As per the agreement made prior to the Cheetah Girls’ first album in 2005, Raven-Symoné was not included in recording this soundtrack, nor was she involved in The Party’s Just Begun Tour. These two projects were focused on the Cheetah Girls as a real singing group. Raven had elected to concentrate on her solo music career, declining to join the girls.
Following the release of The Cheetah Girls 2, there was also some merchandise items made available for fans to purchase. Two of these were video games. The Gameboy Advance game, released in 2006, simply called The Cheetah Girls, has gamers follow a storyline where the girls are trying to compete in the New Voices Competition in Barcelona, as per the story of the sequel film. This was followed up with a 2007 Nintendo DS game entitled The Cheetah Girls: Pop Star Sensations. This does not appear to have a storyline involving the events in Barcelona, but does feature songs from this second film. Outside of that, a novelisation of The Cheetah Girls 2 was made available, as was an exclusive clothing line launched by Sears department stores in the US.
Other items of merchandise included board and card games, calendars, and various accessories, along with a line of dolls called The Cheetah Girls: In Concert Collection, which featured a doll resembling each Cheetah Girl which would sing a song from the franchise. Even with the 20th anniversary of The Cheetah Girls 2 in 2026, some merchandise featuring The Cheetah Girls is still around, with the Disney Store currently having Cheetah Girls-emblazoned T-shirts and sweatshirts on sale, at least in the US and the UK.
With all these fans and all this popularity, it was kind of obvious that Disney Channel would want to push the franchise further, by making a third film. This film was released under the title The Cheetah Girls: One World in August 2008, however, it would be missing one key member of the cast, something some fans have never forgiven or forgotten.
At the Disney Parks, specifically at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, from 2010 to 2013, there was a short stage show performed called Disney Channel Rocks. Disney Channel Rocks showcased music from many Disney Channel musicals including the Camp Rock films, StarStruck (2010), Jump In! (2007), the High School Musical trilogy and of course The Cheetah Girls franchise. From The Cheetah Girls 2, “The Party’s Just Begun” was performed as part of the opening. This show was later retooled and performed at the Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite events in both 2024 and 2026, however, “The Party’s Just Begun” from The Cheetah Girls 2 was dropped. Also at the Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite events in April 2026, there was a photo op with a backdrop for The Cheetah Girls 2 that guests could use. The backdrop featured a postcard of Barcelona.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Cheetah Girls 2 and 2006 seemed to be the peak for The Cheetah Girls franchise.
Fans had liked the bigger budget, the increased production value, the levelling up of the story, and the superior music that they saw in the sequel. This was perfect timing for Disney Channel as they were also gearing up to make the most out of High School Musical, which turned out to be another successful movie for them in 2006.
All good things must come to an end eventually, but I don’t think anybody expected The Cheetah Girls to decline in quite the way they did. Their third movie, although not a flop by any means, was not what some of the fans felt they had been promised. It was a seismic shift from what we’d all been expecting and it turned out to be too much change for some.
But at least we’ll always have 2006 and The Cheetah Girls 2, when everything seemed right and happy in Cheetah Land. At least, that’s what we can pretend it was like.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Disney+, ‘Adrienne Bailon is here to answer our questions. All The Cheetah Girls #DisneyPlusThrowback movies are streaming on Disney+, Facebook.com, 15th August 2025.
[2] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘DCOM Extras – The Cheetah Girls 2 #2’, DisneyChannelRules YouTube Channel, 25th December 2006.
[3] Credit: Paul Grein, ‘TV Soundtracks With The Most Weeks At No. 1 On The Top Soundtracks Chart’, Billboard.com, 24th April 2024.
[4] Credit: United Press International, ‘Work on ‘The Cheetah Girls 2’ begins’, Archive.Triblive.com, 11th April 2006.
[5] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘DCOM Extras – The Cheetah Girls 2 #1’, DisneyChannelRules YouTube Channel, 25th December 2006.
[6] Credit: Mark Hofeling, ‘The Cheetah Girls 2’, MarkHofeling.com, no date.
[7] Credit: Stephanie Safdie, ‘The Cheetah Girls 2: All Barcelona Filming Locations’, DestinationDreamerDiaries.com, 23rd May 2026.
[8] Credit: Ashley Spencer, Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Empire (2024), ‘That’s So Raven-Symoné’, pp. 85-110.
[9] Credit: Denise Martin, ‘Good run for ‘Cheetah’’, Variety.com, 28th August 2006.