Meet The Girl With the Big Pink Heart – Kristina Lachaga
A few weeks ago, my daughter and niece had the opportunity to attend the iHeartRadio’s z104.3 and Girl’s Life Magazine Back to School Fashion Bash as VIP guests of Kristina Lachaga, the Girl With the Big Pink Heart. She reached out to me about covering the event and coming to see her perform her new single R.S.V.P for the first time ever. The single is the companion song for one of Simon & Schuster/Aladdin MIX’s newest tween book releases, “You’re Invited.” The event took place in early August and the girls were super excited to attend.
The girls had a blast walking into the event. They even had a chance to stop and take a photo at the red carpet.
They played dress up with the folks from Bratz and pretended to be super glam super stars. After grabbing their gift bags and heading back to check out some other booths they went up to meet Kristina.
She chatted with them for a few minutes and signed postcards for them. Then they had the opportunity to take a photo with her.
After taking photos with Kristina we headed back to the main stage to see the rest of the performances and check out the super stylish fashion show. I had the opportunity to ask Kristina some questions about her performance, her new single and what she’ll be up to in the next couple of weeks. Check it out below.
On When She Started Singing?
I started taking professional voice lessons when I was 9, but I had been singing in choir at Kindermusik since I was about 6 or 7. I was actually enrolled in Kindermusik in Bel Air, MD when I was 18 months old. When you’re that little, you interact with music, sounds, beat, and dance in a group setting. I always loved to sing and was exposed to many different types of music since a very young age – my Mom definitely inspired my love of music and singing and is my biggest supporter.
On Knowing When She Wanted to Persue a Professional Music Career.
I was always involved in the arts, I started dance when I was 3 and started acting and singing professionally at age 9. There are some things that are just in your heart and performing, writing, and the arts in general are all in mine! I did my first show (I was Duffy in Annie) when I was 9, signed with a manager in NYC at age 11, performed in 47 states and Canada for 9 months as Baby Louise in the National Tour of the Broadway Musical Gypsy when I was 12-13 (turned 13 in Wabash, Indiana!), but it wasn’t until I returned from the tour that I started to transition into Pop music. At the time there weren’t many roles for young teens in NYC, especially in theater, so inspired by Demi Lovato when she was in Camp Rock on Disney Channel, I started writing my own songs!
On Her Song Writing Process
Every song comes to life in a different way and is inspired by something different. I’m constantly writing down ideas (phrases, words I like, etc.) on my notebooks and recording melody ideas as they come to me (a lot of the time the melody and the lyrics come to me at the same time). The songs I’m working on right now have stemmed from ideas that I’ve written down or recorded but continue to pop back into my head. I want to write songs that are memorable and unique.
On Where the Name “The Girl With the Big Pink Heart” Came From
In June 2010, I went to Justin Bieber’s second concert on his first tour (the My World Tour) and throughout the ENTIRE concert I held up a big pink heart sign. Just before he started to sing “Baby” (his last song of the night), he said “Who wants to be my ‘Baby’?” The lights went up in the arena and he picked me, the girl with the “big heart” (pink to be exact), to be his “Baby.” When I was leaving the concert, all his Beliebers saw me carrying my big pink heart sign and were saying to me, “You’re ‘The Girl With The Big Pink Heart!'” And the rest is history! It was a very surreal and unexpected moment that has come full circle, and “The Girl With The Big Pink Heart” truly does describe me and my personality!
On What’s Most Important about her #FollowYourHeartsDream Mission
Through my #FollowYourHeartsDream message I’m able to encourage kids and teens to start dreaming big and finding their passions! Your dream about what you want to do and achieve in your life is a very personal thing, something you hold close to your heart. When I ask people what their heart’s dream is, sometime’s they shy away a little at first, but once I open up the conversation it sparks something in them. I can see their eyes light up when they say they want to compete in the Olympics or write their own book. I want kids to be able to live their dreams and encourage others to in turn dream big as well – we have so much potential and it all starts with a dream in your heart.
On Performing Her New Single at the Girls Life Magazine Back to School Bash
It was so exciting to debut “R.S.V.P.” at Girls’ Life & Z104.3’s One Direction Pre-Party/Fash Bash! The only people in the world who have heard the song so far are those that were at #GLFashBash, so it was really special to share my new single at such an amazing event! “R.S.V.P.” is about celebrating true friendships/relationships and it’s a feel good song that people of all ages can relate to! My fans will be able to download it on iTunes/Google Play/Amazon, etc. and stream on Spotify this Fall, but if you want to hear it sooner you’ll have to come to an upcoming concert to hear it LIVE!
On What Fans Can Expect from the You’re Invited Books
My fans called (#Heartbreakers) can expect an amazingly fun story that follows 4 best friends that decide to form a party planning business called ‘R.S.V.P.’ in their small beach town over the summer and how their business aspirations affect their friendships with each other. I definitely think You’re Invited will become a favorite among tween and teen girls -I think it’s story and message will resonate with them. Each girl in You’re Invited has her own unique personality and different strengths -I could definitely see a bit of myself in each of the main characters. I love that the book touches on important topics for tweens and teens: being true to yourself while still finding out who you are, the value of true friendships, and following your heart’s dream. I wanted to make sure I incorporated those themes into my song “R.S.V.P.” and I hope readers will enjoy the book as much as I did, share it with their best friends, and then play “R.S.V.P.” on repeat!
On What She Loves About Performing
I love every aspect of performing, especially connecting with my fans and the people in the audience. Everyone in the audience wants to be noticed and stand out in the crowd (just like when Justin Bieber pointed me out at his concert and I became “The Girl With The Big Pink Heart”), so I love to make people feel special and point out posters, sing to people directly, etc. Making that connection is important to me & it’s amazing to see that my music can touch the hearts of others and make a difference in their lives.
On Where She’ll Be Performing Next
Other upcoming performances include: Albany Back to School Expo with Calum Worthy from “Austin & Ally” & Peyton Meyer from “Girl Meets World” (Albany, NY) and Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure (Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ). More tour dates can be found on my website! www.KristinaLachaga.com/Tour.
On Her Upcoming Projects
Fans can expect more new music (EP) and covers, a few YouTube videos for those songs, and more performances. I can’t wait for “R.S.V.P.” to be released this Fall and to start promoting that! You can keep up with my latest news and upcoming projects on my website: www.KristinaLachaga.com and follow me @KristinaLachaga on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, & YouTube!
