By Mtv.com

Selena Gomez can have any balloon animal she wants today, as she is celebrating her birthday. The actress and singer best known for her work on the Disney Channel series “Wizards of Waverly Place” and the upcoming “Ramona and Beezus,” turns 18 years old today. She has spent most of those 18 years working in the spotlight, as the Texas-born Gomez caught her first break when she was just seven years old. That was when she scored the role of Gianna on “Barney and Friends” for the show’s seventh season. From there, she picked up more minor roles until she was discovered by the Disney Channel and placed in guest-starring roles on “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and “Hannah Montana.” The latter turned into a regular gig, and that eventually lead to “Wizards of Waverly Place” as well as more and more movie roles.

Like many of the Disney Channel’s stars, Gomez is also a recording artist. Her music first showed up in the movie “Another Cinderella Story” (in which she also starred) and later ended up on a few Disney-based compilations. She formed her own band (which she calls Selena Gomez and the Scene) and put out her debut album Kiss and Tell in 2009. It’s a refreshingly evolved collection of tunes that follows in the Miley Cyrus model of splitting the difference between dance music, straight pop and driving rock. The single “Naturally” is an especially effervescent pop gem, buoyed by Gomez’s sweet, dynamic voice.

The group’s upcoming second album, called A Year Without Rain, is due in September and appears to be even more promising. If the lead single “Round and Round” is any indication, the melodies will be even bigger and the beats even more dynamic. (The spy movie vibe of the video is especially awesome.) So on her 18th birthday, Gomez can feel confident about her evolution as an artist and look forward to what will likely be another busy year for her.

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