| Julianne Hough Talks About Country Music and Dancing |
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Julianne knows how to be grateful to her fans. After all, she's been a two-time champion on Dancing With the Stars - a partially fan-based voting show. "They have backed me up from the beginning," she says. "They have been the ones that have supported me and given me courage and belief to keep going. When a lot of people thought I was crazy -- [saying] 'You can't do that' -- I was like, 'You know what? I feel like I can.' I know my fans think that, too." While Julianne admits she is exhausted from balancing her daily schedule of dancing and being a country artist, she recently enjoyed putting both aside for a "date night" with boyfriend and fellow country artist, Chuck Wicks. "I knew it was going to be hard for me to transition. I know to a lot of people, this was kind of a weird way to transition, but it's TV. ... And that's the way to do it these days -- to get your foot in the door," Julianne admits. "And, of course, with my fans, like I said, they have supported me from the beginning, and the other music industry folk and even other artists and writers. All of my texts were from the writers in Nashville, like, 'Go girl, we were rootin' for ya!' That means so much to me, too, just to be accepted in the country music industry." She also attributes a lot of her success to her parents, who encouraged she and her brother, Derek Hough, from the start. "Growing up, we were always trying to be in front of the camera for home videos," she says. "We were always doing it from the beginning and they put us in lessons -- singing, acting, dancing, kung fu. You name it, we were in it. Basically, we just picked what we loved and they said, 'Go for it. We believe in you.' I think that's the biggest thing. I've always believed in myself, too, no matter what anybody says. Because a lot of people have said, 'You're crazy for giving up your dancing to go sing country music,' and I'm like, 'I don't care. This is what I love, and I'm going to do it until I get there.'" In talking about her experience backstage at this year's ACMs, she remembers Sugarland's Kristian Bush hugging her and officially welcoming her to country music. "I just started crying," she says, "and I'm going to start crying again. But it's awesome." |