Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Debby Ryan seems to be taking her designation as the Disney Channel's newest It Girl in stride. With her stint as a supporting player on "The Suite Life on Deck" wrapping up as the series airs its grand finale graduation episode Friday (5/6), she's deep into preparing for her own "Jessie" series to begin production next month. The question has been raised: Can she be the next Miley Cyrus?

"No one will be the next Miley Cyrus," responds the highly self-possessed actress, who turns 18 on May 13. "She's had such an iconic journey, and she's still on it. Selena (Gomez) has the same thing, and Vanessa Hudgens. "I always say I don't want to be the next anyone. I want to be the first Debby Ryan."

Not that she doesn't admire predecessors in the Disney talent stable.

"It's a small circle. Of course I know these girls," she says, referring to Cyrus, Gomez, Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Chelsea Kane and others. "Young Hollywood is a small circle, a small town. You run into people like Abigail Breslin or Dakota Fanning and say hello. It's like being a theater kid in school: You have the same friends and tons in common. I've gotten some great advice from these people."

Such as?

"Someone said — and I'm paraphrasing it a little to make it my own — people are going to love you and people are going to hate you, and you can't find your identity in it either way."

She also, she says, gives advice to younger talents on the Disney Channel ladder, like Bella Thorne of "Shake It Up" and her soon-to-be "Jessie" cast mates.

"Questions will come up, and I might say, 'I'll meet you at Starbucks and we'll chat it up,' so it goes around."

Ryan has been spending "a lot of time in the writers room," as well as in casting sessions for "Jessie" — on which she'll play the nanny to a multicultural brood of a wealthy and prominent New York City couple.

"Disney has thanked me for coming in to read with the kids, but of course, I want to read with them and see how we interact," she says. "Once we get the cast all nailed down, I want to take them all to Disneyland, which is going to be awesome." Of course.

JUDGMENT DAZE: When Simon Cowell announced his intention to depart "American Idol" at the beginning of last year, the move was applauded as shrewd. The show was looking weary indeed after all the Paula Abdul drama, and he was off to fresh pastures before it completely jumped the shark. His U.S. version of "X Factor" might be just the thing to fill the void if and when "Idol" goes kaput.

"X Factor" is different from "Idol," as he explained to press during that January's Television Critics Association tour, because it has no age limit and can be solo or group singers — and each judge takes a group of contestants under his wing and mentors them in everything from styling and choreography to song choice.

How different the picture looks now, even as "X Factor" auditions are taking place across the land and new show announcements are flying.

"American Idol" has been revitalized by charismatic, stardust-streaming Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, who work with Randy Jackson as an excellent team. (That was one of our New Year's predictions, by the way.)

And NBC's "The Voice" has come along, preceded by a promotional campaign that looked like an experiment in whether it's possible to make audiences hostile by beating them silly with relentless, repetitious hype. Indeed, PhillyBurbs.com "Biggest Loser" blogger Jen Wielgus ran a poll to gauge whether viewers felt the surprise departure of contestant/Olympic Champion Rulon Gardner had changed their views of "Biggest Loser" Season 11 in a negative way. The winning response, by a large margin, was "No, but the constant promos for 'The Voice' sure did."

Of course, we all know that "The Voice" is different from "American Idol" because they have neat swiveling chairs with big red panic buttons, and each judge takes a group of contestants under their wing and mentors them. So essentially, the judge is judged as well as the singer.

Oh, wait....

Interesting that Cowell has recently been saying he's keeping details of the new "X Factor" under wraps because other producers "watch you and copy you, and you see your show on other people's shows."

Yes, that's a problem — no doubt going even further back than "Pop Star" producer Simon Fuller's 2005 U.K. suit claiming "X Factor" was a copy of his show.

"The Voice" opened with numbers promising a big hit for NBC. And let's not forget, the peacock network also has "America's Got Talent," produced by none other than Simon Cowell, coming back May 31, and auditions are going on for that show as well.

So, what will all this do to "X Factor" by the time it's unveiled in the fall on Fox, with co-hosts Corbin Bleu and Nicole Scherzinger and judges Cowell, L.A. Reid, Cheryl Cole and ... Paula Abdul? Dare we say it? You be the judge.

HERO TIME: On the heels of Syfy's "Alphas" series about people who have super abilities going into production, casting is under way for producer/director Michael Dinner's FX "Powers." The show, to which Kyle Chandler is reportedly attached, has to do with detectives who work on cases involving people with superpowers — two genres in one! It's based on the popular comics by Brian Michael Bendis. They're looking to cast such characters as Retrogirl, who has abilities having to do with past lives, not former fashions.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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