Demi Lovato has been painting as a form of therapy and for fun lately, and she inspired Jimmy Fallon to dip his brush in and give it a shot as well. This led to a fascinating “Tonight Show” interview as they chatted while painting one another’s portraits, vowing to put them up for auction and donate all proceeds to charity to help during the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s been a lot of fun seeing how the at-home format has totally changed the traditional formats of late-night television, and this was just another perfect example. Not only were Jimmy and Demi speaking to one another from their respective homes, but they were painting throughout the majority of their casual conversation.
Each went with a totally different approach, with Jimmy deciding that since he can’t figure out her eyes anyway, he’d go “abstract” with his portrait and just leave them out altogether. Demi was having all kinds of problems, at one point lamenting, “Oh my god, what is happening with your nose?”
She then told Jimmy, “You’ve got a vagina for a nose. I’m so sorry!”
While painting, she talked a little bit again about what was going through her mind before that instantly iconic Grammys performance. Her emotionally powerful performance of “Anyone” was almost too much for her, as she stopped seconds into it only to start again and then bring the roof down with her soaring vocals.
According to Lovato, there was a combination of things factoring into her emotions, including the death of Kobe Bryant and the fact the Grammys were held in the Staples Center. But mostly it was about family and the song itself.
“I got emotional because I saw my family, my mom and my sisters sitting in the front row, and that to me was really, really special because the last time we all listened to that song together was when I was in the hospital and I didn’t know if I was gonna sing again,” she told him. “So it was a really beautiful moment for all of us and that’s why I was so emotional when I started the song.”
Later in the interview, Jimmy asked Demi about the importance of mental health during this self-isolation and social distancing period as we work to “flatten the curve” during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
For Demi, who has the fortune of isolating with her family, her heart and thoughts go out to those who are having to isolate truly alone. She knows all too well what can happen when things start to feel dark and you’re alone.
“Those voices in your head can get really loud — I call them roommates, the roommates in your head,” she said. “They can be just as annoying as a real roommate. So you have to learn how to quiet those voices.”
She suggested trying anything from meditation to reading to playing with animals or even reaching out to a higher power. Really anything to quiet the voices and redirect your mind in a more positive direction. And she was hopeful that humankind take advantage of these extraordinary circumstances to really reflect and grow.
“I think now is going to be a critical point for humanity, actually,” she said. “If we don’t change from this, it would be so sad. We all have to use this as an experience and a chance to grow. And it doesn’t mean we have to write a New York Times bestseller during this quarantine. Just do little things every day.”
One of the methods she has found helpful in quieting her own roommates is the nightly Facetime group chats her manager Scooter Braun has set up. Connecting in whatever ways are available are so important in these times, and with all the technology at our fingertips, there are more ways than ever.
Scooter has even made it exciting by inviting a special guest each night, with Bill Cinton the first face Demi saw. But when Jimmy asked her who she was most excited about seeing on one of those calls, it wasn’t the former president.
“I freaked out over Mark from ‘Love Is Blind,'” she admitted. But while her calls are full of celebrities, it’s a great idea for anyone self-isolating to reach out for a video chat with a friend or loved one, or set up group chats to share experiences and stories with your friends.
Just as late-night television has had to adapt to this strange new normal of self-isolation by conducting interviews through technology, so can the rest of us utilize these tools to see the faces of our friends and family and still be a part of one another’s lives as much as possible until true normalcy returns.
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