♪ i want to make out all the signs i've been ignoring how the trees reach for the sky ♪ ♪ or in the length of someone's hair 'cause when you don't know where you are going ♪ ♪ any road will take you there so maybe i'm in town for someone's birthday ♪ ♪ maybe i make trouble everywhere

but as much i resist the conversation ♪ ♪ between the rivers and the freeways i know it's always there ♪ ♪ i know it's always there i know it's always there ♪ [ applause ] >> jimmy: i want to thank chris pine, connie britton. want to apologize to matt damon. we ran out of time. thanks fsh watching. "nightline" is next. good night!

>> tonight on "nightline," sole survivor plummeting from the skies and surviving. tonight, how a 4-year-old made it out alive. it's a nightmare turned miracle. from inside the crash. with millions of adoring fans, 20-year-old pop sensation denny lavato has spent her whole life in the spotlight. tonight, why this self-proclaimed warrior for life says fame can mean pain. and what she would say to lindsay lohan.

tonight, these kids will do anything to make their dreams come true.

good evening. imagine being on a jet that goes down then learning you are the only survivor. how would you digest this information? would you consider it bad luck? good luck? divine intervention? there are such people among us. it's a very small survivors club, and one of the member was a 4-year-old girl, now all grown up and speaking out for the very first time. >> reporter: there's nothing more horrifying than a plane plummeting from the sky. but for members of an exclusive club of 14 soul survivor of plain crashes, the experience is

a life long badge of terror. >> one survivor. >> one known survivor. >> reporter: this is sylvia who at 4 years old became the little girl known as america's orphan. >> the whole world is rooting for celia. rear o . >> reporter: out of tragedy, one miracle. >> her mother, father and 6-year-old brother died in that crash. >> i think about the accident every day. when i look in the mirror. i have visual scars. my arms and my legs. i have a scar on my forehead. >> reporter: 26 years later, she's telling her story in a new documentary called sole survivor. she doesn't remember the crash, but knows exactly when she understood. >> i was maybe in middle school, high school maybe?

and i remember feeling angry and survivor's guilt. >> reporter: and meet george. at age 17, the only person alive after galaxy airlines flight 203 went down in reno in 1985. >> i realized that i got up, i ran away. >> reporter: the documentary follows lampson as he connects with the few others who know what it's like to be a loan sne survivor of an air crash. this co-pilot's plane went down seconds after takeoff in lexington, kentucky, in 2006. he still struggles with survivor's guilt. >> i cried harder than any man has ever cried or should be able to cry. and my wife was there to support me to where i could just put my head on her shoulder and cry. >> reporter: and then there's this girl who at age 14 survived nine hours in the indian ocean,

clinging to plane wreckage when flight 626 plummeted in 2009. >> this is the burn here. my face was burned. i had a cut on my forehead. >> here? >> while there are only a sandful of sole plane crash survivor, amazingly 95% of people involved in plane crashes live to tell the tale. you might not have thought anyone could have survived this breathtaking crash off the coast of africa, but of the 175 people onboard this ethiopian airlines flight, 50 made it out alive. and every passenger and crew member survived this air crash last month in bali. a scene reminiscent of the most remarkab remarkable survivor story in memory when sully sulingberger

crashed in the hudson after takeoff. all 150 imagine passengers and w survived. there are ways to increase your chances of escaping the unthinkable alive. the five keys to survivor, 2,000 survivors have been interviewed of 105 plane crashers. >> there's no magic seat. there's no one seat that's the safest seat on the aircraft. >> reporter: but statistics do suggest you should try to sit within seven rows of an emergency exit and preferably take an aisle seat. that way it's easier to get to an exit. in 2005, another miracle. this one when an air france jet crashed in toronto, caught fire and broke apart. every passenger and crew member survived. >> the flames were totally orange out the window. we couldn't see where we were going and people started panicking. everyone jumped oit of the their seats. >> reporter: lauren, like half of all airline passengers was t

family group, you should insist that the airline does not separate you through the aircraft. you should be seated together. why? well, it's only natural that if you're involved in that sort of situation, you're going to want to reunite the group before you evacuate. if you do that, that's going to cause havoc. >> reporter: while hollywood has done its best to simulate a crash, nothing is more dramatic than seeing the real thing firsthand. discovery channel's "curiosity -- plane crash" compiled a team of eexperts and rigged a 757 jet with cameras and test dummies, then crashed it into a mexican desert to see if there's ways to help passengers survive. their conclusion, bracing for impact can indeed be a

lifesaver. >> reporter: you must be conscious to evacuate. >> and for the survivor's club, the life long struggle to understand why they alone made it out. last night in detroit, abc news was there exclusively for an emotional screening for sole survivor. in the audience, family members of those whose loved ones were killed on flight 255, for the first time hearing from the one person who lived. >> i just happened to be in the right place at the right time. >> for all of you who lost someone on that flight, what did cecelia mean to you? >> kind of like our little girl. she'll always be our little girl. >> reporter: when you see the footage of the wreckage, it's a complete miracle and blessing that someone survived from that. >> reporter: also, the firefighter who first spotted cecelia. >> reporter: what did you think when you first saw that arm and heard the voice. >> i think the crew in the area couldn't believe that somebody could have been alive. i thought maybe there was a

little doll that we were hearing. we heard a moment and couldn't find it. when we found her, it was just elation. it was just like a feeling that you couldn't describe. >> "sole survivor" blessing and a burden says the film's director. what do you want people to get out of this? >> the most important thing people can take away is that, you know, survivors are really victims, too. >> reporter: still, like cecelia who's now married and studying art therapy, they forge forward. >> i'm happy. i'm just -- i've never been happier. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm alex perez in detroit. >> great to see her moving on. thanks to alex perez. the voice behind "give your heart a break" on everything from her eating disorder to her bold new tattoo.

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for the 20-year-old pop superstar demi lavato, real life has not always been so sugary sweet. as amy robach learned in this raw and revealing "nightline" interview. >> it's the sound and fury of

fame. and for 20-year-old pop star denny lovato it still feels like the first time around. her fan s have stuck by the superstar through her personal struggles and success. >> if your new album release, i saw people in line saying you've saved their lives. that is a tremendous amount of pressure. i mean, it's fantastic, but it's also a lot of pressure. >> i don't feel pressure anymore, because i'm being honest with you. >> and her new self-titled album, she doesn't hold back. ♪ >> reporter: from self-empowerment to heart break. >> i thought that former bo joe jonas, happy congratulations, happy for you.

was he part of the inspiration? >> at one point i was really mad at him. but today in this moment, which is the moment i'm living in, we have a great friendship. ♪ give your heart a break ♪ i know you're scared you might make a mistake ♪ >> i was looking at some of the titles. "really don't care." "warrior." "fire starter." you sound like a tough cookie. >> i am. >> reporter: she had to grow up fast, a singer at age 5, a child actor at just 7. >> i booked barn f eed barney w. it wasn't until i was about 14 when i was on gossip sites and people were leaving really mean comments. >> reporter: she strugglinged with her weight, but under the harsh hollywood light, the pressure to be thin took its toll. >> when i was growing up, i had no one to look up to in the spotlight that was a regular

sized girl. this was the time when socialites were very, very thin and were going to clubs. and that's what i had on my wall. pictures of these girls that were, like, so tiny. >> but i have a 10-year-old girl who looks in the mirror and says i'm not skinny, i want to be skinny. >> i said that when i was, like, 4 years old. and there's something wrong with that. >> reporter: denny became be bulimic and started self-mutilating her wrists. at a low point, she entered rehab in 2010. >> i knew that i was in trouble and i knew i couldn't do it on my own. the difference is now, when i don't want to eat or throw up after a meal, i tell somebody. and it instantly takes away the power of what that has on me if i were to do it. >> when you see somebody, like lindsay lohan, do you have words of wisdom for her? >> i love lindsay. she's one of my friends. and i will always be there if

she ever reaches out, but it's not my place to give her words of advice. like i can't sit here and say that i am miss recovery, that i'll be that way for the rest of my life. >> reporter: three years later, it's still a struggle, but she says she's finally being honest with herself and her fans. >> i've had tons of young girls, like, say that i've saved their lives and, like, that's something that i can't really fathom at all. >> reporter: she's spoken up for victims of teen bullying and was honored by the department of health and human services for our work supporting teen mental health issues. >> this is very important to me. >> reporter: moving on is all about loving who she is now. >> i'm definitely heavier than i used to be, but i glow now. and it's because i'm happy and i, like, take care of myself. >> so your new tattoo says something, what does it say? >> now i'm a warrior. >> so you're a warrior forever?

>> i have no choice. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm amy robach in new york. coming up here, the clowns who are dead serious about changing the way you think about their work. ♪ [ male announcer ] start with a dodge dart. now give it a "tiger shark" engine and 41 mpg. good. now add some of this. and that. definitely him. and her. a little more of her. perfect. time out. how we doin'? [ car accelerating ] okay, let's take it up a notch. give it a heap of this, one of those, and that. got anything with grappling hooks and a plane? [ explosions ] yeah, that'll work. ♪

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>> clowns evoke a variety of

reactions. kids tend to love them. for some adults, there's irrational phobias. for some of us, we don't have an opinion either way. but there's a small group of people who believe there's inordinate power in those pai painted faces and fuzzy noses. we sent nick watts to clown school. >> it's like i come here and then eat some sugar and yeah! i'm ready to go. >> exaggerated self. >> reporter: here at the clown conservatory in san francisco, they take clowning very seriously. >> often i go around as a clown-icorn. >> reporter: it's a revived art. >> the clown has been castrated, if i can say that word. we want to expand what people

imagine for clowns. >> so here we go. >> reporter: sam and joe run this place. they're taking the license and messing with it. >> reporter: a clown recognizes no rules or boundaries. the clown can go anywhere. >> reporter: but that's the freedom of taking on the clown persona gives nyou? >> yeah. if you do it well. i want to see you have a tantrum with delight. >> they want to see you. >> reporter: even who are these students ponying up $10,000 for a 20-week course in clowning. learning from the slap knee of the monsters. >> we'll train anyone who comes. you walk through the door we'll teach you clowning. that's our job. >> reporter: this student has now decided that clowning is his calling in life. >> so this is my home.

aka, my van. he's so dedicated to his calling that he's living in his van around the corner from the conservatory for the duration of the course. >> i think a clown is within everyone. it's like an intergalactic explorer. for me it's someone who can take chances, take risks, make fun of themselves. >> clown school for me is, to be honest, it's a little bit of therapy. >> reporter: just a few months ago, leah was a high school junior in chicago, dreaming of college. >> the clown is the essence of innocence and honesty. an entertainer who can look at a sea full of people and make them feel things that they're too afraid to feel. >> the clown takes what is the weakest. for me it was awkwardness,

clumsy and feeling awkward all the time, and make it into strength. >> i decided to do as the san franciscans do. >> one of us! one of us! one of us! one of us! >> and we're not sure whether that is comedy or tragedy. our thanks to nick. our thanks to you. gma is on first thing in the morning. have a great night.