In the words of the Pussycat Dolls: 'I want to be rich, I want be a star, I want be in movies', for many, the idea of being famous is all glamourous and perfect, and now, it’s easier than ever.
Who wouldn’t want to be famous?
The real celebrities that we see through our music, films, history and culture, were celebrities by working hard to achieve their place. BAFTAs, Grammys, Olympic medals, Oscars, and one more - status.
The concept of being famous is like being on another level to the rest of the world. Seeing your idol from day one on your TV compared with spotting them in real life, is a shock to the system - you almost can’t believe it’s them. This is because of the anticipation we have when being exposed to them, it’s simply mad to think that they are, actually, just like us. You watch them walk the streets of London, (if you’re lucky), and, you freeze because after years of worshipping the ground they walk on, you see them in broad daylight, and ask yourself: what do I say? A bit like in Notting Hill, where Honey (played by Emma Chambers) sees Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) right in front of her in her own home. She doesn’t know what to do, and we don’t blame her.
There is this public love fest for the famous. We follow and worship what they do, what they’re wearing, and what they look like. My dad said, when he was 'my age' (cringe), it was 'the footballers and the movie stars who were actually interesting.’ Think about it, who can honestly compare to Marilyn Monroe, now? Not even Beyoncé would come close.
We’ve become emotionally invested with their lives, and when something in their life takes a turn for the worse, we contemplate and ask ourselves: what on earth is going wrong with the world? Celeb break-ups for example. Whether they've gone their own separate ways after a loving eight years of marriage (Chris Pratt and Anna Faris) or all ties of a brutal, on-again-off-again romance have officially been cut (Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez), we sympathise, and feast on what’s left of the debacle – the gossip. Is it down to the fact that we feel like we know these people ourselves? And, does Ant McPartlin being replaced by This Morning’s Holly Willoughby count as a divorce?
With social media being so easy to use, this also doesn’t help the overwhelming and addictive nature that audiences have, when they just want to know what’s going on in a celebrity’s life. The night that One Direction announced their last performance on X Factor, fans couldn’t cope. The news was everywhere and what better time to break the hearts of the nation? It’s not exactly hard to imagine the amount of comments that were filling up our Twitter feeds.
In today’s definition of fame, you could easily become famous from being turned into a meme. In 2017, reality star Gemma Collins, took advantage of this, after she famously fell off the stage while presenting an award at BBC Radio 1’s Teen Awards. The iconic moment is still remembered after the thousands of shares and video remakes were posted online moments after, which lead the video to go viral.
While this is just one of the ways social media is used, networking and boosting your brand is another. Posting on Twitter, Instagram, and not so much on Facebook (R.I.P), could actually lead you to celeb success in 2018. You’ll never know when your 15 minutes of fame might happen, whether it be from Youtube, Love Island, The X Factor, Gogglebox, or even, The Circle which launched this year.
Today, is the easiest time to try and be famous.
Blue, most known for their noughties hit, ‘All Rise’, revealed in an interview with The Express that they miss the ‘hardworking days’ where celebrities and bands couldn’t just wake up with millions of followers overnight. They were climbing status by working hard to build up their image. Promoting yourself was something you had to do, to go far in the industry.
Social media continues to impress us by constantly coming up with multiple new ways to speed up the art of communicating. We are often woken up to flourishes of new high profilers the morning after their break on TV. When they are then a part of this circle of stardom, we find ourselves questioning how and why they are on the top of our news feeds, because their rise to fame happens so quickly.
Yet, the pressure of being in the limelight isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you apply for Love Island, and are successful, you just know that things aren’t going to be the same when you return, like any other TV show.
It’s been over 2 years since Olivia and Alex Bowen left the Love Island Villa, and they are now married. From the moment the couple touched down in England, after winning second place to Cara and Nathan, they had no idea what to expect. In an interview with Cosmo, they said: "The first thing we did after arriving home was to go to London for some more filming," Cosmo reported that ‘the offers for business opportunities were waiting in her DMs before she even got out of the villa.’
Destined to win from the start, this year it was Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham who took the crown. They had all the opportunities you could imagine thrown their way, even before their fellow islanders were sent home from the villa. Clothing launches, TV specials including Love Island: The Christmas Reunion, and club appearances across the country. The lucky couple even bagged themselves a presenting gig as next year’s Social Media hosts for the NTA awards. This just goes to show why people would consider entering the TV show in the first place.
In the long run, would they say that the celebrity life is all worth it?
Yes, we envy the A-lister treatment with none of the normal worries like paying the bills, that comes with being famous, but for this, you lose your privacy and probably a little bit of yourself.