I've been wondering recently on how easy it is for people to make a name for themselves. Is there a definite formula and a guaranteed method or is it just entirely random. This has been circling around in my head because I ran into a couple of clips on YouTube about 2 Chinese boys. These boys became famous for what seems to me to be an entirely absurd reason. All they do is they lip sync. Here is a link to a clip of theirs Chinese Backstreet Boys - That Way. They have a whole series of songs that they lip sync to and they became quite the craze and the clip I linked has as of now 8,477,598 views. But what struck me most about their situation is that they became so famous for nothing that they had people interviewing them and they even had a concert, two Chinese boys:a show. It makes me wonder about what it actually takes to get media attention and become successful in this world. As artists, and designers we have a goal to get our names known, so that we can have a constant flow of jobs, of publicity and so that we wont be "starving" as they myth states we will be. Looking at cases such as the two Chinese boys and others such as that of Sanjaya from American Idol maybe there is something that we as artists and designers can think about. Sanjaya became famous for bad singing. And when I say bad, I mean it in comparison, because I know for a fact that he sings better than I do, I'm completely tone deaf. However he still made the limelight thanks to the make Sanjaya win website. And the media attention he received by not being voted off when he should have been. There were many factors that played into it but regardless he became very famous if only for a short while, and I personally don't remember any one else's name besides Jordin Sparks so that says a lot. What I'm wondering is if this phenomenon is limited to the music scene or if it also spreads out to the world of design. We live in an age where more and more people are graduating from college and a degree doesn't mean as much as it did in ages past, so there is something that we need to be doing on top of that. Skill will get you far but we all need to be salesmen also. A good work is sometimes not characterized by how good the work actually is, but rather how well it is presented. If the two Chinese boys were able to have a concert for their lip syncing and Sanjaya became famous for mediocre singing, what does it say about skill and hard work in the world?
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4 comments:
What people don't seem to get about Sanjaya is that he had, and still has, a lot of fans. He has a star quality about him. He actually is a very good singer, but he was nervous on the show. He also made himself a household name by performing on American Idol with that fauxhawk 'do. I don't think he intended it to be that big a deal, but that's when he became a household name.
I'm sure thats true. I feel it would be unfortunate if he just faded away after all that. And again i don't doubt his singing. In my standards he is amazing, but its the way he became so famous that fascinates me. He makes it seem easy.
I am not a fan of American Idol. They are just on big joke to me. Sanjaya, in my opinion, should have never gotten as far as he did. He is an okay singer, not the best I've seen. If anyone can become a household name just because of their hair then the music industry is also a big joke.
i wouldn't necessarily say the music industry is a joke, because there are many cases where people just got famous off of a youtube video with no particular reader. It is just a reaction of the people who watch it and some are more successful at getting that reaction out of people than others. I wonder if you looked at all the similar instances of when someone got really famous really fast and if its possible to map out a kind of connection between each to maybe see what is it that affects people in pop culture. And if a kind of formula can be found by examining all the like occurrences, can we then use that for social and environmental justice issues. It seems like that would be a perfect way to get the world educated on certain issues.
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