Look out for the phrases related to celebrity and fame, printed in bold throughout the text and then explained below. Don’t forget to take our short poll after the text. 
The X Factor has just launched another girl group who are destined for stardom and a Christmas number 1. Talent shows are nothing new in the UK but not every star has a bright future ahead of them. “You come from nothing and then the next minute you are literally thrown into the lights of stardom,” says Paul Bornman who won a talent show in 1985. “It makes you believe that you are important, it really does.” He’s just one of thousands who became famous almost overnight and appeared on TV programmes, released music and were pretty much household names in their time. “Winning the lottery couldn’t beat it.” says talent show finalist Vinnie Cadman who claims he was constantly harassed for autographs after appearing on TV and went on to make over a £1m in his first year. At his peak he employed a chef, a driver and even someone to iron his socks. Hardly a day went by without his face appearing in daily newspaper gossip columns. Unfortunately for Vinnie, fame does not always last and a couple of years later his bookings dried up and his money with it. When he asked his manager what had happened he just replied “welcome to show business kid”. 6 months later he was back to his old job as if nothing had ever happened. This highlights the temporary nature of fame which means the X Factor stars of today may just become the has-beens of tomorrow. For every Madonna in the world there are probably at least a million failures and it’s not always about talent as some talent show contestants can sing better than many pop stars. “There’s a lot more to becoming and staying famous than most people think” argues Tom Marsh, manager to countless celebrities. “It requires constant dedication”. Whether the new stars of today have this kind of commitment only time will tell. [poll id=”4″] [poll id=”5″]
Celebrity & Fame Phrases
- Girl group
- A female band who often just sing and dance
- to be destined for stardom
- To have a high chance of becoming famous
- talent shows
- Contests involving people with skills like singers
- to have a bright future ahead of them
- Their later life will be positive
- to be thrown into the lights of stardom
- To become famous very quickly and gain lots of attention
- to become famous almost overnight
- To get fame very quickly
- to be a household name
- A famous person whose name is well-known
- he went on to make money
- To earn money later
- at his peak
- When he was most famous/creative/productive
- hardly a day went by without X happening
- X took place almost every day
- newspaper gossip columns
- Sections in a newspaper for rumours about famous people
- to dry up
- To decrease to zero
- as if nothing had aever happened
- Like the event had never taken place
- has-beens
- People who are no longer famous
- only time will tell
- The result/conclusion can only be seen at a later date
