When will I be famous?

Who will win this year’s Pop Idol on ITV? Sam? Michelle? Or Mark? And who will win the global competition, World Idol, over Christmas? Can the 2002 UK Pop Idol winner Will Young triumph over a range of international counterparts? The results of both competitions will be of interest to recent University of Teesside BSc (Hons) Sociology graduate Alison Gibbons.

For Alison won an academic prize for her analysis of the Pop Idol phenomenon. Alison, 41, from Yarm, clinched the Transport & General Worker’s Union (TGWU) Prize for the best final-year dissertation in the field of philosophy or social theory. Her prize-winning dissertation, which took a year to research and produce, was entitled ‘Reality vs Reality? The culture of fame and the Pop Idol Phenomenon.’

Alison said: “Before I started the dissertation there was so much on TV about Pop Stars and Pop Idol. All my children’s friends wanted to go to drama school and be famous. I wanted to see why young people wanted fame, nothing had been written about it, it tends to be ignored.”

To research the dissertation, Alison interviewed nine young people aged 13-17 from a local youth centre, who were already interested in becoming performers and preparing for an annual live production. Alison asked a range of questions, including:

Did they want to be famous and if so, why? Did they think fame was achievable? Was fame a realistic ambition? What did they think of the Pop Idol programmes? Did they serve any purpose? What were the advantages and disadvantages of fame?

Mother-of-two Alison said: “The majority of the young people who watched the Pop Idol programmes did enjoy them, finding them entertaining and providing opportunities for young performers to show what they can do.

“The group’s attitudes were a bit contradictory. Most of them wanted to be famous, and liked the idea of being recognised by people. However, they didn’t want the media to intrude into their lives. Money was the main motivation for being famous, although the majority were quite realistic and didn’t think they could achieve fame. The young people also recognised that you had to look a certain way to become famous.

“My dissertation concluded that it’s not the kids who make the most out of these type of programmes, it’s the managers and music corporations. The fame doesn’t last either, I saw the Pop Stars winners Hear’say at an event last year and they were loudly booed, whereas in 2001 they were at number one. I don’t like the reality TV music myself, I prefer The White Stripes and Eminem, I like his humour!”

Alison’s TGWU award came as a surprise. She added: “It was brilliant, absolutely fantastic. I wanted to write something different and I think I achieved that.”

---