Fame

Last week the American box office smash hit remake of Fame came to our screens in the UK. The original Fame was a classic film and one that many people either studying performing arts or working in performing arts have seen. So I thought it only right that I comment on it in this week’s blog.

I’ve seen the original and last week saw the new release and although I loved the original I do still like the remake. I think the way they have adapted it has made it relevant for young people today and focuses on a lot of the problems people in the performing arts world have trying to make it in the business.

I will try not to spoil too much of what happens but for those unfamiliar with Fame it centres around a handful of students who attend the most recognized performing arts school in the country which happens to be in New York. The film follows the individual characters from auditioning to get in to school to graduation and showing how the quest for fame changes and affects each of them.

Coming out of the film I felt very uplifted. In a current culture of people wanting to be famous more than they want to be talented and the rise of reality TV I think it put performing arts back in to perspective. The film showed that fame doesn’t always equal happiness and that you can love your talent without having to be famous for doing it. It showed that success isn’t about becoming famous it is about being happy which is a message many young people need to hear as sometimes some people can become to obsessed with becoming famous.

So if you can please go and check out this film it is very much worth a watch.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Being Equipped to deal with your Talent

Susan Boyle’s involvement in Britain’s Got Talent has brought this question in to sharp focus this week. Susan proved that there are people out there with amazing talents that the world doesn’t know about but her involvement in the show has provoked much debate over how we handle these people. To go from long term obscurity to worldwide fame in seven week is a daunting task for anyone so why should we expect people to be able to cope with it.

People looking at someone who has a talent and say they are lucky but to some people with talent it is a burden and a problem. Many talented people spend so much time working on their talent that they have missed out on social development and personal development as well as building on their maturity and emotional capabilities. I think it is important we spend more time with people who have talent equipping them to deal with their talent and to pursue their talent to the highest level.

Should TV shows and producers on programmes like Britain’s Got Talent be forced to do more to protect the people who perform on the show and do more psychiatric testing on them to see if they should be on TV? This show has made headlines with the people who have appeared on the show but has this series gone too far and are people now worried for the people on the show? Instead of being entertained the audience is now starting to feel uneasy with young acts breaking down in tears and a negative press campaign against a woman who has won the hearts of many.

People who have years of build up before they get famous for their talent still can have issues and problems with what fame brings so we shouldn’t be expecting people who haven’t had that to be able to deal with it. As the general public I think we need to be careful about the way we treat and react to people like this and shows like this as I don’t think TV shows and the press will ever change. Fame can be taken as quickly as it’s given but all the TV companies seem to be worried about are viewing ratings and advertising revenue.

Do you spend time perparing your self for the life you will lead when you become successful in your area of talent? How important do you think this is? Britain's Got Talent has brought this question in to focus this week and I would love to know your thoughts and you can share them by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=731


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Playing the media

As the years go on it seems more and more like the media are in complete control in peoples success and failure. It seems that regardless of someone’s talent the media can make or break anybody which is a depressing thought. People seem to be more interested in entertaining news and scandal than getting behind someone because of their talent.

This is not a new phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination but is depressing nonetheless. With the increased interest we seem to place in the lives of celebrities it is no wonder that there is more scandal as the media won’t stop until they find some or if they can’t they will create some. It’s like I was watching a documentary on Miley Cyrus the other night and the interest in her life at the moment is crazy with the amount of press she has following her around its no wonder the press are going to pick up on anything which isn’t 100% perfect.

The big media story in the UK this week is the break up or Jordan and Peter Andre which shows the other side of media. Since this was announced in the press showings of the pairs reality TV series have risen significantly and I am sure both could sell their side of the story to the press for big money. Now some may claim they are just playing the media to make more money and get attention but only they will ever know.

Because celebrities have got so good at playing the media you may see it as the celebrities are fighting back and trying to beat the media at their own game. The only problem now is that because people are aware of both sides of the coin when a story gets released about a celebrity you don’t know if it is a case of the celebrity playing the media or the media playing the celebrity and on top of this if something in the news about them is actually one hundred percent true because of the games that go on you don’t know whether to believe it or not. So are celebrities really helping themselves or not?

I don’t know what the answer to this is and I don’t think there is an answer as celebrities need the media and media need celebrities but I think this cycle makes it really hard to find any role models any more in the celebrity world as they don’t sell newspapers or get the headlines that scandal does which I think is the biggest shame in all of this.

We here at Talented Young People want to know what you think about media and celebrities. Who do you think is in the wrong? And what do you think could be done to solve the situations highlighted in this weeks blog. To share your thoughts go to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=718

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Pushy Parents

In this week’s blog I wanted to address a topic that I haven’t addressed yet but a topic I find myself discussing on a regular basis which is ‘Pushy Parents.’ With the financial rewards for success getting even bigger and bigger and with more young people in the media spotlight is it creating more pushy parents?

For many years pushy parents have been associated with child models and child actors but now it seems there are Pushy Parents who are pushing their children to success in all manner of activities. Not only now is there great financial reward for success but social kudos for parents for having successful children and in some cases stigma around parents whose children don’t succeed as we as a society become more interested in what everyone else is doing and keeping up with the Jones.

With the media interrogation in to the lives of young celebrities their parents are becoming publicly known for their position as the parent of and have their lives interrogated. This has been highlighted by TV series like True Hollywood Stories and the tabloid press who need a story like a pushy parent to get viewers and even young celebrities are now getting in on the act by selling stories on their own parents to get media attention.

I think Pushy Parents still exist today but I also feel that now because young people are getting exposed to media earlier and because their interaction with media is more intense that they are pushing for stardom and success themselves and not because of their parents. Young people see programmes like Hannah Montana and High School Musical and see the popularity that the actors and actresses have and want that for themselves. Young people are now also more aware than ever before of the levels of income these young people make.

I feel that parents should encourage, motivate and push their children to succeed but in areas that their children want to succeed in not the areas they want their children to go in to. Children need the freedom to find their own dream and then the support of their family to make it a reality. Regardless of how high or low the financial reward for their dream job would be parents need to worry about how happy their child is going to be in later life not how much money they are going to earn. Too many parents try and live their dreams through their children using them as if they were puppets instead of loving them for the individual that they are. Helping your child to live their dreams and not to live yours is an achievement to be proud of which means a million times more than them living out your dreams.

So be a Pushy Parent but not in the way we think of when we think of Pushy Parents. Push your children to be as happy and fulfilled as they can be. Give them belief, give them strength and give them support to achieve their dreams as you the parent have such an important part to play in your child’s development and hard work now can help secure happiness and fulfilment for your child for life. Don’t let your chance to create a great life for your child go to waste. Being a Pushy Parent in the old sense of the term can do so much damage to your child that may never be repaired. Just because they may be seen as successful or a celebrity by the general public or just because they have lots of money it doesn’t mean they are happy or fulfilled. Some of the most so called successful people in the world are some of the most unhappiest. So help your child to be the most happiest and fulfilled they can be as to me that is the mark of success.

Have you got an opinion on ‘Pushy Parents’? Then you can share your views by joining in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=443

Just as a heads up there will be no blog this week so our next blog will be published on the 21st of May.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

Fame Junkies

Recently I was sat at my local train station and I saw a billboard advert for a book by Ben Elton titled ‘Chart Throb’. The book I believe is a comical / satirical look at reality TV shows like Pop Idol and X-Factor with a fictionalised story based on the people who enter, are involved in or watch these programmes. I am yet to read a copy but after doing some research I have found out that this book has been out for some time but has recently been released in to paperback.

I may one day pick up a copy as it sounds like an interesting book but it wasn’t the story that got me interested in this billboard it was the tag line at the bottom of the billboard which caught my eye which read ‘Fame Junkies’. This got me thinking and the more I thought about it the more I agreed with it. We are now living in a society where it seems that everyone is a fame junkie and wants their five minutes of fame.

People now no longer care about being talented or being good at something they just care about being famous. Programmes like X-Factor, Pop Idol etc give these people the chance to be on TV as it seems that the worse you are at singing the more chance you have of actually getting on TV and in to millions of home across the country.

This attitude and culture over the last few years has now crossed over to the Internet as the internet continues to grow. People can now make videos & MySpace profiles and have millions of people viewing their pages. Unfortunately it’s not always the talented people showing their talents that get millions of views normally the ones that get viewed are the ones that depict people doing things which require no talent.

I’m all for people using websites like Youtube and MySpace to showcase their talents and actively promote it as it is a great way of getting your work to the masses but I just hate it when people who are ‘Fame Junkies’ get more exposure than people with real talents.

This world needs an attitude and a culture change we need to stop being a world of ‘Fame Junkies’ and be a world of ‘Talent Junkies’ who are always striving to be more talented and wanting to show off their talents. As it is only real talent that can guarantee you long-term fame if this is something you chase.

I think this very apt and needs to be said in the wake of the Big Brother final as now these ‘Fame Junkies’ who starred in inverted commas on this show now try and cash in on their fame but I can tell you now that they will be lucky if we remember their names in six months let alone a year.

The only way we are going to change the world and become a better, stronger youth generation is by all taking an active role in becoming ‘Talent Junkies’ as if you control your talent you control your life and the opportunities available to you. If you are a ‘Fame Junkie’ you can’t guarantee that you will find fame as you are relying on other people to give you an opportunity and your fame is in the hands of the public but if you are a ‘Talent Junkie’ you can control your future. We need to start getting addicted to talent and not fame, we need to have the desire to be more talented not more famous.

Let us know your thoughts on this matter by getting involved in our topic of the week on the forum:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=165

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Premiership Football

If you’re from the UK you won’t have been able to escape all the hype and news surrounding the start of the new football season. It’s a time when football fans stop going out with the other half shopping on a Saturday and start staying in to listen to the football scores come in then later either staying in for Match of the Day or recording it whilst they are out.

Every year it seems that the hype surrounding the new season increases and this year was no different as more millions were invested in to and spent by Premier League football teams. For ninety minutes each weekend young men who are played multi millions each year are worshipped liked gods by thousands in the stands and millions watching at home. It’s no surprise then when you ask many young boys what they want to be when they grow up they will same a footballer.

The sport has got even more lucrative this year with more foreign owners with big pockets buying in to clubs in all leagues and now with another broadcaster Setanta Sports trying to break the stranglehold that Sky Sports has on Premiership coverage it means the revenues for clubs is even higher. So now I hear you ask: Why am I talking about this in my weekly Talented Young People Blog? Well here’s why.

This extra revenue and income may be good for the clubs and players finances but it increases the levels of stress and pressure put on teams who in the main consist of a high number of young talented players to achieve. The more money an owner puts in to a club the better results they want and the more they pay you as a player the better performances they want.

With the season merely three games old every game is already being held under close scrutiny by the fans, the press and the clubs with any defeat seen as a reason to sell or let go a player or a manager. This is a tough enough situation for the older experienced players to handle but for a fresh faced sixteen year old making their debut this year it’s a different story. No longer does being good count the only thing that counts is the result and based on that no matter how good your performance is it could spell trouble.

It’s not just on the TV stage that talented young footballers are affected. The lure of the money and celebrity lifestyle has put stars in the eyes of many parents and young children who all dream of that life. This has meant that the competition an the pressure to achieve and be the best has filtered it’s way down through the youth game with some big clubs running academies for players as young as eight.

Now I’m not saying young people shouldn’t have dreams as I believe young people if they have the right motivation and support can achieve anything but I’m saying that I don’t like where this high pressure situation is going. There needs to be more support out there for the ones that don’t make it as lives have been torn apart through the dream factory which is football in this country and more support for those that have made it to deal with the pressure they find themselves under because I do fear that sooner or later the pressure is going to become too much for some people.

To have your say on this week’s blog and young Premiership Footballers join in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=149

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Young and Famous

Over the last few years we have watched as young people have been thrust in to the limelight only to fall off the rails. This is not a new phenomenon but with the intensity of media scrutiny increasing every day the fall from grace of these celebrities has garnered more column inches in newspapers and websites as well as airtime on TV and radio shows than ever before. The main three celebrity names people will be synonymous with are Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

With big international conglomerates trying to make the most amount of money possible from its assets which for companies involved in industries like the media, creative arts and sports are its talent it’s no wonder that some young celebrities have fallen off the rails. Young talented people are being forced in to a grown up’s world with none or little preparation for it and if they aren’t surrounded by the right people making the right decisions very few people are going to look after them.

Young actors, actresses, singers etc. need to be looked after better and there needs to be more done for them. Many young and talented people are plucked from small towns and from relative obscurity to be then suddenly be thrust in front of millions of people and in to millions of homes across the world. You can’t expect a young person no matter how mature they are to be able to deal with something like that.

This is why if you dream towards a career which will see you being shoved in to the limelight you need to prepare for or at least be aware of the pitfalls and dangers of the career. You need to make sure that before you embark on your path towards your dreams that you have a support network of family, friends and business partners that you know have your best interests at heart and are not around you just because you are famous. When you have that in place remember to always look after them and treat them the same regardless of if you have ten million fans or just ten.

I believe that we need as many positive young role models in the media, creative arts and sports industries and that although the likes of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton grab the headlines we can’t forget there are many young people out there who have been thrust in to the limelight who have dealt with it brilliantly. It is these people we need to focus on and we need to make sure that there is help and support to catch those people who may come off the rails or systems in place to try and stop them coming off the rails in the first place.

So to sum up if you are pursuing dreams which could potentially see you being in the public eye or situations of wealth and notoriety to remember it is not only your talent that you need to work on you also need to work on your strength of character as it will be this that stops your dream ending prematurely or your dreams not working out as you had planned them. Remember nothing is more important than your physical and mental well-being and if you are ever put in a position where either of these are in danger then you need to re-address the situation. You will always have to deal with people that will try and pressure you in to things like agents, managers, pushy parents etc. but remember with every decision that is made you need to be happy with it, as your happiness is the most important thing.

Push towards your dreams because if you have the ability, the talent and the belief you can go far but just be aware of the sacrifices and pitfalls that wait in your path. We should encourage the youth of today to reach for their dreams as I know there are many young people across the globe who have the potential to do amazing things we just need to make sure there is a safe environment for them to accomplish their dreams and we can’t expect the big international conglomerates of this world to do that as they only primarily care about keeping their shareholders happy.

In a message to the media don’t judge young celebrities as harshly as you do. Yes there will always be some that have made mistakes or bad decisions but they are only young people and young people make mistakes its your help they need not your judgement. If you are going to question anyone question the people around them that let them get to that state in which they find themselves. Spend some time focusing on the young and talented people doing amazing things in this world.

Before I go this week I need to remind you to vote in the Talented Young People Awards for August. The Talented Young People Awards have been set up to recognise incredible young talent and the five names you have to choose between this month are:

Daniel Radcliffe - Actor who plays Harry Potter in the Harry Potter film series

Lewis Hamilton - British Formula 1 Driver

Emma Watson - Actress who plays Hermione Granger in Harry Potter film series

James Morrison - British singer/songwriter

Rupert Grint - Actor who plays Ron Weasley in Harry Potter film series

To cast your vote go to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com

And if you have a view point on young celebrities and young people who find fame then why not join in our topic of the week on this subject in our forum by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=158#158

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/

Big Brother

Many people across the UK will be glued to their TV screens tonight (30.05.07) as we see the launch of yet another series of Big Brother. Everyone will be waiting to see if anybody they know has got in to the show as people are plucked from obscurity and thrust in to the limelight to spend time in a house in front of millions of TV viewers.

The argument with reality TV shows like Big Brother that I like to ask is this: Is the show more about the TV company using people to get good viewing ratings or about the contestants using the show to get famous? I think it is a bit of both which is a very dangerous mixture as it means you have people that are willing to do anything to get famous and a show that is willing to exploit that hunger for fame at any opportunity.

I personally commend anybody that goes on that show as you have to be very brave to give up your job, your friends, your family, your privacy and your life for the time that you are in the house. If you are willing to sacrifice all of this for fame then you are a truly motivated person. The problem comes when people think they are strong enough to deal with anything that comes their way as a result of the show get out of the house and back in to reality to find that they can’t cope with it. If you win the show or are able to get enough notoriety to be offered work after the show then you may see it as a sacrifice that was worth making but what happens to the people who don’t. For the ones that don’t it then becomes very hard for them to find work as everyone knows them as so and so off Big Brother and no run of the mill companies will employ them.

I think if you can go in the house and beat the producers at their own game by making a future for yourself out of it without becoming one of the top hated people in the country then you have achieved something great. The only problem is that now with producers trying anything to create controversy no matter what game plan you go in with its going to be very hard to achieve those things and not be a pawn in their game.

The show is really a test of who the strongest people and showing how strong you are. If you can survive being watched twenty four hours a day with people that have been put in the house with you deliberately to clash with you and with situations that have been created to cause controversy, without if affecting the way you behave and the way you act then you have a very strong character.

I think Channel 4 or the production company need to do more for the contestants in the way of support as well as counselling before and after the show as for the time they are on the show they are just used as pawns to create ratings and there is only so long you can do that for or only so hard you can push someone before one day something very terrible is going to happen on reality TV as they continue to play a dangerous game of “top this” with every series trying to do something more controversial than the next. There has to one day come a point where you can’t go any further.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/