海角直播

When will I be famous?

Who will win this year鈥檚 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 海角直播 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鈥檚 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 鈥楻eality vs Reality? The culture of fame and the Pop Idol Phenomenon.鈥� Alison said: 鈥淏efore I started the dissertation there was so much on TV about Pop Stars and Pop Idol. All my children鈥檚 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.鈥�

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: 鈥淭he 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.

鈥淭he group鈥檚 attitudes were a bit contradictory. Most of them wanted to be famous, and liked the idea of being recognised by people. However, they didn鈥檛 want the media to intrude into their lives. Money was the main motivation for being famous, although the majority were quite realistic and didn鈥檛 think they could achieve fame. The young people also recognised that you had to look a certain way to become famous.

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

Alison鈥檚 TGWU award came as a surprise. She added: 鈥淚t was brilliant, absolutely fantastic. I wanted to write something different and I think I achieved that.鈥�

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