Studying in the UK




Celebrity & Fame Vocabulary: The Difficulty of Stardom

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
People who are no longer famous
only time will tell
The result/conclusion can only be seen at a later date
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