“Reality Goes Pop!”

Abstract

The reality pop programs Popstars(broadcast in 2000 in the United Kingdom) and Pop Idol (broadcast in 2001-2002 in the United Kingdom) have occupied a central place in the phenomenal rise of reality TV. More specifically, with their bid to place the entire notion of stardom at center stage, they raise important methodological and theoretical issues concerning the conceptualization of fame in reality TV. A central emphasis of the article is the importance of considering how reality TV demands a more thorough engagement with existing critical and theoretical concepts if the form is to sustain long-term academic analysis. Taking the British series of Pop Idolas the primary focus, the author explores this with respect to the concept of stardom, drawing particularly on the work of Richard Dyer and John Ellis. Pop Idol also raises crucial questions about the politics of interactivity in reality TV, a power dynamic that is ultimately configured around the program’s mediation of stardom.

Celebrities as human brands: an investigation of the effects of personality and time on celebrities’ appeal

“…As noted by Holmes (2004), celebrities can be found in very different fields such as, but not limited to, TV, music, cinema and sports. Some celebrities even exert their talent in more than one field (e.g., Jennifer Lopez who is known as both a singer and an actress).…”

Full Issue

“…This style of composition enables him to structure random archive images of birds into a syntactically coherent dance of visual and audio rhythms. If we view choreography as "the art of manipulating movement: phrasing its time, space, and energy into affective forms and structures," 51 the montage functions similarly, crafting individual shots of moving birds together, like steps, to form a series of relations that are punctuated across time and space into phrases and that extend to comprise the larger choreographic structure. Separate images are further cut together using repetition and juxtaposition to form intricate rhythmic patterns of movements, which mirror the construction of motif and phrasing in dance.…”

“…As Holmes suggests, the reality television close-up provides a, "superenhanced realism offering a perspective unavailable to the naked eye, which acts as a guarantor of authenticity and real emotion." 51 Once again, Henry's self-affirmative passion presents itself as pure affect. Within this first part of the audition, the exchange between Henry and the judges, followed by Henry's danced presentation, can be illuminated through ______________________________________________________________________________ Rushton's discussion of the "virtual" and the "actual" in relation to the face.…”

Vingt-cinq ans de téléréalité

“…Premièrement, « on constate que la téléréalité est particulièrement difficile à caractériser parce qu'elle se situe à mi-chemin entre les nouvelles et le divertissement ; entre la réalité et la fiction » (Cavender et Fishman 1998 : 3). Deuxièmement, les principes théoriques et méthodologiques classiques de la communication ne permettent pas toujours de saisir et d'analyser complètement les éléments qui caractérisent la téléréalité (Holmes 2004a ;Murray et Ouellette 2004). Enfin, s'intéresser à la téléréalité, comme nous le faisons ici, « c'est soulever l'ire de certains observateurs » (Cameron 2003 : 8, 54 ;Davie 2001 : 355 ;Hill 2005 : 2 En télévision, de nombreux chercheurs se sont penchés sur le rôle du roman-savon, des nouvelles, des quiz, des documentaires ou des dramatiques.…”

“…L'objectif des chaînes de télévision est de saturer le marché et de contourner la faiblesse de la programmation conventionnelle en multipliant les moyens de diffusion. La téléréalité de la troisième génération est interactive (Holmes 2004b). C'est un programme mais aussi une activité à part entière qui génère d'importantes recettes pour les chaînes, grâce aux produits dérivés.…”