Richard Dyer

''A star is an image not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials''-Richard Dyer

 

The terms "pop performer" and "pop star" have become interchangeable — strictly speaking, in media terms they are not the same thing. The study of stars as media texts/components of media texts demands that the distinction be made between those who are simply known for performing pop music and those who are known for being pop stars, who have an identity or persona which is not restricted solely to their musicianship. One of the reasons so many pop performers are described as pop stars is that they are quickly promoted to this status by their management. This is easily done courtesy of a few judiciously placed stories, a famous boyfriend/girlfriend, attendance at premieres/parties and a feature in HEAT magazine. It can be easy to forget about the music in the light of the outfits or love affairs. There are some who appear to leapfrog the performer stage entirely, but they do have to go through it. HOWEVER, a true pop star does have a lasting significance, and has "brand awareness" amongst a wider market over a period of time. Many of the so-called pop stars populating the top forty currently have not made a sufficient sociological or cultural impact to be classified as true stars if we return to Richard Dyers’ definition. They will be forgotten by all but their most avid fans within a few years.

Stars are constructed, artificial images, even if they are represented as being "real people", experiencing real emotions etc. It helps if their image contains a USP — they can be copied and/or parodied because of it. Their representation may be metonymic — Madonna's conical bra in the early 1990s, Bono's 'Fly' sunglasses, Britney's belly, Justin Bieber's bangs. Pop stars have the advantage over film stars in that their constructed image may be much more consistent over a period of time, and is not dependent on the creative input of others (e.g. screenwriters writing their lines).

 

Source: http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/Music/music.php?pageID=popstar

Star Analysis:

There are many 'stars' nowadays use their persona (also can be called an alter ego) during their performances. The most recent and famous one is Nicki Minaj and her many alter egos: Cookie, Nicki Lewinski, Nicki the Ninja, Nicki the boss, Nicki Teresa, Norman, Point Dexter e.t.c. Nicki Minaj has established her characters and split personalities through songs and her crazy performances. She uses these alter egos as an excuse for the abuse she gives in some of her songs. She likes to use these alter egos as an excuse so she can almost get away with th language that she use in her songs. Nicki Minaj has always taken pride in how she has little girl fans and when she is questioned about the example she is setting in some of her songs, she just simply replies 'it's not me it's...Roman'. Nicki Minaj's star transformation process has mainly been constucted. We tend to think of her as a fictional character who is a product of our particular generation. She also expresses these alter egos that she has through the clothes that she wears. More specifically, the wigs that she wears. She had developed this alter ego 'madness' even before her first album was released. She has complete control over her personas and also what other people see of her personas. This is because she writes all of her own music, dresses herself and even plans her performances herself. It has also become apparent that some of these characters she creates are very personal to her as she blames some of her alter-egos on the rough childhood she had growing up in Queens, New York. However, unlike other pop stars, Nicki Minaj has managed to keep these personas going for a very long period of time. Richard Dyer describes the 'second album syndrome' where the personas get forgotten about by fans but Nicki Minaj has avoided this completely. She always nurtures her alter egos as if she thinks that one is being forgotten about, she will release a song to remind everyone (e.g. Roman's holiday was released after Roman's Revenge). There is no doubt that Nicki Minaj's alter egos is one of the main reasons why she is so successful today and without them, she wouldn't be able to create such well delivered albums/mixtapes and videos/performances.