Fame, what is it really?

Thank heavens for Oprah, because without her shows I am not sure I would have any inspiration!  (Just kidding, but for all the ways the woman drives me nuts, her shows do make me think.)

So, she had Simon Cowell on and the show was about all the talent shows there are around the world, and there was an exclusive interview with Susan Boyle as well.  First, let me discuss Simon.  I've never really felt one way or another about him, but he is totally in love with fame and fortune.  He was downright drooling in the presence of Oprah.  I think he's a guy who feels he's made a decent success of himself, but when he sees Oprah, he sees what he wants in himself.  He was flirting with her, which I think is his main weapon in regards to women, winking when he thought the camera was elsewhere, making sexual comments and I must say, throwing her off just a bit.  (Just a bit, because she IS Oprah after all!)  Simon Cowell wants to be Oprah.

Interesting.

So, Simon normally chooses good looking women (admittedly so, with the most unabashed of smiles says he) to mentor and turn into big stars.  So the Susan Boyle "thing" is a bit of a departure from his normal MO, but when he saw the attention she got ...

She is still in the running for the British version of his show, but whether she wins or not is meaningless:  Simon isn't letting her get too far from him.  He owns her now.  Does she know this?

I think not.

So as I watched all of these acts perform on the Oprah show, I began to wonder, before all of these talent-seeking shows, what happened to these people?  Why are we given certain talents in the first place?  It seems hard to believe that we are blessed with certain gifts only to use them to get famous on stupid tv shows.  And yet, with someone like Susan Boyle, who had a difficult time in school and has potentially never been kissed at the age of 47, isn't it better than living out her days in the same apartment she was born in, in a small town in Scotland?

I don't know.

Is she prepared to deal with the likes of Simon Cowell, who is going to flirt with her in order to jumble her brain cells so that she will sign a deal that delegates a good portion of her earnings to him?

I think not.

But none of these people are that savvy, which is why I am wondering if it's going to be okay.  The girl who was most recently kicked off American Idol, Allison something, was on the Ellen show, and her body language was all typical teenager stuff.  She is totally and completely uncomfortable in her own skin, and Simon saw that and kept telling her that she needed to have more personality.

Well, personality doesn't grow on trees, and her habit of shrugging non-stop is endearing the first time, and the first time only.  Then it is just irritating.  She's out of her league, no matter what her singing voice sounds like.  It's not just about singing or performing.  It's about a whole lot more than that, and if there wasn't a venue like these shows, kids like Allison would shine in their school plays with their fabulous voices and maybe sing at a wedding or two, but that would be that.  And maybe that is how it should be.

And who am I to say that someone is totally out of their league?  I have no right, but these are people who have placed themselves in the spotlight, and at times that light can be harsh.

As Ellen said to her, "your life is going to be very big from now on."

Is that good?  What about being a teenager and growing up ... isn't that such a big part of life that it shouldn't be ignored?

I don't know.

I guess it is how you define success.  There is certainly no reason to think that taking one's talent and creating an avenue where you can make a living utilizing it is bad.  In fact, I think that is partly what life is all about.

What I am questioning here is the process:  It is artificial.  The basis for all of it is money (and as we all know, is the root of all evil.)

And the fact of the matter is, I DO believe that, completely.

I fear for people like Susan Boyle ending up in the hands of people like Simon Cowell, for the way he truly feels about her is the way he looked at her when she first came out on stage: oh give me a break, you are an ugly dowager from nowhere, why are you wasting my time?

And then she sang.  And it all became quite clear to him.  She was ultimately priceless.

Because if I truly believed that he believed that you can't judge a book by its cover, then I wouldn't even be writing this.  But I don't.  He's the guy who wants to be Oprah.  He just wants. And if he wants you, it means you represent some value to him.  And so it is with all of the talented individuals who are "making it."

Will they ever know what it feels like to be wanted and loved and truly adored for their inner soul?

What is the price of fame?