The entertainment profession, or show business, attracts many young people. Unfortunately, only very few can hope to become famous and prosperous. Talent is not enough, because show business is as competitive as any other business. Without a good manager, a performer can never hope to succeed. Fashion is important in this business, too. The best tailor in the world will never be a success if he makes old-fashioned clothes.
In exactly the same way, a performer must change his act in order to follow the taste of the moment. This is true for actors, dancers and comedians, but perhaps most of all for singers.
Pop stands for popular, and a pop singer had to work very hard to become popular. He must either give the public what they already want, or he must find a new way of singing that will attract their attention. Even when he has succeeded, and his records are sold everywhere, he cannot relax. Then he must work harder than ever to stay popular, because there are always younger singers trying to become famous and to steal some of the popularity.
The life of a successful pop singer is not at all easy. He can only relax when he is alone, because everything he does is watched and reported in the special newspaper written for the fans. The fans are the most important people in the world for the singer. They buy his records, they go to his concerts, and they make him rich and famous. But they can be very annoying, too. Sometimes their enthusiasm gets so hysterical that they do anything to get a souvenir. They steal handkerchiefs, they tear off buttons, and they even cut off pieces of the unfortunate singers' hair. Many singers have been forced to hide, and some who have not been so lucky as to escape have been stripped practically naked by their fans. A pop singer has to spend a lot of money on clothes, because he must always look smart, or, at any rate, different, he must have a luxurious car. And most important, he always keeps smiling for the benefit of his public.
流行歌手的生活
娛樂業(yè)或演藝界吸引著許多的年輕人。不幸的是,只有極少數(shù)的人有望出名或成功。在演藝界里光有天賦是不夠的,因?yàn)檫@一行業(yè)和其他任何行業(yè)一樣競爭激烈。沒有好的經(jīng)紀(jì)人,演員永遠(yuǎn)別指望成功。時(shí)尚在這個(gè)行業(yè)里也很重要。即使是世上最好的裁縫,如果他做的是過時(shí)的服裝,他也不會(huì)成功。
同樣地,一個(gè)演員也要隨著時(shí)代品味的變化而改變自己的表演風(fēng)格。這個(gè)道理適用于演員、舞者和喜劇家們,但更適用于絕大多數(shù)的歌手。
Pop代表流行,而一個(gè)流行歌手必須努力地工作才能受大眾歡迎。要么他必須給予公眾他們想要的,要么他必須發(fā)現(xiàn)一種能吸引公眾注意力的新唱法。即使他已經(jīng)出名了,他的唱片在各個(gè)地方出售,他也不能掉以輕心。①為了繼續(xù)受到歌迷的愛戴,歌手必須比以往更加努力工作,因?yàn)榭倳?huì)有更年輕的歌手要成名,而且要取得他曾經(jīng)所擁有的名氣。
成功的流行歌手的生活一點(diǎn)兒都不容易。只有獨(dú)處時(shí)他才能夠放松,因?yàn)樗龅拿恳患露紩?huì)被娛樂報(bào)紙關(guān)注或報(bào)導(dǎo)給歌迷。對(duì)于歌手來說,歌迷是世界上最重要的人。他們買他的唱片,聽他的音樂會(huì),他們使他變得有錢而且有名氣,但是他們也很讓歌手苦惱。有時(shí)他們的熱情變得有些歇斯底里,為了得到一個(gè)紀(jì)念品可能做任何事情。他們偷歌手的手帕,撕扯紐扣,甚至?xí)粝赂枋值念^發(fā)。許多歌手已經(jīng)被迫東躲西藏,有些歌手不幸被抓而被他們的歌迷脫去衣服乃至赤身裸體。流行歌手不得不在衣服上花大筆錢,因?yàn)樗仨殨r(shí)時(shí)刻刻都看起來漂亮而又與眾不同,他必須擁有奢華的轎車。最重要的是,他必須時(shí)刻在公眾面前保持一張笑臉。