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7 Real-life celebrities Celebrity makers a) Have a look at the titles of TV shows and explain what you expect to see there as a viewer. BritAsiaSuperstar Britain’s Got Talent Pop Idol Popstars The X Factor Sa Re Ga Ma Pa b) What type of reality TV format do these shows belong to? Check with the word bank on the right. c) For each type of show listed in the word bank find one example you have watched. Reading: High flying, adored a) Read the text about amateur singer Susan Boyle, then choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) for questions 1–4. Put a cross ( ✘ ) in the correct box. The first one (0) has been done for you. 1  Word bank Reality TV formats competition show • court show • dating show • documentarystyle show • makeover show • outdoor survival show • renovation show • selfimprovement show • social experiment • supernatural and paranormal show • talent show W 2  The amateur singer Susan Boyle was admitted to the Priory clinic last night following her surprise defeat in the final of Britain’s Got Talent . Staff from the show contacted police to say she was acting strangely at her London hotel. Boyle had run amok backstage after her loss, shouting, “I hate this show.” She also allegedly threw water at a floor manager who tried to calm her down. The production company behind Britain’s Got Talent , TalkbackThames, released a statement offering Boyle “on-going support”. No allegations of a crime have been made, and there were no arrests in relation to the incident at the hotel. Boyle’s previous success ensured that Britain’s Got Talent grabbed headlines, and the final became the most-watched non-sports programme in the UK for five years as a peak of more than 19 million people tuned in. However, recent days have seen a backlash against the singer, who was accused of four-letter outbursts at her hotel amid speculation that she would not be able to cope with the pressure of fame. During Saturday’s final, she appeared more subdued than on previous occasions but betrayed none of the nerves that had reportedly beset her. The group Diversity took 24.9% of the public vote in the final, beating Boyle’s 20.2% share. ITV said just under four million people had voted. Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan explained that Boyle was emotionally drained and exhausted after being put under more pressure than any other contestant in the show. “Nobody has had to put up with the kind of attention Susan has had,” he said in a TV interview. “Nobody could have predicted it. It has been crazy; she has gone from anonymity to being the most downloaded woman in history.” The length of time Boyle had to wait between her semi-final performance and the final, a week later, had added to the pressure. “It just builds and builds and builds,” Morgan said. He added that Boyle, unlike the other contestants, had been subjected to attention from international media and that “a little bit of negativity crept in”. Morgan denied that defeat had shattered Boyle’s dreams. “Her dream was not to win a talent competition, it was to sing professionally and she will do that,” he said, although he denied reports that she had already signed recording deals. Fred O’Neil, Boyle’s friend and former voice coach, described her plight as “a tragedy”, claiming fame had not brought her happiness. “It’s such a tragic situation, a woman who really just loves to sing, an innocent woman really, who is just caught up in this fame game,” he said in an interview. “I just hope that whatever fame that she has got out of this will eventually bring her some happiness. Obviously at the present time it has not.” (Matthew Weaver and Leigh Holmwood; The Guardian , 1 June 2009; adapted and abridged) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 98 Celebrities Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des V rlags öbv