Very few things depress me more than finding out that someone famous is younger than me. I remember a time, back when I was a wee lad in middle school, where celebrities of all types were older than me by default. Sure, there were people my age on TV, but no one was really a mega-star. But things are changing. In this day and age, where younger demographics equal more advertising dollars, the stars themselves are getting younger and younger.
The most easily recognizable group of youngsters in the entertainment industry would have to be the musicians. Teen pop reached a plateau a few years back. Many took the decline of the Spice Girls and the resurgence of post-grunge bands like Papa Roach and Limp Bizkit as the end of an era. Then *NSYNC sold a record-breaking 2.4 millions copies of its CD No Strings Attached in its first week. Teen pop was out for the count? The owners of the 9.93 million copies of No Strings Attached that were sold in 2000 (according to SoundScan's year end figures) certainly didn't think so.
Teeny-bopper pop, as it is know by its non-teen aficionados, has only gotten bigger in the years since the Backstreet Boys/Spice Girls dichotomy. On Teen People's recently released list of the 25 Hottest Stars Under 25, a whopping 15 were part of musical acts. The idea of a musical artist "paying his/her dues" is now antiquated unless you count a few years on the Mickey Mouse Club as dues. Then again, in most cases, even writing one's own music has become a thing of the past.
Teen pop has also diversified and crossed genres. For every full-fledged pop act like *NSYNC and Britney Spears (19), there are rap acts like Nelly (22), hip hop acts like Mya (21), and even country stars like Billy Gilman (at 12 the only pre-teen on Teen People's list). And, interestingly enough, these artists frequently share space in the same collections. My friend's little sister (13) swears by the Backstreet Boys, but owns the Nelly CD and can be frequently heard singing along to "E.I., E.I." with her friends. In this year's Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards, Sisq??, Lil' Bow Wow, and Pink share nominations with the likes of Britney, Christina Aguilera, and Ricky Martin.
The glut of musical acts on the Teen People list is a strong statement regarding the power of young stars today. In years past, acts like Dream ("He Loves U Not") and Samantha Mumba ("Gotta Tell You") would be seen as having a high potential for one-hit-wonder-dom. These days, one solid hit (and varying degrees of talent) from a young act is all it takes to score you a spot on a relatively respectable publication's list of the 25 Hottest Stars.
Of the non-musical acts on Teen People's list, seven are film actors, two are television actors, and one is Colleen Haskell from Survivor. The undeniably cute 24-year-old Survivor made the list not only for her island hijinks, but also for being the only castaway to actually land a film role. She'll be starring opposite Rob Scheider in the Adam Sandler-produced comedy The Animal due to open this summer. It's interesting that the younger Kelly didn't receive all this fanfare even though she made it farther in the game. Maybe it's because Colleen didn't sell out to the island geezers like Kelly did.
The actors on the list really run the gamut in terms of talent, appeal, and genre. The requisite American Pie alums, in this case Tara Reid (25) and Seann William Scott (24) are present, but so are Almost Famous' Oscar-nominee Kate Hudson (21) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's amazing Zhang Ziyi (22). I was about to make a statement regarding the disconnect between the talented actors and the flashy musicians on the list, then I realized that Freddie Prinze, Jr. had made the list, thus completely ruling out any blanket statements about talent.
MTV, always on the cutting edge of youth-oriented programming, is in fact running a TRL-esque "special" on Teen People's list. On their website, they asked their admittedly young viewership to rate their own "Hottest 25" to see if the results would differ. On MTV's list, Reese Witherspoon replaced Tara Reid, Josh Hartnett replaced Seann Willam Scott, and Sarah Michelle Gellar replaced Samantha Mumba, to name a few. Hmm, I don't think people these days give MTV viewers enough credit. Then again, Freddie Prinze, Jr. was still on there.
I'm 21. I don't have a best-selling album, an Oscar nomination, or a house in the Hollywood Hills. This depresses me. I remember that when I was younger, I thought it was cool when I heard about celebrities that were just around my age. Now that I'm older than all three members of Destiny's Child, I can't help but wonder what I did wrong. Is it my parents' fault for not taking me to Mickey Mouse Club auditions? Is it my fault for quitting piano about three days after I started? No. Why second-guess? I'd much rather listen to Britney, watch Dawson's Creek, and sit back and wait to be discovered randomly at a gas station. Or maybe by someone reading my column.
