CLEAN UP YOUR IMAGES

THE skirmishes surrounding many young artists for fans, fame and lately, controversy, show that there is something wrong with our celebrities.

Somehow, the fame and/or fortune, which these artists are enjoying is getting into their heads and they will pull every dirty trick in the book to prove their popularity.

Those who fail are literally begging for publicity - even the kind that tarnishes their image.

They are willing to be involved in controversial issues just to make the headlines.

They are willing to create scandals, just to be talked about, because they believe - like their European counterparts - that ‘even bad publicity is good for them’.

That is such a sad way of reasoning from a young Zimbabwean perspective.

This is not America where people can do anything just to gain recognition, including posing nude in front of the world, or releasing sex tapes to reignite their waning profiles.

Some have even resorted to beating up their spouses.

It actually works in the West. Wikipedia has over 50 references of celebrities who had sex tapes.

They include the likes of Pamela Anderson, Colin Farrell, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton.

For many of these international celebrities, the rewards were great in terms of both fame and fortune.

Kim Kardashian’s family even benefited from royalties of a reality television show made to celebrate her sex tape leak.

In Zimbabwe, celebrities only become infamous if they pull off similar stunts.

We have had two sex tapes, involving young celebrities, and the results have not been good for them.

So, whether it is a sex tape or a fight over a girl or domestic violence - a bad image can really do you harm in Zimbabwe.

The same applies to a big ego. Some young people are enjoying fame so much that they are letting it affect their morals.

The truly successful artists, like the late Oliver Mtukudzi, were known for their dignity, morals and humility as much as for their talent.

But, these wannabe artists, who are just beginning to see the fruits of their talents are, to use their jargon, “so full of themselves!”

So egocentric they have become, they think nothing can touch them.

What they are lacking is sound management.

Most of these artists need a manager who handles their marketing, public relations and business affairs, before they turn into their own worst enemy.

Young musicians face a number of challenges.

With popularity comes a bit of fortune, which needs to be managed.

With popularity, comes a host of people from the opposite sex, who are interested in young artists.

Life as a celebrity, in the 21st Century, is full of many traps and when one is young, they are at risk of being caught.

The ball is in the artists’ courts.