Celebrity worship to stay

Fred Zindi Music
“I don’t care whether I make money or not. I just want to be famous. I just want to be a celebrity!” These are the words expressed to me many years ago by Peter Tembo of the Scanners International band after he had signed a record deal with Zimbabwe Music Corporation which gave him 2 percent royalties on total record sales.
I told him that I could get him at least 25 percent with the same company, but indeed he did not care as he further quipped: “I just want to hear my voice over the radio so that when I walk in DZ (Dzivarasekwa) everybody will recognise me and give me attention.”

Peter died before he could achieve this, but his reasoning got me thinking. Peter wanted to grasp the trappings of celebrity status in Zimbabwe which are: fame (with or without money), power, sex and mixing with the right circles of people.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a celebrity is a person, who has a prominent profile and commands some degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media.

In America, the term is often synonymous with wealth (commonly denoted as a person with fame and fortune), implied with great popular appeal, prominence in a particular field, and is easily recognised by the general public.

In Zimbabwe, we have a lot of so-called celebrities who are broke but because of their daily appearances on television or in the Press, we hold them with deep and affectionate respect as celebrities.

When I was actively engaged in music performance, sometime ago, I used to wonder why people who were complete strangers to me would stop me in the street just to say: “Hello Fred, I saw you on the telly last night!” They all seemed excited to meet me in real life and I used to find that kind of gesture as ego-boosting.

I have now realised that many people are enthralled by those who achieve this goal. My friends would always say “I think you should run for mayor or some political post. Look at how popular you are with the people”.

However, being the shy person I was, it never occurred to me that I would enjoy the life of a celebrity and I began to scale down on my television appearances and musical performances.

Despite this effort, even today, although my public appearances have dwindled, I still get stopped by those who recognise me from the past and want a picture taken with me. It is difficult to hide completely.

A couple of years ago, I was walking the streets of Maputo, Mozambique, with Oliver Mtukudzi. We were rushing to a gig, but we were late by almost an hour because Oliver was being stopped by fans on the street who wanted pictures taken with him or were asking for autographs. It dawned on me that once you have reached that stage in life, being a celebrity becomes unavoidable.

Psychologists all over the world are in agreement with the fact that the majority of the world’s population are afflicted to some degree by what is termed “celebrity worship syndrome”.

Celebrity culture can be a defining disease for most people, especially teenagers.
Years ago, I remember hassling my way to the backstage of every big concert I attended just to meet the performing artiste and having a picture taken with him.

When the Bhundu Boys opened the Madonna concert at Wembley, in London, I remember Brian Rusike, a musician in his own right, who was also at the concert asking Madonna for an autograph.

Pictures of Brian and Madonna were taken and I also asked her for a picture with me. She obliged but we failed to track down the cameraman after the show as we did not have our own cameras. I was disappointed.

The next time I attended a superstar’s concert at the same venue, I made sure I had my camera with me.
This was the Michael Jackson concert, and the opening act was our own Rozalla Miller. Michael posed for a picture with me. That was a scoop!

I still have a collection of pictures from my young days taken with stars like Michael Jackson, Chris Amoa of The Real Thing, Dennis Brown, Yellowman, Freddie MacGregor, Luther Vandross, Don Carlos, Janet Kaye, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi and a few other celebrities.

All these people have had an influence on my life. Visitors to my flat were often greeted by these pictures which were stuck on the walls. I felt proud when someone commented: “Oh, you were with Michael Jackson? Where was this?”

Looking back, I ask myself why I bothered taking these pictures, sometimes at such great lengths and risks where I had to fight with bouncers who tried to stop me from meeting my idols. I console myself by admitting that I am not the only one who was crazy enough to do this.

I was suffering from the celebrity worship syndrome. Today, I understand fully well when some young boys and girls ask me things like, “Can you please introduce me to Winky D?” Meeting Winky D is a very important event in their lives and out of politeness and the respect Winky D has for me, he always obliges, even when he is under pressure.

Now I ask myself: “Is that kind of emotional feeling not strange?” If only people could attend to things that really mattered in their lives, things would be a lot less complicated, but who am I to argue that these things do not matter when I have gone through the same experiences?

I feel more gratified now by writing about these artistes than hero-worshipping them, perhaps because I am more mature now and have got rid of the celebrity worship syndrome.

Besides, results coming from a recent Chinese study found that people who idolise celebrities perform less well at university or at work. In view of all this, you might wonder why fans still bother to worship celebrities, yet there is an answer.

The human condition presents everyone, even intellectual giants with some harrowing realities. Celebrity culture makes life bear-able.
It is like religion. I can name celebrities where the whole world has converged upon them.

Apart from musicians, people like Nelson Mandela, David Beckham. Wayne Rooney, Muhammad Ali, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama have made great impact on ordinary lives and are respected for that.

It is therefore not surprising to know that there are many ordinary folks who hero-worship these celebrities.
If these celebrities were to come to Zimbabwe, although they are not music entertainers, they are bound to fill up the National Sports Stadium as Zimbabweans are bound to want to just take a glimpse of this fantasy world of celebrities and have pictures taken with them.
There is something magical about the celebrity culture. It has its rituals. The just ended Big Brother Africa – The Chase where red carpet appearances were made and some of the housemates became instant stars, is one such event.

In Zimbabwe, promoters like Chipaz and Ghetto Fabulous have captured this syndrome and found ways of cashing in on such instant stars. This is the reason why a bash was organised for people to meet Pokello and Hakeem last weekend.

Thus the celebrity worship syndrome is here to stay. Period!

Feedback: [email protected]