Stars Raising Hackles And Pricing Themselves Out Of Market

LONDON (dpa) – The stars’ caprices are driving the managers mad and their companies to the brink of bankruptcy. And Britain’s politicians and serious performers are also raising their voices at the excesses.

Kylie Minogue all but ruined the company that made her famous, according to Pete Waterman, the popmusic svengali who helped discover her and create her first hit, I Should Be So Lucky, in 1988.

“In retrospect Kylie was the worst thing that happened to us although she’s fantastic and we’re all best mates,” he says

Mariah Carey almost put paid to EMI, the company that gave the world the Beatles and has artistes like Robbie Williams on its books.

A huge 28-million-dollar payout last year to the U.S. pop diva – after she had failed to deliver as a result of a breakdown – saw the prestigious British music firm slash jobs worldwide and warn its shareholders profits would be hit.

Charlotte Church was a sweet 15-year-old invited to sing for U.S. former president Bill Clinton when he visited Britain last year. Now – post 16th birthday – she’s “Rear of the Year”.

Church said she was flattered and that she loved her bottom, but she did query the award from a company that sells muscle-toning equipment.

“I just think that because I’m 16 I’m allowed to get awards like this now – when I was 15 it would have been seen as sick,” she said.

Politicians in her native Wales thought it was sick anyway. “I have long given up trying to understand the ways of showbusiness, and that includes this somewhat unsavoury publicity exercise,” First Minister Rhodri Morgan told the Welsh Assembly.

Morgan was far from alone. Opera singer Sir Thomas Allen let fly at classical act Bond for posing naked with their violins to promote their music in an address to the Royal Philharmonic Society this month.

Allen lashed out at the “money-grabbing PR-led pursuit” of sales. The arts had been paralysed by a fear of embracing “excellence and elitism”, Allen fumed, railing at “a civilisation in rapid cultural decline”.

“I don’t want Janet Reger ripoff attired Gregorian babes. And the idea of a wet T-shirted quartet where once was the Amadeus has me reaching for the sea-sick pills,” he said, without naming Church or Bond but having them clearly in the crosswires.

Another disturbing development is the extreme youth of some of those being exploited by parents and producers alike. This spring there was a breathless announcement that a nine-year-old girl was “set for stardom” after winning a television “Tot Stars” talent hunt.

Demi Holborn, again from Wales, performed the Celine Dion hit Think Twice on a breakfast show, drawing most votes from viewers.

Many are becoming disturbed by the trend. It has its parallels in the world of sports. David Beckham for example has signed a club contract for 90,000 pounds a week – he will earn in a week five times what many a London office worker earns in a year. And he is far from alone.

But there are signs of a change in the trend. ITV Digital, which had aimed to bring football to British screens, is unable to make its payments to the clubs and legal action has begun.

And Kylie’s svengali Waterman confidently predicts: Greedy pop acts are “pricing themselves out of the market”.