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International Socialite & Celebrity Paris Hilton

Celebrities & Gossip

"Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." - Napoleon Bonaparte.

"In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." - Andy Warhol.

"A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn't know." - H.L. Mencken.

"History remembers only the celebrated, genealogy remembers them all." - Laurence Overmire.

Definition: A Celebrity is a widely-recognized or notable person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin verb "celebrare" but one may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is piqued.

For better or worse, we are a culture obsessed with celebrities and celebrity lifestyle. We want to know where they shop, what they buy, at which watering holes they drink and with whom they're doing the dirty. Where and how they live.

Generally speaking, a celebrity is someone who gets media attention and most frequently has an extroverted personality. The desire to be notable is implied by some to be a part of Western culture and more specifically the American Dream as a measure of success. A celebrity that shies away from the public eye or keeps a very separate private life is called a reluctant celebrity. At the other end of the spectrum, a celebrity that seeks out publicity for him- or herself is often called a media tart, whereas one that uses his or her private life as a vehicle for enhanced celebrity status, sometimes desperately, is referred to as a media whore. Examples of this are fake or planned relationships, reality television appearances, celebrity nudity and in extreme cases, scandal or celebrity sex tapes.

There are a wide range of ways people can become celebrities, from their profession, appearances in the mass media, beauty or even by complete accident or infamy. Instant celebrity is the term that is used when someone becomes a celebrity in very short period of time. In some places, someone that somehow achieves a small amount of transient fame through hype or mass media, is stereotyped as a B-grade celebrity. Often the stereotype extends to someone that falls short of mainstream or persistent fame but seeks to extend or exploit it. In the 21st Century, the insatiable public fascination for celebrities and appetite for celebrity gossip has seen the rise of the gossip columnist, tabloid, paparazzi and celebrity blogging.

The rise of international celebrities in acting and popular music is due in large part to the massive scope and scale of the media industries, enabling celebrities to be viewed more often and in more places.

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