15 minutes

Fame is a strange thing and the need to get yourself noticed can make people do very strange things indeed.


The are hordes of otherwise private people who put themselves out there on all sorts of blogs and vlogs – like the 18-year-old student from Zevenaar whose home-made video clips are watched by millions of people. She comes over as a genuinely charming teenager… but for how long?
The drive for fame is addictive. And alongside the wannabes there is a whole legion of ‘hasbeens’ whose 15 minutes are over but can’t let go.
There is an endless line of former pop stars desperate to return to the limelight and resuscitate expiring careers by agreeing to appear on celebrity TV shows.
But it’s even more bizarre when former government ministers take to the screen. Now former justice minister and IND official Hilbrand Nawijn is going to try his luck on the new show So You Wannabe a Popstar. At almost 60 one could say he’s got guts at least. And he thinks he’s got a chance because his father was a member of the Staphorster male voice choir.
Of course, seeking fame and using your natural talent are two different things – the occasional public performances by former home affairs minister Hans Dijkstal on the saxophone are proof of that.

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