Young Talent

By Elisa DiStefano

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoyed a special day with family and friends. I love Thanksgiving! I love the smell of my grandparents kitchen. They out-do themselves every year. My mom makes the best pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie--I look forward to it all year long! I also love watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade--a tradition in my house growing up. I was working this year, but I did get a chance to see a bit of it! My sister called me to make sure I didn't miss the original cast of Sesame Street. Oh how we used to love Bob, Gordon & Maria!

I was so proud to see the Copiague Marching Band perform, as well as Long Island's own Push Play, and Syosset's own Idina Menzel--all back to back before the commercial break. Glen Cove's Ashanti also performed. (You can see Ashanti and Push Play perform live, free, at the Reckson Plaza Tree Lighting on Saturday night!)  It was so great to see Long Island represented. I know I always write about this, but we really do have so much talent here--and so much young talent.
Speaking of young talent...this week Britney Spears turned 27 and made her big comeback. A comeback at 27? It's really sad to me. She was on top of the world... what happened? Did you see her documentary on MTV? How about her performance on GMA? What did you think? When I watched the documentary my mother's words echoed in my head--money and fame do not buy love or happiness. I thought Brit looked fantastic on GMA--those abs are amazing! But, there was something a little spaced out about her performance. Perhaps I just had high expectations. I wanted to see her really dance. I wanted to see that fire back in her. Again, she looked amazing. I am happy she is getting back on track. I think that her performance was a major improvement from what we've seen from her lately.... but there was just something missing. So what went wrong in Britney's life?  How did she get to this point? Why do so many young people in Hollywood end up like her?  

  A good decade before Britney, there was Long Island's original pop princess, Merrick native Deborah "Debbie" Gibson. She is the youngest person to ever write, perform, and produce a number one single ("Foolish Beat"). She was and still is managed by her mom Diane. These days, they call that a "mom-ager"! Deb wants to mentor and foster young performers and songwriters. She started Camp Electric Youth in Los Angeles. From Friday December 26th to Wednesday December 30th she is bringing her camp to NYC. Her mama is also having a special class for parents called "Momager 101". Deb is really terrific. Diane has given me great advice over the years.  If you or your kid is going to be the next big star-- you should click here and check it out!

Comments

[vinny]

Hey Elisa.When is Elizabeth coming back ? trish is cool and looks great but she has the personality of a rock..

[John]

Oops. I forgot to also direct you to Helen Slater (obvious website). She wasn't quite a "child star," but she's another Long Islander, has been a stunning actress, and has two really nice albums as songwriter and singer. Unlike the pop stuff, it's also almost all in one take and no computer manipulation. How often do you hear the singer's actual voice, these days!?

[John]

Drat! I haven't watched the parade in years, and I miss the original Sesame Street group? I really need to get myself some better sources on such things.

Heh. Did the parade, like the DVD set, also have a disclaimer that they may not be suitable for modern children...?

As to your question, might Britney's problems have stemmed from the fact that she's...uhm...not very talented and now she's a grown woman with a child star image?

I'm sure I'm exaggerating a little (I only know what I read in the tabloid headlines at the grocery store) and her family and friends clearly helped drop the ball, too. But maybe people are expecting a bit too much from her. She's not particularly pretty (though she does look better as she matures), her voice is clearly heavily computer processed, and her dancing isn't exactly elegant or energetic.

She was a kid with a manufactured image who'd now rather be at a bar gossiping with her friends, most likely.

On a happier note, and by contrast, I'm pretty sure that I met Diane Gibson a few years back. Nice woman with a good head on her shoulders, if she's the person I'm thinking of. It's easy to see why Debbie managed to neither have a meltdown nor vanish into obscurity. Well, that and her talent, even if her music isn't to my tastes.

[Tim]

Hey Elisa,

Good Blog, you out did yourself again. I'm sorry you had to work on Thanksgiving, but you making some money for the hoilday season coming up.