Can a Big Girl be a Pop Star? I wrote this piece for my old alma mater, the Sunday Herald, on Michelle McManus, the oversized winner of the public vote on the UK's Pop Idol show. "Sure, the revenues are extraordinary, and everyone who participates in the process is being squeezed for every micropayment they can make. But nobody can look at Michelle McManus, waddling to some kind of stardom with her Lanarkshire nebbishness fully intact, and not see a different kind of democratic will emerging. The people are speaking – and they want to see their nice pal in the events department, who can burn down a karaoke box on a Friday night, getting her legitimate 15 minutes (or months) in the celebritocracy. We should watch, learn … and not instantly condemn."
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