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Once upon a time, reality television was a new and different
animal. America was hooked on Survivor, and Richard Hatch became a
household name.
Here we are three years later, and there are roughly seven
million reality shows on television -- and that's just at 8:00 pm
tonight. The masses are trying to gain fame by embarrassing themselves on
television, and now the people who flirt with the edges of D-list
celebrity have decided that what's good for random, average Americans is
good for less-random, somewhat-average Americans with small, pre-existing
claims to fame.
So with the public bombarded by reality television
"stars," what can an aspiring celebrity do to gain fame? Not
everyone gets to be the dreamboat obsession of middle-aged women across
America, after all. We leave that to Clay Aiken.
Luckily, among the current crop of reality celebs-in-waiting, one young lady stands out on the
Lycos search logs: model and radio personality Kerri Kasem. D-list celebrity Kasem
may be ready to go B-list, if not A-list, thanks to a role on the ESPN
reality show, Beg Borrow and Deal 2, combined with a high-profile
appearance last week on the Howard Stern radio show.
Does Kasem have what it takes to be a star? Let's see...
Good looks? Check. Kasem is a dark-skinned beauty who has
graced the cover of Maxim magazine. Her website
has plenty of pictures to get the blood flowing.
Good bloodlines? Check. Kasem is the daughter of legendary
radio personality Casey Kasem, who was the man behind the American Top
40 countdown for many years and the voice of Shaggy on the
original Scooby-Doo cartoons.
Dating other D-list celebrities? Check. Kasem has dated 80's
refugee Corey Feldman and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.
Interesting career background? Check. After spending time as
a professional bungee-jump instructor, Kasem went to the Academy of Radio
Broadcasting and then flew off to join brother Mike Kasem as a
personality on MTV Asia. She currently lives in Los Angeles and co-hosts Racing
Rocks, a radio show combining music with NASCAR news
Quality reality program? Well, probably not. The one problem
with Kasem's burgeoning celebrity is that she's
going to be on the ESPN reality show Beg,
Borrow and Deal, which is no American Idol when it
comes to popularity. Critic Phil Rosenthal from the Chicago Sun-Times
describes the show as an "inane rally [that]
has teams racing around and taking on various vaguely sports-related
challenges."
So, Kasem will have to get people watching this show in
order to gain fans. But she's got a good start thanks to the Stern
appearance. Last week, Kasem received as many searches as the Boston Red
Sox or actress Jennifer Garner of Alias. Now time will answer the
question: Is Kasem headed for B-list celebrity status, or is she a
one-Stern-appearance wonder?
TOMORROW: Blink blink blink.
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