Title Inflation Hits the Circuit
Written by Steve Weinstein
11/14/2011
This complaint comes from one of noiZe’s favorite people, Christine Embon. Known to her fans (and those who’ve heard DJ Paulo’s shoutout) as Nurse Cracker, Christine long ago leaped past the ranks of Circuit queens to Circuit empress. Trust me, she’s been to more big parties than any gay man I know.
The former Philadelphian, who now makes her home on the West Coast, was noticing “so many of the ads for events lists the DJ as a ‘superstar’ DJ? What qualifies one as a superstar?” she went on to ask. “Income level? Madonna requesting that you are remixing her songs for her next album? If you are not billed as a ‘superstar, do you hang your head in shame? Will the queens elect not to attend the event if the DJ is not listed as a superstar?”
She also asks where “international superstar” came from — more over-used hype to “fit into the equation?” she asks. “If you did a happy hour in Ottawa, does that qualify you as an INTERNATIONAL sensation? Can you be called a ‘producer’ even if you only did one edit in your bedroom? Are you a ‘superstar’ if you rely on gimmicks (spinning topless, wearing underpants or funny hats) to draw in the crowd? This ‘superstar’ label eludes me.”
Howard Stern, Christine points out, has commented on the notion of every model these days being called a “supermodel.” The term, according to modelizer Stern, “should be reserved for those who have a distinction over all the “regular” (yet gorgeous and raking in money) models!”
Just as students in high school and college suffer from grade inflation (a B is the new C-), so is there inflation in the entertainment world. When was the last time you heard of someone who gets it on for money in front of a camera referred to as an “actor” — or, more appropriately, “model”? No, in the parallel universe that is gay porn (and straight porn too, if you get down to it), there are only “stars,” “superstars” and “legendary stars.” Similarly, every brain-dead no-talent who acts out in front of a camera is a reality “star.”
So it’s no surprise that the club world has given way to hyping the night’s platter spinner as a “superstar.” The problem is, when everyone has reached the pinnacle, where do you put someone like, say, David Guetta? As for “legendary,” I remember DJ Susan Morabito telling me how much she hated the adjective. “It means you’re past it,” she said.
So no more superstars! No more legends! Just get up there and make me dance, and I’ll be happy to call you “artist.”
Reader Comments
Amen. This is one of my biggest complaints with gay promoters. When I think of a “superstar” DJ, someone like Tiesto leaps to mind. A DJ who spins to crowds of 50,000 people, has top selling albums, and flies around the world in private jets to more than 250 gigs each year, including a residency in Ibiza that nets him seven figures.
Yet we all know that many of these so-called gay “superstar” DJs are lucky to have more than 4 gigs a month, have never had a track or remix signed to a label other then their own, rarely get booked outside the US and never at prestigious straight dance festivals, and have to work days jobs to keep their DJ “careers” afloat.
After all we’ve been through to gain acceptance, we should hold ourselves up to higher standards than everyone else. So our superstar DJs have to be more fabulous than the straight world. Not some shirtless ex-porn star who spins predictable top 40 remixes on his auto-beat matching Traktor software.
By Will on 03-25-2012
