I've often found myself wondering what differentiates these famous people? Some are stars, but some are simply super-stars. The road to stardom is undoubtedly not without risks. The most talented, hardworking and intelligent find their way on this road. But only a few on this road become what I call "super-stars". One commonality in all these people are that they are in the news more often than "stars". Going by the doctrine, "any publicity is good publicity", it should be fairly simple for stars to jump on the publicity bandwagon to attain "super-star" status.
But it is not!
Superstars sustain their publicity for prolonged periods. They have a cult following that is often willing to thwart any attempt by external forces (people or organizations) to dethrone the superstar. Based on my observations, I have come up with five things that differentiate these people from rest of the popular crowd.
1. Vocal about Feelings: Rarely you would find a super-star that has not expressed him/her self, satisfaction, delight, anger and various other emotions.
2. Fantasy life-style: Please forgive me but humble people are not and can never be superstars. The life of a super-star is a fantasy for others living on "planet earth". This fantasy of an un-grounded life is what makes them exciting for the common man.
3. Erring: Perfection is boring. You need to err to be human. Mistakes made by popular people make them easier to relate to. A noble-laureate is no super-star. They are too perfect and border on boring.
4. Ability to resurrect: While these people make mistakes, its the ability to "come-back" that makes their stories inspiring to the common man. The popularity of "rags to riches" stories is an indicator of this phenomenon.
5. Great Work: There is no substitute for it!