The promotion continues

In amongst the hoo-ha surrounding the publicity for The Fame Formula, including reviews in The Guardian, the Sunday Times and numerous other organs, plus a host of radio show appearances, I had let the Fame Formula competition nag at me a little because it is even more impossible to predict who or what may turn up to such an event than it is to know who will write a good review for a book. We’ve all seen the eclectic, to put it politely, selection of chancers and hopefuls they choose to film in the early weeks of the X Factor; I was hoping that would not happen, as I want this competition to be about talent.

Thankfully, there was an outstanding turn out of candidates at Borders, Oxford Street for the Fame Formula competition this afternoon. A brilliant 15 year old delivered a Shakespearian monologue; a bizarre man who reminded me of Wild Man Fisher performed a salmon song (which will be uploaded soon); Poppy Rose, who wants to be famous for the sake of being famous, came and did her thing.

Also included amongst the contestants was a man who wanted to be a Johnny Depp look-alike. He has every chance of success, as he had the one attribute needed to be a look-alike, which is not looking like Johnny Depp at all. There were also some competitors with a serious mission behind their desire for fame; a man who had been a missionary with Mother Teresa and was now building a missionary took part, as did a guy from Perth who wanted to be a one man aid agency. A cool dude from South Africa, who wanted to surf every country in the world, showed me footage of himself surfing the rapids in Germany, and a whole host of great singers came and sang their hearts out.

Within an hour I had seen over 25 people and was reassured that the competition was off to a good start. God knows what I’ll see at the next date in Glasgow…