With great fame comes a great lack of coordination.
At least, that’s the conclusion you could come to if you spend much time reading entertainment news blogs. During the last few months, there have been a never-ending stream of articles and blog posts with the headline: “(Insert star’s name) took a tumble” or something to that effect.
To catch you up, here’s a list of celebrities who recently developed face-plant syndrome:
* On July 3, a five-month pregnant Alicia Keys fell during her performance at New Orleans’ Essence Music Festival. Then again, Keys may have been emulating her fellow diva, Rihanna, who took a spill in May at a concert in London just weeks after stumbling in Marseilles.
Apparently, June was an especially wobbly month.
* “American Idol” winner Kris Allen was left with a battle scar after falling and cutting his leg on a speaker in Iowa City on June 7.
* Four days later, Ugandan ragga (dance reggae) musician Bebe Cool, aka Moses Sali, fell out of a chair during a World Cup halftime concert. Then again, he was recovering from being shot multiple times in the legs in Denmark, so perhaps that’s understandable.
* On June 20, Katy Perry had to get 17 stitches in her leg after falling while dancing during an after-party for the Canadian MuchMusic Video Awards.
* Perhaps to regain her rightful place at the center of the media’s attention, Lady GaGa fought back on June 23 by eating moving sidewalk at London’s Heathrow Airport when her stratospherically high platform boots didn’t manage to keep her upright.
These are just a few examples. Country star Brad Paisley, the Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie and Nashville darling Taylor Swift were all recently brought to their knees (or posteriors) by this mysterious affliction.
Whether falling stars are actually newsworthy is debatable. Perhaps, the trend isn’t stars’ inability to stay upright but media outlets continually scraping the bottom of the barrel for items to post.
Either way, it’s a little sad. Then again, I’ve never danced onstage in platform boots, so perhaps my expectations of coordination are a little unrealistic.
* Essential Listening Project purchases for Week 3 (June 24): Queensryche’s “Operation: Mindcrime,” Frank Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours,” AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and The White Stripes’ “Elephant.”