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Looking for a little attention in the star-saturated blogosphere? Try shutting up. While the 24-hour news cycle and rise of entertainment/gossip sites has created a ravenous desire for provocative celebrity blabber, these days the shrewdest stars are zipping their lips.
Unsigned Toronto alt-R&B upstart the Weeknd, for instance, whipped the hipsters into a frenzy by doing no press and only reluctantly revealing his real name. With a Polaris Prize nomination and mainstream media attention, he's one of 2011's hottest acts and doesn't even have a label. Who knows if this will translate into commercial success, but he's undeniably tapped into an invaluable selling point -- mystery.
In an era where bitching and boasting about your activities on Facebook is ubiquitous, knowing such inner details of celebs has become so commonplace, it's boring. What's novel now is not knowing.
In recent years, celebrity interviews have fallen into two distinct modes. There's The Big Spew: artists who sound off on everything, from their relationships, politics, and sex lives to their addictions, disorders and depressions. And there's The Blank Slate: artists who either do no interviews at all or reveal next to nothing.
The undisputed master of the Slate approach is Beyonce, who has done thousands of interviews and told us very little about herself. And this is a woman who could fill volumes if she wanted to -- Outrageously successful female pop star! Manager-father embroiled in numerous scandals! Married to a musical legend/former pimp! -- but she never does. And this brick wall of smiles and polite "no comments" has worked beautifully for her.
The mystery surrounding Jack and Meg
