For Britney wannabes no sacrifice is big enough

new delhi: there’s no biz like showbiz, and for our own britney-wannabes, there’s no sacrifice that’s big enough. young urban indian girls aspiring to make it as popstars are willing to leave their jobs, their studies, and change their hairstyles for their 15 seconds of fame. ‘‘why not? for something so big, it’s perfectly alright. ninety-nine per cent of the girls would have been willing to give up their studies,’’ says reetika, who was among the 1,000 plus girls from delhi who had turned up for channel v’s audition for their recently-launched reality show popstar.the show, a collaboration of indiatimes and star tv, is putting together an all-female pop band. the queues outside the audition venues say it all. in chandigarh, chennai, goa and calcutta, they turned up in hundreds, while in delhi, bangalore and mumbai more than a thousand turned up: from college students to 20-something professionals, teachers, designers, models, and singers. several mamas and aunties also turned up. in the end, they zeroed in on 2,100 girls for the preliminary auditions. what makes becoming a popstar such a great career option? ‘‘it’s as big as the miss india competition, that’s why the girls who were rejected were crying,’’ says mineesha lamba, a first-year english honours student from delhi university. she was among the 10 finalists from delhi who were flown to mumbai for the final elimination rounds. she didn’t make it. if she had, it would have been goodbye to studies. ‘‘once you become a famous group, there’s no turning back. so, naturally, you can’t say no if you are asked to leave your job or studies,’’ she says. ‘‘it’s your chance at fame, to make it big,’’ says nandindi alagar, another second-year du student who was willing to ‘‘take a break’’ from her ba if she had made it. with the stakes so big, emotions naturally ran high: ‘‘i’m an a-grade singer with all india radio, but they just want people who are good-looking and wearing short skirts,’’ charged a tearful kavitha, an aspirant from mumbai who was rejected in the first round. it didn’t matter to her that her outburst was being telecast on tv. the aspirants tried to look the part - in mini-skirts and dalmatian print shoes. in the changing new mileu, where to be seen is as important as to be heard, image-making is an important part of becoming a popstar, says mineesha. ‘‘a good voice, yes, but you need a certain image as well, you need to be prepared, polished off. there should be no problem with that. if you’re not comfortable, you should then opt to become a playback singer.’’