First it was the footlights that divided them up there from the rest down here.
Of course, there’d always been a picture in the paper, fame at last, have no fear.
Then came the movies, a night out, a date, a chance for a kiss in the back row for a naughty teen.
A star was born, soft focused through the lens, projected on a cinema screen.
But when that box arrived, which entered every living room in the land,
Where pairs and family groups would sit to watch a show, to see their favourite band,
New idols were born, a cook a quizmaster, actors, singers even a newsreader.
When they crossed that line, instant promotion up the ranks, even a political leader.
Fame came to the few, thrust up on to artificial thrones they were hurled.
Those watching divided from those performing, they had entered a different world.
To the many, they were not real, a kind of fiction to discuss and envy.
To some fans that saw them, no hand clap applause but indescribable emotions, sometimes rising to a frenzy.
But when that wall comes tumbling down, when one side actually meets the other
A realisation dawns that they are human, even normal, no different from a sister or a brother.