Celebrity lookalike contests have been popping up all over the world and taking social media by storm.
There are more than 166 million posts related to celebrity lookalike contests on TikTok, so it makes sense that they are trending and being shared millions of times online.
With huge crowds of people turning up to locations such as London, Dublin and America, what exactly are they and what’s the secret to their popularity and viral success on social media?
Timothée Chalamet and the celebrity lookalike contests
The trend of celebrity lookalike contests began on 27 October in New York City with a Timothée Chalamet contest. More than 300 people attended and even the real Timothée himself showed up!
The event was organised by YouTuber Anthony Po who put posters up around the city and created a video which was shared on YouTube. Po’s video has racked up 1 million views with fans commenting "the fact that he ACTUALLY showed up is crazy" and "why is this so insane, yet so wholesome at the same time?".
Another celebrity lookalike contest that blew up on social media was for Harry Styles. Journalist Katrina Mirpuri organised the event by advertising around London and on socials. The TikTok created to organise the event received more than 300,000 views and content created by fans attending gained millions.
The lookalike contests for Styles and Chalamet seem to have taken this trend to new heights and since October, there have also been lookalike contests for Zayn Malik, Clairo, Zendaya, Tom Holland and more with upcoming American contests taking place in December for K-Pop singer Mark Lee and ex-president John F. Kennedy! This trend has also spread worldwide with a contest held in Cape Verde for singer Tyla’s lookalikes receiving more than 6 million views on TikTok.
Why have celebrity lookalikes gone viral?
Celebrity content is responsible for millions of views across all social media but why are the lookalike contests so popular?
This could be down to a number of factors. Videos that you see on your social media are served to you through algorithms. This means that apps such as Instagram and TikTok use your interactions with content to feed you posts with similar themes on your FYP.
Fans of Harry Styles or Timothée Chalamet for example may see content of these stars on their socials regularly. This means that when the lookalike contests started to pop up, they were probably the first to see it. As viewers interact with these videos and share them with friends, they end up on more For You Pages which may help them go viral.
Videos on social media commonly gain momentum when they link to a growing trend, hashtag or feature a popular creator. They then get passed through to more fans when people use TikTok's repost feature or share buttons. But this isn't the only way to gain traction to your page.
Positive and funs stories are popular on social media. Ofcom’s 2024 news consumption in the UK report found that teens tend to be interested in lighter rather than more serious news, with news about celebrities and music taking the top spots for 12-15s using TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Who is my celebrity lookalike?
Trends are a huge part of social media, however they change and adapt all the time. Some trends such as Brat summer and leopard print clothing lasted months but others including the 'suspect running' trend haven't been as popular.
The search 'who is my celebrity lookalike' brings up more than 200 million posts on TikTok and it's a trend that continues to grow. This is mainly done with filters such as one created by @julietsiegel on TikTok which has been used by more than 3 million people. So, the conversations people are having on social media around celebrity lookalikes are helping to grow the trend and encourage more people to attend and set-up their own celebrity lookalike contests.
Clickbait captions and funny sounds can also help to boost trends because they are used to grab your attention. This can encourage viewers stay for longer and make them more likely to share content with friends leading to higher viewing figures.
How are celebrities being used in AI content?
Not everything you see online about celebrities is real, with fake news and an increasing number of AI generated images of celebs being posted and shared on social media. This can include manipulated images and audio, and deepfake videos, often created and posted without consent.
Back in October, more than 13,000 people including author Malorie Blackman and ABBA songwriter Björn Ulvaeu signed a statement which read "the unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted." Many within the creative industries want AI to stop being trained on their work and used to create their likeness, and maybe this could be a reason why celebrities welcome lookalike contests - offering a refreshing, real-life connection, free from online manipulation.
When AI generated content goes viral online some people don’t realise it’s fake. When looking at celebrity content online, it can be important to check where the post has come from to find its original source and look for details such as smooth skin, perfect hair or blurry backgrounds as these can be giveaways of AI content.
Not sure if the news you’re seeing on social media is true or false? Can you always tell if the things you see online are real or fake? Learn how to get the other side of the story with our quizzes, videos and explainers.
Quiz: Can you spot the fake news stories from November 2024?
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