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.      

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