God alone knows why they do it. The only possible justification for going to the trouble of donning fancy dress is to escape your humdrum life for an evening. But what possesses celebrities to dress up as each other?
Recently we've had Anthea Turner aping Madonna in her Confessions on a Dance Floor/purple-leotard period, Lorraine Kelly having a go at being Lady Gaga and Jennifer Aniston in full Barbra-Streisand-Funny-Girl regalia. Even Fiona Bruce became temporarily infected with the madness, slipping into Diana Rigg's former Avengers catsuit when it was brought along for valuation at the Antiques Roadshow a few weeks ago.
The ostensible motive is homage. Turner's photoshoot is, apparently, a tribute to Madonna to mark the singer's 52nd birthday on Monday. And not at all a desperate attempt to borrow some of the lustre of a celebrity whose star wattage exceeds her own by uncountable orders of magnitude, nor a chance for magazine editors to fill their pages with tasty yet affordable pictures of a tasty yet affordable blonde in something shiny and skimpy.
Kelly claims her makeover in New magazine is the natural expression of her love for Lady Gaga's work. The interview suggests that she is at least aware of and playing with the incongruity of the pairing of quintessential sofa-based presenter with glitter-lobster-sporting pop goddess, even if the main point of the pictures does seem to be reminding people that Brand Kelly is not just about charming mumsiness but incorporates a fully functioning set of bazonkas too.
Aniston's channelling of Barbra Streisand is perhaps the weirdest. She's not a singer. She's promoting a film that has nothing to do with Babs. She is famous enough not to need such gimmicks, and all the photos do is emphasise the gulf between the stellar charisma of La Streisand and the relative lack thereof in the impersonator. Send in the clowns!
