Fifteen seconds of fame: fleeting stars of 2011
They were famous for 15 seconds in 2011, but will we hear from them again?
1. VICTORIA HILEY
This yummy-mummy was at the front of the queue when a Covent Garden ice-creamery advertised for help in producing a new dessert last February. But this was no ordinary dish. The ‘Baby Gaga' ice cream was made with breast milk, served with a rusk and an optional shot of Calpol or Bonjela. Mrs Hiley, who received £15 for every 10 ounces of milk donated, called her job a "great recession beater".
2. REBECCA BLACK
The 13-year-old's mother paid thousands of dollars to have her single Friday produced by a record label in March, only to have it dubbed the "worst song ever". Lyrics included: ‘Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal' and ‘Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after… wards.' The cutie-pie Californian's heavily auto-tuned vocals attracted millions of viewers on YouTube but most appeared to be there for the laughs not the lyrics.
3. WENDI DENG
When Rupert Murdoch was famously foam-pied by a political activist in July, it was his sylph-like wife who stepped in, prompting the world's media to ask: just who is this smack-down sister? The answer was a vegan volleyball champion with an MBA from Yale University and a great right hook. Deng's lightning-quick reactions during her husband's interrogation from MPs on hacking led to rumours that she might be a Chinese secret agent but evidence is yet to be found.
4. SARAH LANE
The professional ballerina questioned the validity of Natalie Portman's best actress Oscar in March this year, claiming the actress had performed only a minority of the dance scenes in the psychological thriller Black Swan. Lane argued that 95 per cent of the full body shots were of her with Portman's face digitally grafted onto her body. Portman rejected the claims, saying the double had only been employed "for the complicated turning stuff".
5. JOANNE FRAILL
The juror made headlines after chatting with a defendant on Facebook, causing a £6m drugs trial to collapse. Fraill, 40, from Blackley in Manchester, admitted to contempt of court and was jailed for eight months in June after divulging details of jury room discussions online. "Pleeeeeese don't say anything… they could miss trial and I will get 4cked too" she messaged the defendant, who later replied: "keep in touch and I'll get u a nice pressie."
6. THE VANCOUVER KISS COUPLE
From the chaos and riots that followed a Vancouver hockey game in June, one iconic image emerged and became a global sensation. The picture, taken by Canadian photographer Richard Lam, appeared to show a couple sharing a passionate kiss on the ground amid carnage and riot police. It was later discovered that Scott Jones and his girlfriend Alex Thomas had been knocked down by two police officers.
7. AMINA ARRAF
When an Arabian lesbian blogger was kidnapped by Syrian authorities, western writers, journalists and human rights crusaders were quick to launch a full-scale internet campaign for her release. They were furious to discover in June that the Gay Girl in Damascus was actually Tom MacMaster, a middle-aged American man living in Scotland, who had a misjudged yearning to teach the west about the plight of the Middle East.
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