Celebrity look-alike contests have recently become a viral trend that has sparked the interest of many social media users. The competitions are held in many different locations, most commonly in Los Angeles and New York, and calls for people who closely resemble celebrities to compete for a cash prize. The crowd determines who has the closest appearance to the celebrity through the volume of their applause. Anyone is welcome to participate.
These have actually been around since the 1900s but lost their engagement over time yet have recently gained attention once again. According to The Huntington News, an independent student newspaper dedicated to providing an environment for student journalists, the contests rose in popularity again when a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest was held at Washington Square Park, New York City on Oct. 27, organized by Youtuber Anthony Po who then published a video titled “How I Started the Timothee Chalamet Lookalike Contest”. The winner was twenty-one year old Miles Mitchell and he won $50. Unexpectedly, Chalamet appeared at the event leaving fans in awe at his attendance. Since then, various contests have been held for other celebrities, like actors Paul Mescal and Jeremy Allen White.
Following the Timothee Chalamet contest, another contest was held Nov. 17 at Maria Hernandez Park in Brooklyn, New York for hip-hop artist Zayn Malik. According to Vulture, a publication dedicated to providing coverage on various entertainment elements, residents near the location of the contest set up fliers in hopes of finding someone equally as attractive as Malik. Twenty-nine year old Shiv Patel won the competition and it sparked debate online, as some were not pleased with the results. They claimed that Patel did not fit their personal expectations of what it took to be given the title of the best look-alike for Malik.
“Zayn Malike lookalike contest winner in Bushwick ain’t know a single one direction song,” said @notlydiabro via X.
Just three days later there was a contest held to determine who looked most like the actress Zendaya in Wilma Chan Park in Oakland. The contest, which featured trivia and a dance battle, was won by twenty four year old Zainab Bansfield who won $40.
Along with these contests there have also been contests for other celebrities like Shohei Ohtani, Peso Pluma, and one for the murder suspect of the United Healthcare Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Luigi Mangione. However, the latter contest has emitted mixed responses from people, some believing that the state of the contest is inappropriate considering the situation with the CEO and others joking around about the contest.
“would be pretty funny if luigi mangione was the wrong guy they picked up after the CEO assassin look alike contest,” said @CantEverDie via X.
As the trend circulates through the media, junior Taylor Maranan has seen the videos and posts about the contests via TikTok. She believes the contests are a form of entertainment that is viral because it is amusing to today’s audience.
“I think these became popular because like, because of TikTok and just the fact that these celebrities are, like, trending and people think they’re attractive… so they wanna find more people that look like the attractive celebrities,” said Maranan.
Maranan believes the contests are comedic because many of the contestants don’t actually look like the celebrity yet compete for the enjoyment of it. Given the opportunity, she would compete in a look-alike contest held for the character Lilo from the movie Lilo and Stitch since she’s often told she resembles her.
Despite one of the most recent contests being held to see who looked the most like an alleged assassin, look-alike competitions continue to be held in cities across the nation. Not only do the contests assist in community building but also allow people to venture out and interact with those who have similar interests as them, such as watching to see who has the closest appearance to a celebrity they admire.
