Idol Star: Girl Group Life

You are five years old. In twelve years there will be six slots and eleven girls. Most games about fame begin on the day you get famous. This one begins in your mum's kitchen, years before anyone is watching, when the only question is whether she can afford the dance academy this month. Then the auditions. Then the dorm, the monthly rankings, the line distribution, and a contract your mother signs underneath your name because you are fourteen. ONE SCREEN, ONE BUTTON A whole life takes about twenty minutes. Tap, and a season goes by. TIME SPEEDS UP AS THE STAKES RISE Half a year a tap when you are small. A week a tap by the time they read out the lineup. OVER 300 WRITTEN EVENTS No two lives are the same. What you chose at seven is still there at seventeen. THE NUMBERS THAT DECIDE YOUR LIFE ARE HIDDEN You never see what the company thinks of you. You only read it in how people treat you,…