What Lies Behind the Façade of Look-Alike Contests?

If you ever found yourself wondering what it would be like to marry a celebrity, attending look-alike contests might take you closer to your dreams. Not only do they provide free and fun entertainment for the spectators watching the celebrity doubles, but they have also become a way to meet potential partners. Three weeks ago, at a New York Zayn Malik look-alike contest, a woman held a hand-made poster saying, “Do you… Look like Zayn? Like girls? Want to be in a relationship? Get our number so we can talk from DUSK TILL DAWN (Bonus for having the Zayn curl).” It makes one wonder, could look-alike contests become new ways to meet people outside of online dating platforms and social media? The trend is still too fresh to provide convincing conclusions. Nevertheless, this new manifestation of society’s obsession with celebrities pushed people to get out of their houses, run to parks and bond with others over culture, famous actresses and actors. Regardless of the effects on dating culture, it seems look-alike competitions could momentarily cure people of loneliness and isolation, especially pertinent in the big cities. From looking at the organizers and participants to exploring the origins of the contests in drag, this article is the full package.

THE FIRSTS…

The Timothée Chalamet look-alike competition, which seems to have started the trend in 2024, was organized through hundreds of flyers put up around New York City. The mastermind behind it, influencer Anthony Po, made a bet with his friend, arguing that, “There would be more people who come to a Timothée Chalamet look-alike competition than a Kai Cenat look-alike competition.” The Cenat competition happened on October 26 and the prize was $100. The Chalamet competition happened a day later, offering the winner only $50. Even though the incentive for the former contest was $50 more, Cenat is an online streamer creating comedic videos with a far smaller fan base than Timothée Chalamet, a Hollywood actor. Therefore, the outcome of the bet was not particularly surprising when more people attended the Chalamet look-alike contest.

BREAK UP BY POLICE

Po previously advertised several competitions and happenings—asking a person to wear a lampshade for an hour for $30 or famously inviting people to Union Square Park in New York City to watch him eat an entire jar of Cheeseballs without previously revealing his identity. Seemingly an entertaining way to gather people, it is also a strategic tool for gaining more followers on Instagram and subscribers on YouTube. Those feeling nostalgic about the 2010’s prank videos and challenges will likely enjoy his content despite the occasional lack of substance. However, for those who remember these types of videos, they often got out of hand, with unauthorized sleepovers at IKEA and legal consequences. Po took us back to that era as he got fined $500 for not obtaining a permit and four of the doubles of Chalamet were arrested by the police who wanted to break up the event.

IN LOVE WE INFLUENCE

Po’s social media reach highlights the importance of influence at a look-alike competition, which is perhaps why the Harry Styles look-alike competition and others in San Francisco or Chicago did not get as much attention. The Styles competition was first advertised through flyers, the same way the two others had been, and then on social media, which is when the information about the event started spreading even through more prominent media outlets. The turnout was minimal, with only five contestants and some female spectators. This might be a testament to the fact that we are living in the social media age. It takes the power of an influencer, even if not the most well-known one, to mobilize thousands of people. Nonetheless, it is fascinating to see the resurgence of flyer-based community mobilization in big cities when we are so consumed by the online world that it seems increasingly impossible to engage people with a flyer. In addition, cities are often described as anonymous, with people in them having a reputation of being individualistic and busy to participate in events such as these. It seems the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this, but apparently, there are still people who crave the good “old-fashioned” socialization through flyers. Therefore, it is not too daring to expect romantic relationships to emerge out of them. After all, what better story there is than “I found my Timothée Chalamet at a look-alike competition”? 

LOOKS MATTER

Fostering community in the city is important, but connecting with people from similar backgrounds can be even more beneficial when sharing experiences or finding empathy. However, the dangerous aspect of the look-alike contests is that our society still has a lot of stereotypes. Being told you resemble a celebrity can be on the scale from a flattering compliment to microaggression. After all, remarks like “they all look the same” have been, and still sometimes are, othering and dehumanizing people. 

Three friends from San Francisco, therefore, organized a Dev Patel look-alike competition, not only bringing together the Southeast Asian community, but sharing their experiences. One of the contestants, Ashwin, stated: “I’ve been getting called Dev Patel ever since white people watched ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.” The organizer Tasnim Khandakar added, “I really feel like South Asian actors have always been a little bit marginalized, and I think now knowing that Dev Patel can create a crowd this big, this positive — I think that’s amazing.” Clearly, look alike contests can be a positive way to engage with people who look like you, creating representation as well as celebrating the achievements of people from your community. However, they can also be exclusionary, as the biggest attention is focused on those contests of white male actors. These competitions can send a message that there is one particular way to look that is more attractive or acceptable. 

ATTENTION GRAB?

On November 7, the day of the premier of Gladiator II, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Paul Mescal, the Dubliners decided to recreate the look-alike competition with Paul Mescal. The alignment of the Mescal look-alike competition with the Gladiator II premiere date shows that fan-driven movie-promotion, such as the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon in 2023, is still alive even in 2024. The Dublin gathering was nowhere near the scale of the phenomenon or the Chalamet competition, yet it still caught the attention of British media outlets such as The Guardian, hinting at the potential of these contests. This time we might not see people in pink clothes or wearing hats as in the ‘Barbenheimer’ craze. However, we might see lovebirds on movie dates watching the actresses and actors whose looks got the pair together. 

REAL LOVE, NORMAL PEOPLE

Moreover, the date of the premiere was also not a pure coincidence as the organizers and the attendees had possibly hoped that Mescal would make an appearance, as a few days before, Timothée Chalamet had attended the New York look-alike competition and had made it a huge success. This was not the case during the Mescal competition, but Jack Wall O’Reilly, the winner, got to meet Mescal through video call when the actor was a host at a BBC Radio 2 broadcast. In it, O’Riley revealed he had just graduated from a masters in screenwriting and had released his first short-documentary called “Enough” about sexual harassment. The Chalamet competition winner Miles Mitchel is also a notable person of his own: he attends pro-Palestinian protests and shares information about the genocide, declared as such by Amnesty International, in Gaza. These two men illustrate that they not only have celebrity looks but are also active in spreading awareness about current global problems.

BE A DOLL! 

Celebrities attending their own look-alike contest is a noteworthy phenomenon in itself. For a long time, there was a rumor that Charlie Chaplin was, in fact, part of one of the look-alike contests of his, however, this has been contested. Even more famously, one could argue, Dolly Parton, a famous U.S. country singer, recalled in her memoir Dream More that she once took part in a look-alike contest of herself in a bar in Los Angeles. She lost to a drag queen. Considering the constant scrutiny, especially in the United States, that drag queens endure from wishing to ban drag, Dolly Parton is a much-needed ally. Drag queens have long been known for performing like Madonna, Marilyn Monroe and other celebrities. Much of mainstream media has dived into the history of doppelgangers, failing to mention the contribution of drag queens whatsoever. Yet, December 23 will mark 99 years since the death of William Dorsey Swann, the first self-proclaimed drag queen in the United States, creating the perfect opportunity to shed light on the connection between drag and celebrity look-alike contests.

IS IT A DRAG?

Drag is defined as “typically glamorous or outrageous and stereotypically gendered costumes, make-up, etc., worn by a performer who adopts a flamboyant, exaggerated, or parodic feminine or masculine persona.” Swann, the first self-proclaimed drag queen, was rediscovered by Joseph Channing, journalist and author, who is set to publish a book called The House of Swann: Where Slaves Became Drag Queens - And Changed the World, covering in detail the intricacies of Swann’s life. In a nutshell, he was born a slave in the United States in 1860, five years before the 13th Amendment abolished slavery. Later in life, he moved to Washington , D.C., where he worked as a janitor. Yet, his notoriety came from hosting underground drag balls which were often raided by police. Even though Swann was not the first person to organize drag balls, drag history is deeply connected to black and queer history. The LGBTQ+ people in Washington D.C. were separated due to racial segregation; in fact, the Historic Context Statement for Washington's LGBTQ Resources states that drag in the city had “mixed-raced audiences,” creating a bridge between the two queer communities. It was not until the late 1950s that the LGBTQ+ protests in the United States slowly started undergoing the process of emancipation of rights and visibility of the community.

BRING BACK THE GIRLS

Drag has a much more intricate and fascinating history but, arguably, what most people associate it with is RuPaul’s Drag Race TV, a reality series of drag queens’ competitions. This summer, after one of Adele’s concerts in Munich, my friend dragged me to the “Adele World.” To this day, I vividly remember seeing a karaoke stage with Magnifck—a drag queen dressed like Adele making a bigger show than the singer did herself. As deep as my admiration for Adele is, the hard work and dedication of the drag queens, despite decades of attempts to suppress their art, is powerful. Mentioning drag in the context of look-alike contests is a reminder that the contests did not emerge out of nowhere. They are not a mere trend but a resurgence of ongoing phenomenon which has been historically promoted by this marginalized community. Failing to acknowledge the contribution of drag queens to look-alike competitions, is yet another manifestation of  minimization of queer people’s influence on popular culture.

Whether look-alike contests have already gained momentum or there is more to come remains to be seen. But how can one answer the important question of what lies behind the facade of look-alike contests? Well, the answer is simply put: a lot. Perhaps they will continue to foster the much-needed community for inhabitants of the cities or they will disappear as quickly as the 2010s’ prank videos. They could teach us a thing or two: to call out stereotypes, to stop minimizing the impact of queer communities throughout history, as well as to put pressure on the entertainment industry to more equally represent all people. These contests might also become a new tool for movie promotion or give social media rise to stardom to more winners, opening a new way of entering the influencer world. For those having fantasies about dating a celebrity or those bored of online dating, look-alike contests also have your back!