Which comes first: the talent or the recording contract? For a 12-year-old Dane named Benjamin Lasnier, it's clearly the latter. The boy, who bears an uncanny resemblance to our own Justin Bieber, is using his Doppelganger to carve out his own brand of celebrity.
According to an article in the Guardian, his Instagram self-portraits (or 'selfies' as they're aptly called) have been the glue building a fan base much like his idol's. The trouble for Lasnier, though, is talent. He doesn't have one.
Yet with more than 762,000 followers, the now 13-year-old Copenhagen resident doesn't seem too bothered. Sony has just signed him anyway.
Talk about salting the wounds of all the young, hard working idol wannabes out there. All he has to do is smile and his Instagram selfie gets hit with "60,000-odd 'likes.'" Oh, and companies shower him with freebies, hoping his baby face will help their brand.
Is it fair? Of course not. Can he cultivate a career to rival that of his idol? Time will tell.
"Every talent starts from scratch," said Sony's Mads Kjaergaard.
Do you agree that talent can be 'taught'?
Printer-friendly version