Cannes
(Reuters):
Teenagers
Jamila
and
Claudia
spent
weeks
choosing
their
outfits
for
the
Cannes
film
festival.
Now
they
line
the
beach
with
hundreds
of
other
girls,
hoping
to
be
discovered.
''I
want
to
be
part
of
the
jet
set
crowd.
I
want
to
be
a
VIP,''
said
15-year-old
Claudia
Sorrentino,
wearing
a
miniskirt
and
skinny
top
as
she
scanned
Cannes'
main
Croisette
boulevard
for
famous
actors
and
producers.
Competition
among
the
filmstar
wannabes
is
stiff
as
swarms
of
young
girls
descend
on
Cannes,
hoping
for
a
chance
encounter
with
actors
like
Bruce
Willis
or
Keanu
Reeves
or
to
be
discovered
by
one
of
the
many
directors
in
town.
Claudia
said
the
main
thing
was
to
stand
out
from
the
crowd.
''You
mustn't
have
any
shame.
Try
to
get
into
every
party.
And
just
talk
to
anyone
who
looks
vaguely
important,''
she
said.
''Be
special,''
said
her
friend
Jamila
Smoini,
19,
who
works
in
a
home
for
the
elderly
in
southern
Toulon
while
dreaming
of
a
Hollywood
career.
''Even
before
the
festival,
we
think
about
what
to
wear,
how
to
style
our
hair.''
Although
the
girls
are
determined
to
keep
pestering
doormen
and
spend
hours
strutting
past
giant
yachts
and
exclusive
parties
to
get
noticed,
starlets
who
have
actually
made
it
to
the
top
doubt
the
girls'
strategy
will
pay
off.
''You
need
good
connections
or
be
very
lucky
to
have
someone
spot
you
on
the
beach.
It
happens
but
it's
not
very
usual,''
said
Jelena
Mandic,
a
model
from
Serbia,
as
she
walked
past
crowds
of
teenaged
girls
on
the
sun-kissed
boulevard.
''You
have
a
million
pretty
girls,
but
only
one
of
them
will
become
a
top
model.
The
others
are
just
surviving,''
Mandic
told
Reuters,
adding
she
advised
the
teenagers
to
be
realistic.
''Stay
true
to
yourself.
Finish
school,
university.
That's
it.
Try
to
do
a
lot
of
things
in
life.
The
modelling
and
the
acting
is
not
the
most
important
and
only
thing
in
life.''
Dita
von
Teese,
the
burlesque-dancing
wife
of
shock-rocker
Marilyn
Manson,
said
to
make
yourself
known
it
was
important
not
to
go
with
the
mainstream,
but
to
develop
your
own
style.
''There
are
so
many
young
beautiful
starlets,''
she
told
Reuters.
''How
great
would
it
be
if
they
did
not
always
pay
attention
to
what
was
the
right
and
appropriate
thing
to
wear?
If
they
just
let
loose
and
wore
what
they
really
wanted
to
wear.''
School
girls
Lisa
and
Amelie,
wearing
sunglasses
and
tight
jeans,
said
they
cared
about
their
clothes.
But
their
special
trick
to
attract
potential
star-scouts
was
to
break
into
song
on
the
street,
the
bus
or
on
the
beach,
they
said.
''It
would
be
my
dream
to
be
on
the
front
cover
of
a
magazine,''
said
15-year-old
Amelie
Bonfigio,
starting
a
timidly
voiced
song
with
Lisa
as
bemused
tourists
stood
by.
Amelie
said
Italian
actress
Monica
Bellucci
was
her
idol.
Further
down
the
boulevard,
Claudia's
plans
to
become
famous
did
not
seem
to
be
based
on
a
successful
acting
or
singing
career.
''To
be
honest,
Paris
Hilton
is
my
perfect
model,''
the
energetic
teenager
said,
referring
to
the
media-savvy
hotel
heiress.
''She
has
charm
and
is
classy.
She
has
everything.
We
have
nothing,
really,''
she
added.
Claudia
said
she
was
not
angry
at
other
girls
trying
to
grab
the
limelight
at
Cannes.
''In
the
end,
we're
all
the
same,''
she
said.