ETTA JAMES who once weighed over 300 pounds, knew it was time for a change.
One dictionary defines transform as “to change markedly the form or appearance of.” Another says it is “to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance or character of.”
Probably no group of people are more concerned about appearance than entertainers, and that would include those who sing, those who act, those who model and, to a somewhat lesser extent, those who dance.
Oftentimes the difference involves a change in poundage, and these days changing one’s diet and doing more (or some!) exercising is frquently not considered enough. Some are opting for gastric bypass operations as a shortcut.
The surgery is expensive and there are risks involved, but that did not stop celebrities such as Al Roker, Jennifer Holliday, Etta James, Star Jones, Patti Austin, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Carnie Wilson and, reportedly, Karen Clark-Sheard, from going that route.
KAREN CLARK-SHEARD used to be cute. Now she's beautiful and glamorous.
CLARK-SHEARD, Austin and Jones actually now look like completely different people. Clark-Sheard, in particular, looks wonderful.
It is significant that Star Jones had the surgery since she had been very public in expressing how satisfied she was with being a big woman. In fact, she said she resented it when fans of “The View” — with good intentions — would send her diets to try. “I am happy the way I am,” she would say. “What makes people assume I want to lose weight?” Next thing we knew, she was having the operation.
Songstress Vesta (Williams) professed satisfaction with her ample physique, but later on, a slim and toned Vesta was introduced to the public. However, she did it with exercise and diet alterations.
Probably no one’s body is watched more closely than that of Oprah Winfrey. She has been up and down several times, but seems to have finally found a comfortable size, one that is also flattering. The talk show queen now eats right, exercises, etc., always cognizant of how easy it is for her to put on unwanted pounds.
AND THEN there’s liposuction, whereby fat is literally sucked out. Country superstar Kenny Rogers was losing the battle of the gut, so he hopped aboard the lipo train.
These days people are having all kinds of things done, and not necessarily with successful results, including Botox injecting, skin tightening, face lifting, tummy tucking, breast enlarging, collagen injecting, breast reducing, hair transplanting and much more.
No shame in the very likable Dolly Parton’s game. The country music icon who, by the way, wrote and first recorded the enormous Whitney Houston hit “I Will Always Love You,” joked, “If it sags, bags or drags, I’m going to get it tucked, sucked or plucked.”
Joan Rivers, another plastic surgery regular, once quipped that in Hollywood, there is so much skin left over after women have surgeries that they use the leftover skin to make a little person to walk alongside them.
IT IS HARD to keep track of all the nose alterations. The results can be unsightly (Michael Jackson’s, for example), but in other instances surgery results in a more attractive face.
You can talk about being what you are as much as you want to, but certain features are hindrances for some people. Patti LaBelle hated her original nose because it spread halfway across her face. So who could blame her for having it reshaped? It’s not a matter of denying one’s heritage — it’s getting rid of something you have too much of.
One the casualties of cosmetic surgery — perhaps the number one disaster — is Michael Jackson. He can’t help it if he has vitiligo. One respected medical doctor in metro Detroit believes that Jackson had something injected to take out all of the coloring in his skin rather than have white and brown patches.
But having a clef put in his chin, giving himself a pixie nose, having his eyes widened, getting cheek impants, etc. all contributed to transforming a handsome man into something scary.
AMONG THE things that look horrible in almost all cases are thin lips made much too puffy with collagen injections (sometimes jokingly called “trout lips”) and skin pulled so tightly that the person’s mouth hardly moves (Priscilla Presley, for example).
Johnny Carson refused to have anything done. “The body does what it is supposed to do,” he said.
The bottom line: “If it makes you feel better, do it.” Just know that going under the knife does not necessarily result in an improvement. The odds may be 50/50.
